2 Skinnee J's
Photo: Volcano

2 Skinnee J's have waited nearly two years for their latest album to hit the shelves, so rapper Special J is just happy to have a copy in his hands. Well, not that happy.

"You know, you have a choice of thicknesses in the plastic of the actual CD, and I think they got us the cheapest one," Special J complained Friday, four days after the release of Volumizer.

Jokes aside — which is a challenge with these Brooklyn-bred party starters — 2 Skinnee J's are excited to finally have their second full-length record in the hands of their fans. While it was scheduled to drop in the fall of 2000 and advance copies received positive reviews, Capricorn Records collapsed shortly before the release date and left Special J, vocalist J. Guevara, guitarist Lance Corporal, bassist Eddie Eyeball, keyboardist Stevie Spice and spiritual advisor A.J. Stumpy Johnson searching for a new label.

The group recently signed with the Jive Records subsidiary Volcano, which Special J said gives them more perks than you can imagine. "Some of the guys have gotten 'NSYNC tickets," he joked.

Again, seriously (see, it is challenging), 2 Skinnee J's are at least intrigued about their record deal. "Our old label, the reason they liked us was because we played across the country and had a huge following of fans," Special J said. "Our new label that handles Britney Spears and 'NSYNC, they don't care about our 100,000 fans. They're much more focused on different marketing strategies."

Marketing 2 Skinnee J's is not easy, however, as there is no easy way to describe the band. Volumizer, even more than 1998's SuperMercado, is massively diverse, mixing elements of hip-hop, rock, new wave and disco into the kind of grab-bag music fans haven't heard since the Beastie Boys' Hello Nasty.

Although it lacks two songs from the original version Capricorn released to reviewers, including the Weezer-like single "Stockholm Love" (see "2 Skinnee J's Take Couch Trip For "Stockholm Love"), the final version of Volumizer is still impeccably ear-friendly. That explains why influential radio stations like Chicago's Q101 jumped on the new single, "Grown Up," weeks before its official add date.

"It's kind of a '60s garagey sort of song," Special J said of "Grown Up," one of three songs later added to the original version. "It's about being in a band and watching your friends grow up around you and you still have the same responsibilities. You watch them get houses and children and stuff. The lament of growing older and all that it entails, good and bad."

Similar messages can be found on other Volumizer songs. You could almost call it a coming-of-age record, with "Lost and Found" — about "the period between adulthood and youth where you haven't decided what you're going to be, but you know that you can't be what you are," according to Special J — being the centerpiece.

"Other than the songs [where] we brag and say we're the toughest crew on the planet, you could say that," Special J said, joking before offering a serious sentiment (again!). "It's unavoidable that the music reflects your life experiences. And life, unfortunately, becomes less of a party."

Of course, the group's sense of humor still shines through on Volumizer. "Brew Ha Ha!" boasts comical lines such as "He's going nuts like cashew," but the new "Lemon Drop" is the kicker.

"It's about the mistake a girl made by dating a guy in a rock band and doing something that he didn't like, hence giving him the ability to throw her name across the country and show everybody what we want people to think she is," Special J said. "Which, of course, is exactly how she is."

2 Skinnee J's also chose to showcase their humorous side for the video to "Grown Up," which they shot recently in Los Angeles. Comedian Andy Dick directed and starred in the clip, which is based on "Gumnaam," a 1965 movie that was excerpted in the opening credits to last year's "Ghost World."

"There's these Indian movies from Bollywood, and they have extravagant dance numbers in them. They're ridiculously over the top," Special J explained. "So we based it on that. Andy Dick is in drag. It's funny and pretty. There's no real story, other than dancing."

