RH First Look: Choo Jackson
As a young kid growing up in Pittsburgh during the Black And Yellow era, the success from artists such as Wiz Khalifa and Mac Miller took my interest in rap music to a local community for the first time in my life. When exploring underground artists associated with these larger acts, Choo Jaskson was a name that popped up frequently. The Florida native, who relocated to Pittsburgh, has since been signed to Mac Miller's label REMember Music.
After dropping several projects with REMember Music, and the collective project, FOREVERKOOL : BEFORE THE DIRT VOL. 1, Choo has surpassed millions of plays on Soundcloud. Below Choo's latest tracks, I added our interview.
rubyhornet: Where does the name Choo Jackson come from?
Choo Jackson: Choo is my childhood nickname, a family name from my grandma.
rubyhornet: Favorite late night snack/food?
Choo Jackson: Favorite late night snack is probably just cereal . I’m trying to do better with the eating late shit.
rubyhornet: I see you have “Forever Kool” tatted on your hand. What can you tell us about ForeverKool Records?
Choo Jackson: Foreverkool records is an indie label I created with my best friends. Artist/producers and creatives. Muneykidstaxx, Phil 800k, Cadet, Bubba, Bradley, Brennan, and Christo as well. We’re trying to build the next indie label for the kid that couldn’t get a chance because they're in a small town or just a weird situation you know.
rubyhornet: Do you plan on staying in Pittsburgh for the near future? As a Pittsburgh native myself, I know the music scene in the city has different opportunities/challenges than what one would experience living in LA or NYC.
Choo Jackson: Na I’m actually moving out of Pitt right now. In a few weeks I’ll be out. Going back to help my mother recover from a surgery she’s having. Help for a few months then make a move to the Atlanta area. And I’m actually not a Pittsburgh native I’m from Florida on the real, but I feel like Pitt embraced me so much I see why it can be confused. And yea it’s challenging, the scene here is growing though, and I’m apart of that. I’m just gonna expand it, and take it with me on my next chapter of life. Just as I did in Florida and Chambersburg, I bring my experience with me.
rubyhornet: What’s the craziest thing that has happened to you during a live performance/tour?
Choo Jackson: I think it was Orlando Florida. I was on The GO:OD AM tour with Mac. I’m performing and it’s so lit. The crowd is treating me like fucking Jimi Hendrix or something. Asking me to hit the weed from the crowd, so of course I took the blunt. Then someone says jump in the crowd. Mind you I’ve always been kinda heavy, and a running back in high school, so I didn’t think it was possible, at least for me. I FUCKING JUMP IN THE CROWD and they carry me all the way out like wtf .. yes! Finish my set. Hop off stage, walk back stage, then me and someone got into an argument and was about to fight. Chairs got thrown, I almost got kicked off the tour, haha shit was crazy .. real rockstar shit.
rubyhornet: What producers do you hope to link up with in the future? Between Christo and yourself, it appears like much of the production work is achieved locally.
Choo Jackson: Just Pharrell and Ye. I’ll let Cudi produce an album for me. And South Side. That’s my dream team, other then Christo and Muneykidstaxx. I’m really trying to keep it in the fam. But that’s my producer list, facts. And yea me and Christo do everything from beats, A&R, and picking all the songs, he's really like my Chad Hugo. So we wanna keep the levels up, plus he killing shit with J.I.D.
rubyhornet: What should fans be on the lookout for during the rest of 2018?
Choo Jackson: What fans should expect from me is a lot of work. This is my Lil Wayne year. I’m gonna put out at big album, Called LYNN. And a slew of mixtapes, collab tapes, and EPs everywhere . So it’s on for everybody. It’s not safe for anyone.
Ric Wilson Brings Black Art To The Forefront On BANBA
Earlier this month Ric Wilson, known as both an artist and an activist around Chicago released his newest EP, BANBA (Black Art Not Bad Art) and with it truly established himself as a key member in the Chicago Renaissance movement. The 23 year old Southsider weaves an intricate tapestry with soul beats and lyrics celebrating his Blackness while simultaneously addressing the anxiety that comes with being marginalized in America. Ric Wilson is another prodigal lyricist that cut his teeth as a teenager in Young Chicago Authors, and like the other artists that came up in YCA (Noname, Kweku Collins, Mick Jenkins, Chance The Rapper) he uses his deft lyricism to create relatable and honest music. What sets Disco Ric apart from the rest is that he floats across genres to create bouncy tracks that reminisce of sunny days on the southside of Chicago.
The opening track of the album acts as a thesis for the rest of the project. It is interlaced with vocal samples of children and activists, and the chorus seems to be Ric’s mantra, “Black art not bad art… not mad art… not sad art”. The Hirsch produced beat sounds like it could only come from Chicago, with Monte Booker-esque glitches on top of a bouncy synth and a gospel moment that leads to an exuberant trumpet solo that sounds like it was part of a Chance record. At the end of the title track you hear a woman’s voice over street noise saying, “I am the revolution, and the revolution don’t stop.”
Sinner, the third track on the album which was also the lead single would fit perfectly on D’Angelo’s Voodoo in its production. Having grown up singing in the church choir Ric uses this track as a sort of confessional opening up to the listener about his life mixed in with his observations about the modern experience. But just like the rest of the EP there is an overwhelming optimism even when he’s talking about the problems that he has faced. For the single he brings his friend and fellow YCA alum Kweku Collins who continues the open honesty of the track with his verse, even ending with “still there’s shit that I’m guilty of… all you need to know is that I’m working on it.”
As a whole this album shows the triumph of love and hope over despair which is a relief considering the world that we’re living in. Wilson shows how much he’s grown on his 3rd EP. BANBA keeps all of the positivity from 2017’s Negrow Disco but with more perspective about the world laced in. Ric Wilson summarized it all perfectly, “don’t you take your love away”.
Stream the whole album below.
And check out Ric Wilson performing Sinner live on Fox with Kweku Collins here.
Westside Gunn Shares "Evidence Joint" (prod. by Evidence)
Shortly after the drop of Weather or Not, Evidence shared photos of his studio sessions with Westside Gunn and Conway The Machine. Today, we have the fruit of that labor in the form of "Evidence Joint" a new track from W$G produced by Ev and all gemed out. W$G's got a new G-Shock in the Necklace, and he's got a new album dropping June 22nd. Peep the new track below.
https://soundcloud.com/gxfr/westside-gunn-evidence-joint-prod-by-evidence
DJ Premier Remixes J. Cole's 1985
DJ Premier shares his remix to the J. Cole track 1985 this morning on Soundcloud. When 1985 dropped, many viewed the track as a diss to the new wave of Soundcloud artists, such as Lil Pump and others.
“I bought J. Cole's KOD LP as soon as it dropped with no warning to the fans; which I too am a fan. ‘1985’ resonated with me immediately, so I asked Cole if I could get the Acapella and do an underground DJ version just for fun. He sent it and I just pieced some stab samples to keep it on some boom bap shit. Here it is!”