INTERVIEW WITH GERALD JACOBS (@geejaytweets)

After the release of his recent video Astronomy, I am Hip-hop Magazine got an exclusive interview with alternative rapper Gerald Jacobs.

Q. Who is Gerald Jacobs? Where are you from and what inspired you into becoming an artist?

I am a producer, originally from South East London. I had to make a pitstop in Kent for a few years lol and I now reside in Portsmouth for University. I was inspired by my own experiences, other peoples experiences around me and different vibes, whether good or bad. In combination with my life-long love for music and my father who was a DJ and a passionate vinyl collector.

Q. What does your music mean to you?

Its a job, its a lifestyle and its what I study. Its a form of communication as well as an art to people I feel can relate to my story.

Q. Which musical albums/projects have influenced you as artist?

Good Kid Maad City- Kendrick Lamar

Priscilla E.P- JMSN

Mobb Deep- The Infamous

Nas – illmatic

Flying Lotus – Until the quiet comes

Q. You don’t class yourself as “just a rapper”, why is that? What makes you different to other artist?

Lol. I feel like when people ask you what you do, and you say your a rapper; they already have a expectation of me being like any random rapper that you would find living two doors away from you in London and the UK in general. I do not like to make things hard for myself so I will always reply and say that I am just a producer or a musician. I believe that most artists who can produce or know how to produce usually turn out to be more experimental. I also think that they know themselves as musicians more and have a much more of an understanding of their potential as artists. The more you say, the more I think people have an expectation for you to perform and you put yourself under pressure to perform and live up to your hype. If you are not about your talk in their eyes, you’re digging yourself a hole.

Q. Now you’ve just released the visuals for Astronomy. It was so creative and artistic, how long did that project take and tell us about the concept of the video.

The video took a whole day to film and or three weeks to edit. Lloyd Anarfi (ANARFIFILMS) who was behind the video sat down with me and we gathered a number of ideas from a film called ‘Enter the void’, 80/90’s music video, and of course Kanye’s ‘All of the lights’.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7WMLZlpbvU[/youtube]

Q. You don’t see many videos as aesthetically pleasing as the Astronomy video, especially from the UK scene. Does that say a lot about the UK music scene? Does it need to be shaken up to reach new levels?

During the writing and production of the track and the music video; I believe everyone in the box thought out the box. I think that sometimes you have to step out your box before you are able to think out your box as your art gets a lot of its influence from its surroundings. I feel like a lot of rappers and producers in the UK subconsciously blend in and conform with the norm of british rap with a basic flow, basic content and a cliché production. That is not me lol. But yeah!. I think a wake up and shake up will be good for the UK music industry as a whole.

Q. What projects do you have coming up? EP? Live performances? Features?

I have a forthcoming mixtape on the way which is called; The Loudest Quiet. I also have performances lined up for when my mixtape is released. As for features; I have a few new tracks en route from myself, Galarga , Yng Plato and more members of my collective I am from; ‘THE HOUSE OF SUEDE’.

Q. Which 5 artist dead or alive would you love to work with and why?

Kendrick

Isaiah Rashad

Schoolboy Q

Flying Lotus

Nas

These are the first musicians that come into my head when I think of real storyteller musicians in the game, whether its by production or vocals. I am all about painting my canvas and telling my story. I believe my videos also add to that as I class myself as a visual artist also in a sense.

Q. What does 2014 look like for Gerald Jacobs?

SUEDE’s. 2014 looks like it’s Suedes!

Follow Gerald via Twitter @geejaytweets and keep an eye out for his future projects via POW PR