Brooklyn MC J-Live first garnered notice with the release of his 1995 single Bragging Writes. Delivering his thoughtful lyrics with confidence and ease, J-Lives rapping was strong and his soul-inflected grooves immediately appealed to fans of underground hip-hop. A year later he followed up with another hit, Hush the Crowd, and started to generate a palpable buzz. With tracks produced by luminaries such as Prince Paul, DJ Premier, and Pete Rock, the release of J-Lives full-length debut The Best Part was hotly anticipated and the future looked promising for the ascendant MC. At this point, though, J-Live was beset by a host of troubles. Amidst constant label shuffling and plagued by a series of illegal bootlegs, the release of The Best Part was delayed for five years. There was some talk that J-Live was behind some of the bootlegs — a few of which were of extremely high quality — and the ongoing saga became something of an underground legend. I...