Soul Food

Def Jef followed up Just a Poet With Soul with the equally likable Soul Food, which regrettably didn't bring the underexposed L.A.-based rapper the commercial success he deserved. The CD's more sociopolitical songs are also its best, including Get Up 4 the Get Down, Don't Sleep (Open Your Eyes) and the reggae-Influenced Voice of a New Generation. But Jef is also quite enjoyable on more escapist tunes like Cali's All That (a duet with Tone Loc), Fa Sho Shot (which samples L.T.D.'s 1977 hit Back In Love Again), and the single Here We Go Again. Jef may have been coolin' in Cali, but Soul Food is a very East Coast-sounding disc illustrating the fact that the MC never forgot his New York upbringing. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide