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.
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!”
A$AP Rocky Explores New Ground on Testing
A sample filled experimentation of sounds is described best by A$AP Rocky himself during an interview in January. "Basically, the point of this whole shit is just testing new sounds. Just new wavelengths. It’s more so the outcome of an experiment.." Testing explores new land for the Harlem rapper who decides to sing over rapping on tracks like Calldrops, which feature an incarcerated Kodak Black.
The addicting hook in F**k Sleep is made for the replay button.
"Fuck em, fuck sleep, come clean, zonin'
Can't forget that I'm golden, can't forget where I'm going
Fuck popo, police, enemies, fake homies
Can't forget that I'm a OG, better act like you know it"
Melodic and effortless, Rocky pulls off a new sound I hope to hear more of in the future.
Returning to his roots with Clams Casino on "Black Tux, White Collar", Rocky delivers his iconic pitched down voice before the final track plays. "Purity", next to "Changes", marks the most introspective side of Rocky we have seen to date. With the aid of an unforgettable Frank Ocean verse, Rocky speaks about drug addiction and his sisters death on the outro track of an album that is truly 'testing' new grounds.
Pusha T Sends Shots at Drake & Birdman on DAYTONA
Venom raps, over Kayne soul beats, has Pusha T sounding his best in years on his project DAYTONA. Within the first seconds of the album, Pusha explodes out the gates with hard hitting bar after bar. On the intro track, If You Know You Know, he asks "Where were you when Big Meech brought the tigers in?" Reminiscing on a drug dealers paradise in Atlanta, while also claiming his long time involvement in the game.
Epic drops and transitions within songs like Santeria, free Pusha to focus on the lyrical content. He addresses, Drake, Birdman, Lil Wayne, and others, while still showing homage to rap legends Jay-Z and Eazy-E.
On the outro, Infrared, Pusha states he is aware of the fakes in the industry that others are blind to. "How could you ever right these wrongs? When you don't even write your songs?" The highly anticipated response to Drake has many fans seeing Pusha as one of the kings of rap.
Juice WRLD Releases Project After Signing $3 Million Deal.
With an explosion of streams and video plays over the past few months, the Illinois native, from the suburb, Calumet Park, finds major success with a joint venture deal involving Interscope valued at over $3 million.
Juice WRLD's project, Goodbye & Good Riddance, was released yesterday, May 23rd. This 15 track project contains no features. Well known hits such as, Lucid Dreams and All Girls Are the Same are placed on this record, after achieving millions of plays on streaming services.
"Too busy making money, to worry 'bout making memories" highlights the unapologetic tone Juice WRLD delivers on the outro of the breakup based record.
Kahrion & Squeak from Pivot Link on Weight
Kahrion flows effortlessly on a Lil Wayne sampled track produced by Squeak from Pivot titled Weight. The spacey beat is complimented by the raw lyrics about losing friends, breaking laws for cash, and the emotional toll this has on a person.
Being introspective about the life he is living has a sobering feeling, very similar to I Feel Like Dying, the song that is sampled in this track. Weight marks the first release in seven months from Kahrion with a new project, Rambleworld on the way.
Michael Christmas Drops New Single with Fool's Gold
Michael Christmas follows up with his second single titled Ball, produced by Thelonious Martin & Aniko Thomas, off his upcoming album Role Model. The album will be released with his new label home Fool's Gold. This project is the first full length release from Christmas since the rapper’s 2016’s Baggy Eyes EP release.
The Boston native drops Ball right before NBA game 5 between the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Your head will be bouncing like the beat to this funky track.