On Oct. 7, 2003, Jean Grae released The Bootleg of The Bootleg EP. One of the most versatile talents in music, Jean Grae was lyrically as focused as ever on the outing, which further proved that she's arguably among the most skilled writers in Hip-Hop.

A singular artist who’s good at practically everything (singing, acting, comedy, producing, rapping), Jean’s career spans decades, kicking off in the mid-90s and twisting its way through creative disciplines and platforms — from the comedy stage, to the screen, to the booth, and beyond. She’s always marched to her own drum and it’s always been a few beats ahead of everyone else.

To that end, The Bootleg of The Bootleg EP puts Jean's complex wordplay and easygoing delivery on display. The six-song project is defined by songs like "Swing Blades," featuring Cannibal Ox, where Jean shines over laidback production and on "My Crew" where she raps, "Rap's dead, rap sucks/Thanks to y'all for killin' it, grillin' it down, and spillin' its guts and fillin' it back up with trash." The EP's final entry, "Chapter One: Destiny" was a 45-minute compilation of rhymes, which has since been broken into proper songs on the EP's deluxe version.

In a 2013 interview with Ali Shaheed Muhammad for NPR, Jean described her creative process.

"I'm not good at starting a project like a month or two in advance or anything," she said. "I don't even — even let's just do rap-wise. I've never written anything ahead of time. I have to write directly before I record it. That's it. So I absolutely work best under pressure. And I think, for me, if there isn't anything there, I create situations and deadlines where I'm like, "Gotta put out an album tomorrow." Everybody's like, "Why?" I'm like, "I don't know. One, because I can. And trust me. It'll be great. You'll love it." You're not going to know that it took me a day. And then you're going to be like, "No, it didn't." Cause that sounds crazy."

The Bootleg of The Bootleg followed up her 2002 acclaimed debut, Attack of the Attacking Things, and arrived before her two follow-ups, 2004's This Week and the critically-lauded effort with 9th Wonder, 2008's Jeanius. A glimpse into one of rap's greatest talents, The Bootleg of The Bootleg is a solid entry in Jean's sprawling discography.