2 Skinnee J's tour dates, according to their management:

• 3/26 - Wilmington, NC @ Marrz Theatre
• 3/27 - Hilton Head Island, SC @ Blue Nite Cafe
• 3/28 - Winston-Salem, NC @ Ziggy's
• 3/29 - Radford, VA @ Radford University (w/ Ludacris)
• 3/30 - Richmond, VA @ Canal Club
• 4/1 - Greenville, SC @ The Handlebar
• 4/3 - Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theatre
• 4/4 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
• 4/5 - Columbia, SC @ 3 Rivers Music Festival
• 4/6 - Charlotte, NC @ Tremont Music Hall
• 4/7 - Charleston, SC @ Music Farm
• 4/13 - Baltimore, MD @ Goucher College
• 4/23 - Pelham, AL @ Oak Mountain Amphitheater
• 5/11 - Rochester, NY @ Institute of Technology

• 2 Skinnee J's

Between the personal scandals and rampant bootlegging, people were starting to wonder whether Jay-Z and R. Kelly's The Best of Both Worlds would actually come out. But after some juggling of release dates, the rap/R&B album will be released Tuesday.

Going through somewhat of a personal scandal himself, incarcerated Ol' Dirty Bastard proves he's still for the children. Even though he won't be a free man for a while, that doesn't mean fans can't enjoy a dose of Dirty now. His third album, The Trials and Tribulations of Russell Jones, recorded when he was on the lam from a court-ordered drug rehab program in Los Angeles, hits shelves as well.

Also in stores this week are some puzzling reissues, such as Rick Astley's Greatest Hits and Haddaway's Greatest Hits (who can name another besides "What Is Love"?).

After a few years of waiting, indie hard-rockers Rye Coalition finally got to work with producer Steve Albini (Nirvana, Pixies), and the results can be heard on the Jersey quintet's third album, On Top.

And look for Land 1975-2002, a kick-ass Patti Smith anthology that confirms once and for all that she and her accompanying musicians are one of the hardest rocking bands of all time.

Out Tuesday, March 19:

