Topaz Jones is a loud dispatch from a soft signal. The adventurous production and everyman raps contained on his two independent LPs, "Honeymoon Suite" and "Arcade," are knotty and funky, but also funny; "Way you rock the crop top with the hot pants, you make a nigga wanna do the Young Joc dance," he spits on "Sportscar," with all comic hubris of Kanye West in his Newark days. In the sprawling landscape of independent, unsigned rap, Jones has created his own island of infectious funk and quick-witted wordplay, a one-man band groomed on Smack DVDs, piano chords, and Outkast.

In a warm review, Pitchfork called Arcade "affecting" and "the work of an empathetic writer," praising its moments of autobiography about family, girls, school, and everyday life, while NPR observed it "would make Bootsy Collins beam with pride." Recent records from D'Angelo, Pharrell, and Kendrick Lamar have only emboldened Jones's fascination with live instrumentation and reinforced his love for soul and funk textures Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.