The follow-up to last year's Undivided Attention EP, S.P.T.A. (short for Said Person of That Ability) is J-Live's fifth full-length. It finds the longstanding New York artist continuing to serve up classic-style hip-hop loaded with strong beatwork and smart, down-to-earth lyricism. A concept album of sorts, it starts with three different Js (representing the emcee, DJ, and producer) talking to one another before launching into a dope collection of tracks that touch on romance ("The Me and You"), love for hip-hop (the scratch-happy "Pronounced Spitta"), and the ups and downs of life as a successful independent artist ("Half a Glass" with Lyric Jones). As per usual, the beats are knocking, with an abundance of mellow jazz and soul samples (the bass- and flute-propelled "Life Comes in Threes" is especially tight), courtesy of J as well as Diamond D, Marco Polo, RJD2, Nicolay, and others. Another solid offering from one of the more consistent cats working today.