Shape of Broad Minds was a group made up of Jneiro Jarel, Dr. Who Dat?, Jawwaad, Panama Black, and Rocque Wun.[6] With the exception of Jawwaad, the rest of the group were aliases of Jneiro Jarel.[6] In an interview with Clash, Jarel stated that Craft of the Lost Art came out of a deep depression, saying, "I'd had a bad year and felt really low, like I was drowning, so I built the album around that."[7] He described it as "an album left in a treasure chest underwater."[7] The album featured guest appearances from MF Doom, Count Bass D, John Robinson, Stacy Epps, and Deborah Jordan.[6]
Critical reception
Vincent Thomas of AllMusic gave the album 4.5 stars out of 5, calling it "an exploratory album, with no terrain off limits."[1] Tom Smith of Cyclic Defrost said, "it's forward thinking, soulful, honest, hip hop that has been in high rotation around here for several weeks."[2] Jesse Serwer of XLR8R said, "SOBM flips a spaced-out jazzy aesthetic that at various points recalls Digable Planets, Antipop Consortium, and J Dilla."[5]
Siobhan Murphy of Metro gave the album 4 stars out of 5, saying: "There's variety and invention aplenty, moments of beauty and sly humour, but ultimately the album's 23 tracks add up to a cohesive hip hop offering of genuine significance."[3] Mosi Reeves of Spin said, "[Jneiro Jarel is] better off handing the mic to guest MCs Count Bass D, MF Doom, and Stacy Epps and focusing on his richly textured, next-level beats."[4]PopMatters placed it at number 90 on the "101 Hip-Hop Albums of 2007" list.[8]
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