• 2 Skinnee J's - Volumizer (Volcano Entertainment)
• Absu - Tara (Olypmic)
• Alien Sex Fiend - Flashbacks! Live 1995-98 (Yeaah)
• All About Eve - Fairy Light Nights — Live Acoustic (Yeaah)
• Antibalas - Talkatif (Ninja Tune)
• Rick Astley - Greatest Hits (BMG Heritage)
• Avenged Sevenfold - Sounding the Seventh Trumpet (Hopeless)
• Blind Guardian - A Night at the Opera (Century Media)
• Block 16 - Morning Sun Remixed (Suphonic)
• Boney M - The Greatest Hits (BMG Heritage)
• Break - Break (Doghouse)
• Brick Layer Cake - Whatchamacallit (Touch & Go)
• Brother JT3 - Spirituals (Drag City)
• Cannibal Ox - El-P Presents Cannibal Oxtrumentals (Def Jux)
• Jimmy Castor Bunch - 16 Slabs of Funk (BMG Heritage)
• Comet Gain - Realistes (Kill Rock Stars)
• Alice Cooper - Welcome to My Nightmare (expanded reissue, Atlantic)
• Corey - I'm Just Corey (Motown)
• Custom Fast (Artist Direct)
• Damned - Live Anthology (Castle America)
• Deadman - Paramour (Lakeshore)
• December Wolves - Blasterpiece Theater (Earache)
• Matt Deighton - Common Good (Yeaah)
• Dieselboy - Project Human (Six-Eleven)
• Dimmu Borgir - Stormblast (Century Media)
• DJ Screw - All Work No Play 2 (Reliant Entertainment)
• East River Pipe - Shining Hours in a Can (Merge)
• Edan - Primitive Plus (Solid)
• Faust - Freispiel (EFA)
• Five Pointe O - Untitled (Roadrunner)
• Fleetwood Mac - Show Biz Blues 1968-1970 Volume 2 (Castle America)
• Flogging Molly - Drunken Lullabies (Side One Dummy)
• Gas Huffer - Rest of Us (Estrus)
• Crystal Gayle - The Best of Crystal Gayle (Rhino)
• Geez 'N' Gosh - Nobody Knows (EFA)
• Giant Sand - Cover Magazine (Touch & Go)
• Grateful Dead - Postcards of the Hanging (Arista)
• Gravity Kills - Superstarved (Sanctuary)
• Haddaway - Greatest Hits (Empire Musicwerks)
• Hall & Oates - Do It for Love (BMG Heritage)
• Darren Hayes - Spin (Columbia)
• Richard Hell - Time (Matador)
• Hella - Hold Your Horse Is (Five Rue Christine)
• Herbaliser - Something Wicked This Way Comes (Ninja Tune)
• Human Remains - Where Were You When (Relapse)
• Hypocrisy - Catch 22 (Century Media)
• Jay-Z/R.Kelly - The Best of Both Worlds (Roc-A-Fella)
  Read about it ... Bootleggers Get The Best Of Jay-Z, R. Kelly
• Jelly Jam - The Jelly Jam (Inside Out)
• Joi - Star Kitty's Revenge (Universal)
• Angelique Kidjo - Black Ivory Soul (Columbia)
• Sander Kleinenberg - Essential Mix (Rhino)
• Knut - Challenger (Hydra Head)
• Glenn Lewis - World Outside My Window (Epic)
• Nils Lofgren - Break Away Angel (TYB)
• Timo Maas - Loud (Kinetic)
• Christy McWilson - Bed of Roses (Hightone)
• Megadeth - Rude Awakening (Sanctuary)
• Miguel Migs - Nude Tempo 1 (Astralwerks)
• Miss Kittin & The Hacker - First Album (Emperor Norton)
• Monster Trux - Grind (Underground Inc.)
• Mystic Diversions - Crossing the Liquid Mirror (Tommy Boy)
• Ann Nesby - Put It on Paper (Universal)
• Ol' Dirty Bastard - The Trials & Tribulations of Russell Jones (Riviera)
• Place of Skulls - Nailed (Southern Lord)
• Playgroup - Playgroup (Astralwerks)
• Pro-Pain - Shreds of Dignity (Spitfire)
• Psychedelic Furs - Forever Now (reissue, Legacy)
• Psychedelic Furs - Talk Talk Talk (reissue, Legacy)
• Psychedelic Furs - Psychedelic Furs (reissue, Legacy)
• Reivers - Saturday (reissue, Dualtone)
• Reivers - End of the Day (reissue, Dualtone)
• Eileen Rose - Long Shot Novena (Rough Trade)
• Rye Coalition - On Top (Tiger Style)
• Saint Low - Tricks for Dawn (Cooking Vinyl)
• Schatzi - Fifty Reasons to Explode (Mammoth)
• Sham 69 - Best of: The Cockney Kids are Innocent (Castle America)
• Sid Vicious - Vicious White Kids: Live! (Castle America)
• Simple Plan - No Helmets No Pads ... Just Balls (Atlantic)
  Read about it ... Alienation Lands Simple Plan On Movie Soundtrack, Warped Tour
• Simply Jeff - Phonomental Music Presents: Next Step (BML)
• Slaughter & the Dogs - We Don't Care Anthology (Castle America)
• Chris Smith - Map Ends: 1995-2001 (Emperor Jones)
• Patti Smith - Land (1975-2002) (Arista)
• Soledad Brothers - StealYour Soul and Dare Your Spirit to Move (Estrus)
• Soul Coughing - Lust in Phaze: The Best of Soul Coughing (Rhino)
• Spylab - This Utopia (Guidance)
• Steps - Best of Steps (Jive)
• Super Furry Animals - Rings Around the World (XL)
• Theatre of Hate - Singles Collection (Yeaah)
• Thunderpuss - Thunderpuss (Tommy Boy)
• Traffic - Welcome to the Canteen (reissue, Island)
• Traffic - Low Spark of High Heeled Boys (reissue, Island)
• Uncle Tupelo - 89/93: An Anthology (Legacy)
• Usurper - Necronemesis (Earache)
• Whippersnapper - Appearances Wear Thin (Fueled by Ramen)
• Windsor for the Derby - Earnest Powers+ (Emperor Jones)
• Wishbone Ash - Lost Cause in Paradise (Yeaah)
• X-Ray Spex - Anthology (Castle America)
• Yesh - Into Fresh Things (Ill Boogie)
• Yes - Talk (reissue, Spitfire)
• Various artists - "Blade 2" soundtrack (Immortal)
• Various artists - "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial 20th Anniversary Edition" soundtrack (MCA)
• Various artists - "Kissing Jessica Stein" soundtrack (Verve)
• Various artists - Live From the Roxy 2 (Castle America)
• Various artists - Martha Stewart Living: Quiet Time (Rhino)
• Various artists - Monsters of Rap 2 (Razor & Tie)
• Various artists - Now That's What I Call Music! Vol. 9 (Universal)
• Various artists - Punk Lives! (Castle America)
• Various artists - Replay: Tribute to Moby (Cleopatra)
• Various artists - Select Cuts From Echo Beach (EFA)
• Various artists - "Showtime" soundtrack (MCA)
• Various artists - Space Daze (Big Eye)
• Various artists - Armageddon: Tribute to Destruction (Owell)
• Various artists - Tribute to Dire Straits (Big Eye)
• Various artists - Tribute to Peter Gabriel (Vitamin)
• Various artists - Tribute to the Prodigy (Cleopatra)
• Various artists - West Coast Bad Boyz: Poppin' Collars (No Limit)

