Justin Rivera was 14 years old when he appeared on the second season of Lifetime’s 2016 music competition series The Rap Game as J.I. the Prince of New York. The Brooklyn rapper didn’t win; his fast rapping style—easily traceable back to Eminem—was clearly dated. He continued to put out music, though he wouldn’t emerge in the city’s rap scene until he adopted the sweet-sounding melodic style New York rappers are currently using to tell street tales about pain and young love.
In New York, the pop stars who get to be the iPhone wallpapers for teenagers across the boroughs don’t sound like Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber, but like A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie and Lil Tjay. On “Need Me,” J.I.’s summer 2019 breakout song, he follows in the footsteps of the Bronx-born crooners—it’s a bright-but-macho love song over a sample of Mya and JAY-Z’s “Best of Me (Part 2).” By the time his December mixtape arrived, J.I. had officially become the baby-faced foil to Brooklyn’s drill movement—compared to the no-frills coldness of drill, J.I.’s easy listening melodies make him sound like he could have once been on the cover of Tiger Beat.
But J.I. desperately wants to be more than a Brooklyn rapper. “I’m tryna be global,” the 18-year-old said in a recent interview. “Global” is a vague goal, and you have to assume he’s thinking of Drake, who has conquered popular music by bouncing through trends big and small, from a Memphis dance rap track with BlocBoy JB to a dancehall rhythm with Popcaan to Brooklyn drill with Fivio Foreign to afropop with WizKid. But there’s only one Drake. Most rap albums, mixtapes, and EPs lose their soul when ripped away from their local roots.
J.I.’s new six-song EP, Welcome to GStarr Vol. 1., suffers when he’s pushed too far from his distinct New York sound. On “Spanglish,” the teenager connects with Puerto Rican rapper Myke Towers for an underwhelming reggaetón duet. It’s not a bad song, but why should we listen to half-assed trend-hopping when Ozuna or Bad Bunny are one click away?
Nevertheless, J.I. finds a groove on the EP. “Beautiful Girl” is cheesy, but charming enough to soundtrack New York teenagers falling in and out of love for the next six months, and “20K (Intro)” is a standard rapper-singer ballad. But “Love in the Club” catches the perfect balance between the crossover anthems J.I. aspires to make and the melodic New York love songs that have made him a rising local star. The track has a danceable rhythm that wouldn’t feel out of place on a Burna Boy record, yet still has the anything-can-happen-spirit of a night out in the city with the Brooklyn rapper. Because even if J.I. hasn’t realized it yet, becoming the soundtrack to New York is just as impressive as going global.
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