After hitting the brick wall of Ruff Town Behavior,
J.T. Money severed his ties with Luther Campbell, citing shady business practices and promotional neglect. So he took his anything-but-PC
Poison Clan over to Warlock and released
Strait Zooism in 1995.
J.T. had yet to leave Miami completely behind (that would come a few years later), as he continued to work with producer Mike "Fresh" McCray. However, the production on this album is downright crisp-sounding when compared to earlier
Poison Clan albums, and on most of the tracks,
J.T. delivers his lyrics in an uncharacteristically gruff, raspy manner (if anything, it could've been a record from the West Coast -- right on down to the
Funkadelic swipe in "Something About Them Bitches"). At times, he sounds as if he's more concerned with breaking from his past than anything else, but this really isn't a problem if you keep his previous records out of the context.
J.T.'s new but temporary situation seems to have fostered an album with more life to it than its mediocre predecessor, but it still seems like just another
Poison Clan record. Thankfully,
J.T. would revitalize himself after heading to Atlanta and going solo in name. ~ Andy Kellman