You might not be able to tell on first take that West Coast rapper Jez Dior is the son of punk rock vet Steve Dior, but the musical talent is as obvious as his neck tattoos. Where his dad was snarling rebellion, Jez is contained introspection. Where his dad upended bars with Sid Vicious, Jez paints bars with an art form his pops probably never imagined in his youth would exist. But, alas, Dior carries the family name into new territory during a time when hip-hop could do with some new faces.
Perched on the back of a pickup truck, Dior seems to be celebrating a birthday or 4th of July all by his lonesome. The slacker beat unveils as sleepily as the road (or channel) behind Jezzy just as he begins to share a slew of colorful lyrics that point to a troubled upbringing. The bits of story Jez provides aren’t grievances he’s looking to hide from the outside world, but rather pieces of a puzzle he’d rather not put together at this time.
Scarlett Sage, Dior’s debut full-length, is due out this June.