So for the past month and a half I've been listening to my CDs alphabetically. It's as much of a purge as it is a chance to become reacquainted with some gems that I haven't played in awhile.

"One Step Ahead of the Spider" fortunately falls in the second of these categories. It's hard for me to believe it's been nearly eight years since I first heard the hip-hop style beats of the self-deprecating "If I Only Had a Brain" one late night on MTV. The music on this disc sounds as fresh and creative in 2002 as it did in 1994.

So what does MC 900 FT Jesus sound like? Well, there's a little element of rap, but most of the album's 10 tracks are stories told in a spoken-word fashion with jazzy backgrounds. This was like nothing my 14 year old ears had ever heard.

Basically the easiest way to summarize this album would be to call it tales of schizophrenia with a jazz and hip hop overture.