Coming Soon (Dates Subject To Change)

March 26:

• Celine Dion - A New Day Has Come (Epic/Sony)
  Read about it ... Celine Dion Covers Old Tunes On New Day
• Funky Green Dogs - Super California (MCA)
• Rubyblue - Beyond Pink (BAB)

April 2:

• Apex Theory - Topsy-Turvy (DreamWorks)
  Read about it ... Apex Theory Offer 'Hope' To Metal — Diggy-Da
• Ashanti - Ashanti (Island/Def Jam)
• Tweet - Southern Hummingbird (Elektra)
• Various artists - Loud Records 10th Anniversary (Loud)

April 9:

• Baldwin Brothers - Cooking With Lasers (TVT)
• Bonnie Raitt - Silver Lining (Capitol)
• Ultrapull - From All Directions (Gold Circle)
• Quarashi - Jinx (Columbia)

April 16:

• Jimmy Fallon - The Bathroom Wall (DreamWorks)
• Lil' Romeo - Game Time (Universal/No Limit)

April 23:

• Naughty by Nature - Iicons (TVT)
• Tina Novak - Been Around the World (Arista)
• Q-Tip - Kamaal the Abstract (Arista)
• Sloan - Pretty Together (RCA)
• Sneaker Pimps - Bloodsport (Tommy Boy)

April 30:

• Blackalicious - Blazing Arrow (MCA)
• Donell Jones - Life Goes On (Arista)
• Various artists - "Spider-Man" soundtrack (Columbia)

• Jay-Z
• R. Kelly
• Ol' Dirty Bastard
• Simple Plan
• 2 Skinnee J's

The 2 Skinnee J's will drop its new album, "Volumizer," next month, and for the first single, "Stockholm Love," the New York City-based rap and rock crew has taken a look at a rather peculiar display of affection.

The J's bassist Eddie Eyeball and keyboardist Stevie Spice told MTV News that the song was about Stockholm Syndrome, a psychological phenomenon in which kidnapping victims fall in love with their captors.

The term originated after a 1973 incident in Stockholm, Sweden, where a pair of ex-convicts took four hostages after their attempted bank robbery went awry. Even though the hostages were held for six days, they developed strong sentimental feelings for their captors and later refused to testify against the men.

After studying the case, social scientists determined that the emotional bond formed between captors and captives was actually a common occurrence in oppressive situations.

Spice admitted that the connection wasn't as clearly drawn for him when he first heard the band's two frontmen, Special J and J Guevara, hammering out the lyrics for "Stockholm Love."

"Well, it's funny," Eyeball told MTV News, "because when we were doing the demos, I though they were saying 'Stuck On Love.' But then it was explained to me, and now we're forced to explain ourselves about the song, just because it's something that people don't know a lot about.

"I always though of it as a James Bond kind of thing," he continued,