Bad Boy rapper Yung Joc just wants to have fun. And judging by the success of his first two singles last year, so do his listeners. Joc’s “It’s Goin’ Down” — a ditty about clothes and cars that even spawned a “joccin’ ” dance — spent eight weeks atop the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and helped the rapper become Warner Music Group’s No. 1 ringtone artist, according to the company. The similarly catchy follow-up, “I Know You See It,” reached No. 5 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.
But a third single, “Dope Boy Magic,” which awkwardly cast Joc as a drug-slinger, failed to catch on. So on his sophomore album, “Hustlenomics,” Joc is tailoring his rhymes to the younger fans he attracted with “It’s Goin’ Down” while attempting not to lose sight of the core hip-hop audience. Due this week, the set is led by the single “Coffee Shop,” on which he implores, “Kids, please don’t do drugs.”
“I always hear parents tell me, ‘My 5-year-old daughter loves you.’ That’s why I didn’t want to talk about drugs when I talked about hustling on this record,” the Georgia native says. “That’s not what people expect from me. ‘Coffee Shop’ is fun because I know the kids feel me. The song’s title is really about me selling everything. I used to cut hair, sell clothes, shoes, women’s bags, accessories, cars, whatever, so my hustling headquarters is the coffee shop.”
In an effort to beat the sophomore jinx — which Joc says happens because most MCs don’t have enough material to choose from — he’s been recording since his debut, “New Joc City,” dropped in 2006. Unlike on the first album, several big-name producers (the Neptunes, Cool & Dre, DJ Quik, Jazze Pha and Collipark) and guests (the Game, Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross and Jim Jones) appear on “Hustlenomics.”
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