Jean Grae, 'Jeanius'

Backstory: South Africa-born, New York-bred rapper Jean Grae has been a hotly tipped underground phenom for the better part of a decade, slinging killer guest verses for the likes of Talib Kweli, the Herbaliser and Mr. Lif. “Jeanius,” a collaboration with North Carolina-based producer 9th Wonder, is her long-delayed fourth album, and will be familiar to most hardcore fans, who have been circulating bootlegged versions of this set for years.

Why you should care: Mainstream rap hasn’t had a truly original female voice since Missy Elliott, and Grae has all the hallmarks of a worthy successor. Her best verses combine a gift for vivid storytelling with a staccato delivery that would make Biggie smile.

Verdict: Producer 9th Wonder is almost as highly touted in backpacker circles as Grae herself, but an entire album of his ‘70s soul samples and laid-back beats doesn’t serve the rapper well. Grae’s hard-hitting verses on tracks like “My Story” and “This World” cry out for grittier accompaniment than 9th provides, and the less said about his Ashford & Simpson sample on “The Time Is Now,” the better. That said, there’s plenty to like on “Jeanius,” even when the star of the show takes a backseat to members of 9th’s Little Brother and Justus League crews on “American Pimp” and the album’s swaggering closer, “Smashmouth.”

X-Factor: A blog post on Grae’s MySpace page in April led to much speculation that she was retiring from hip-hop, but it appears that a simple “see y’all around” was taken way out of context.

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