NYC’s active Jackson Turner who now resides in China on and off is something truly special. For all the hip hop heads who want to know of a extremely hard working hip hop artist, get listening! Turner has managed to pull off a nicely packaged new hip hop album ‘Bare Knuckle Soul’ which harbours the genres of hip hop, boom bap, trap, reggae and soul. Using a steady bouncy hip hop lyricism to accompany a variety of influences in music; Turner astonishingly wraps all of these moods and music textures together and creates a real treat for listeners who are into these influences. And listeners into what is predominantly an accurate reflection of the birth of underground hip hop lyricism while definitely approvingly talking about everyday topics in a hypnotic and chilled way. This is an album you can both show to your friends to prove you’re undeniably cool and also the album you can show to your grandmother when she asks what you’ve been doing over Christmas!
Each song captures the partial essence of what for me hip hop should be about, relaxation and reflection. Yes there is a also lot of energy in various forms of high passion, anger and scepticism that hip hop generally addresses nicely but as a keen hip hop listener I feel when the mood of reflection and relaxation are stimulated in a new hip hop album I become like a magnet to that album. It is an art and a skill to reflect of struggles and life topics while soothing your listeners too. Just like in the famous early Grandmaster flash hip hop track,’ The Message’, ‘the world is like a jungle sometimes i wonder how i keep from going under’ it is predominantly a self-soothing track that soothes and calms others. This is what I feel Turner excels in; getting a message across while soothing people and really looking after his responsive and delighted listeners.
The album is released by TMG, China’s biggest record label. Not to mention, Turner speaks fluent Chinese and has also released songs in Mandarin that he has written. He is one to watch out for, he’s keeping the momentum and giving us an album we need!
I am Hip Hop team look forward to the many more successes of Turner and advise tuning in and finding your own reasons to love this album!
