Between Yesterday and Tomorrow is the significant yet relatable story of how one man, exhausted and unsatisfied with the monotony of his 9 to 5 job, seizes today and makes the transition from a broke hustler, twiddling his thumbs at a job he hates to a rapper, pursuing his dreams in the city of Los Angeles, another city where, if you can make it there, you can make it just about anywhere. Jonny Ill opens the album with a fairly obscure, yet oddly appropriate quote from the popular movie, Batman Begins. Liam Neeson’s haunting voice echoes on the intro, ‘The New Start’ as he urges a young Batman, “…If you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal and if they can’t stop you, then you become something else entirely… Legend.” It sets the tone for the album, a hopeful, determined tone that resonates within each track. Between Yesterday and Tomorrow is a concept album that follows Jonny Ill’s struggles to pursue his creative endeavors while simultaneously keeping a roof over his head and devoting his days to a dead-end job. It’s a struggle that most of us can relate to and Jonny encourages the listener to take the journey along with him in his upbeat and uplifting lyrics. The album includes descriptive songs that paint pictures and ultimately come together to form a scene in the life of Jonny Ill, covering everything from hustling just to get by to romantic exploits and dreams on their way to being accomplished. A talented cast of artists is featured throughout the album, but the quick-witted rhymes of ILListic Cindy Antoun and the rhapsodizing vocals of John West seem to resonate. John West is featured on the track ‘Pretty Girl’, which at first seems out of place on an album primarily dominated by Jonny Ill’s desire to make it out of the trenches, the song proves to be a light-hearted interlude, showing how even the focused can occasionally become distracted by a flirty smile from an attractive female. However, Jonny Ill demonstrates his single-mindedness on the following track, when he is goes right back to ‘Making Moves.’ Overall, Between Yesterday and Tomorrow proves to be a refreshing breath of air amidst a class of artists who can’t stop rapping about what they DO have, Jonny Ill brings it back down to earth and releases an album that the rest of us can relate to and become inspired by.