Using an SP-1200, the classic production tool of old school legends (which creates dirty, raw-sounding samples), Jel gives birth to 10 Seconds – an album that, in my way of looking at it, parallels the first 23 years of life. Was this the Anticon producer’s goal? Most likely not, but damn it if it doesn’t play that way.

Like a one-year-old, the intro cut is at times beautiful, a bit hard to handle at others, but mainly innocent. Unfortunately, what seems to follow is a lost childhood; the next eight songs are rather uneventful.

By the 10th cut, our young adolescent begins to gain a sense of self, using his newfound confidence to bust into funky, melodic rhythms. The teenage years are a time of experimentation into the psychedelic. Taking its rebellious attitude from dear old dad, track 13 contains an amazing Pink Floyd-sounding sample, which unexpectedly busts into a Money Mark-like break.

By the time Jel’s kid can drive, at 16 he’s learned old school beat-boxing samples. And he’s learned how to serenade the ladies. Before getting too excited about bumpin’ it in his car, the 52-second montage merges into the most serene track on the album. Perfecting the Kid Koala method of scratching the sample to match the beat’s rhythm, this is the crown jewel of 10 Seconds.

Graduation into adulthood on the 18th track is heralded by a Bob Marley loop, mixed with a cheering crowd. Legal drinking age and gambling sets track 21 apart as the funkiest on the album, yet it is not the best.

10 Seconds has his share of growing pains, but his father should be proud. He’s a good kid.