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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-Live's 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-Live's 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. In the interim, J-Live worked as a...