By R.M. Schneiderman

At a rawkus show last year at Avalon in Manhattan, hip-hop production maven, Rjd2, surprised me by coming out for an encore performance brandishing—of all things—an acoustic guitar. Then, to my greater astonishment, he actually started playing it and—what the fuck—singing? My initial thought: What is this John Mayer bullshit?

More than a year later, I got my answer in the form of The Third Hand¸ Rj’s first release following his cordial departure from indie rap powerhouse, Definitive Jux. So has Rj become just another acoustic guitar-carrying, fake emo heartthrob? Not at all. He’s just gone instrumental. Indeed, aside from the drums, the Columbus, Ohio-bred sampling guru plays every instrument on the album, assembling a well-crafted collage that lies somewhere in between DJ Shadow and John Lennon.

In doing so, clearly the producer born R.J. Krohn is taking a risk. All of his solo releases have been strong, and he could have simply followed in the footsteps of some of hip-hop’s greatest producers, such as Rza and Primo, who have developed distinct, signature sounds and repeated them to their fans delight. Instead, The Third Hand marks a major departure from Rj’s more soulful backdrops, as he instead opts for a more rock and pop infused collection of soundscapes.

“I needed to change things,” he explains. “I hit a point where I wanted to be able to do things I couldn’t achieve strictly by using samples.”

Another reason for the shift? The legal issues that come with using samples. “I’ve never been on a major label,” he admits. “I don’t have the resources to clear samples and deal with those things. When you’re a smaller artist, people don’t really know who you are. But now I’m kinda at a point in my career where I really need to think about those things.”

What really makes this record different, however, is that there are no MCs on it, only Rj’s laid-back vocals. That initially might put off some fans, but it shouldn’t. Rj’s singing is surprisingly strong. And though this is clearly a fusion record, it’s still largely derivative of hip-hop, not unlike Cage’s “Shoot Frank,” a rap/rock song, produced last year by the former MHz beatsmith.

Of course on any experimental project, there are problems, notes that sound off, songs that don’t work. On “You Never Had It So Easy,” for instance, the piano arrangement is rather dull in comparison to the rest of the album. Regardless, The Third Hand is a fresh injection of originality, a strong, cohesive album that can be listened to in its entirety. It likely won’t be his last experimental project, either. “I really like to make records that don’t, say, stick to a particular genre, but themed projects,” he says. “I want to do an R&B record that sounds like a fucking R&B record.”

To some fans, that might sound like blasphemy. But if Rj wants to come on stage with an acoustic guitar or make music more fit for Luther Vandross than, say, Aesop Rock, I for one won’t utter the phrase “singer/songwriter” with the usual scorn and disdain.