Canton Jones (Kingdom Business) - Reviews

Canton Jones
Kingdom Business

Since 2002, the urban gospel world has been rockin' to the soulful and savvy sounds of Canton Jones. Affectionately known to many as "CaJo", Jones has made a career of writing and producing songs that are intuitively innovative and creative while remaining socially relevant and evangelistic in nature.

It's no surprise that the industry is abuzz about his latest effort, Kingdom Business. Rollin' 15-tracks deep, Jones uses his fifth solo release to continue his evangelistic mission employing streetwise beats and witty rhymes as his tools of choice.

Jones is no stranger to urban circles, secular or gospel, having toured and performed with the likes of T.I. and Ludacris. This type of exposure makes creating an authentic urban sound effortless and authentic for the ATL native.

With that said, Jones brings that strong "dirty south" bounce to a good portion of this effort. Check out the energetic "Living Clean", "24s" (featuring M Eazy, Milliyon, Messenja, and longtime collaborator Mr. Del), and the infectious "Ringtone".

While Jones' southern roots run deep, the smooth vocalist readily shows his musical versatility with creative mid-tempo grooves and lyrics that display a heart full of purity and devotion towards the Father. Be sure to peep the creative "Hater Day" (produced by Antonio Neal) and "Pimp Hard", both which highlight CaJo's uncanny storytelling ability with a focus on the fruit of the Spirit.

Urban worship hits a fevered pitch with the honest "Nobody Cared", "Vacation" featuring wife Ramona Jones, and the album's lone live cut "What You Want", featuring the high-energy vocals of Tye Tribbett (now, THERE's a praise party!!)

You can't leave out the radio-hit "My Day", which is bound to find a home on both urban and gospel formats.

In an era where urban music can be classified as lacking substance, Jones drops a release that that provides an urban presentation with a compelling and weighted message. Kingdom Business has appeal in both secular and sacred circles alike and is a body of work that will be talked about for quite some time.

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Production: Canton Jones, Antonio Neal album release date: February, 2008
Arrow Records

— reviewed by Gerard Bonner —