The Windy City just got a lil colder...You take Kanye, Common, Lupe, Rhymefest, Twista,GemStones then pass the torch to GoD Jewels and you arguably have one of the best rap lineups in modern day hiphop.
Known for his slick wordplay and effortless flow Jewels will soon have not only the internet buzzin, but your car speakers bustin to what i tab "Lyrical Riding Music", Music not captured since The Black Album (imo), and most recent example is "Maybach Music" by Rick Ross & Jay-Z, but thats neither here or there...IA got a chance to interview the Chicago Emcee to discuss Rap, Life and the future of Hiphop...I Present G.o.D. Jewels a.k.a. The Chicago Bully a.k.a. Rifle Jordan - The Last
Shot a.k.a. Jewels Almighty a.k.a. Chicago Hope
Southside Chicago, IL (Wild 100's area) STAND UP!!!
FLOSS: Thanks for the patience to interview you, how you been?
JEWELS: I'm feelin' really "glorious" right now...(laughs)
FLOSS: God Jewels is an odd and unique name...how did u come up with it?
JEWELS: It honestly just came to me...It had a nice ring to it...(laughs) But
in all seriousness it's one of the more powerful sounding stage names
out right now...wouldn't you agree?
But nah, It's actually "G.o.D." Jewels, and the G.o.D part in it of
itself has endless meanings...But I'll spare you the elaborate
explanations and try to keep it basic: I just feel as though I'm one
of God's jewels...A diamond in the ruff if you will. A special type of
nigga. Everyone should feel that way in my opinion...But a lot of
people don't, So that's what they got me for.
FLOSS: Can you recall for the readers what made up decide to rap?
JEWELS: Oh, I was kinda like a late bloomer on the rap side G...I started at
like 17 years old. And at the time, It seemed as though I just kind of
stumbled into it, But lookin' back, That shit was actually destiny
when I think about it...
I just always had a deep love for hip-hop...I mean, Niggas lived off
that shit G...For real. I would memorize the lyrics word for word in
only like a couple of spins of the album, And I'd be reciting the shit
damn near AS good as the artist...If not better! (laughs) Like how you
got a nigga spittin' YOUR shit better than you? And it wasn't like I
was consciously going out of my way to memorize the shit on some Stan
type shit, But I would just naturally pick it up pretty effortlessly,
And I guess that lends itself to actually being a writer and being
able to deliver the bars. It wasn't no little hoe ass raps
either...Niggas used to walk around spittin' Big Pun verses with
ease...(laughs) But yea, I just respected the fuck out of hip-hop
since as far back as I can remember...
My cousin Jake used to say "You gon be a fuckin' rapper G...", And I
used to laugh it off...Now look. Guess folks saw somethin' I didn't
(laughs). Shouts to Jake...
FLOSS: I honestly didn't know Chicago was that official rapping wise
outside of Common and Twista back in the day...Where did all these
gifted emcee's arrive from?
JEWELS: Ummm...How about: Necessity is the mother of invention...
I wouldn't say that Chicago emcee's "arrived"...They were "made".
Chicago hip-hop is a product of being looked over by the labels and
fans for over a decade, Being treated like a second class city and
region as a whole, And a competitive, hungry, and vicious
environment...
To the niggas that are reading this: Can you HONESTLY say you was
checkin' for a Chicago nigga before Ye and Lupe? Like, Let's be for
real...It's this whole inferiority complex from a Chicago
standpoint...So after awhile, A whole bunch of niggas collectively
said "You know what? We'll show you."
They all went home to their lil tight rooms, or their momma's
basement, Got them a beat CD, A pen and a pad, And got it THE FUCK
in...I know, Because this is still my reality...I'm still in the
grind...
Fast-forward a few years later, And you got niggas like me, My team,
My guy Illinois...Shouts to The State...Uhhh...GemStones, Mikkey, Bump
and them...And niggas is NOT goin'...We WILL be recognized.
And it's even deeper than hip-hop...That feeling of inferiority,
Combined with the fact that niggas is not eating out here due to the
economy and their environment, is what's fueling all these murders in
Chicago this summer...Unfortunately.
But we didn't arrive...We been here...(laughs) Y'all made us.
FLOSS: Who are some of your musical influences?
JEWELS: The crib...(laughs)
I mean, Just livin' in the 100's is enough influence is it not?
Literally, Right before this interview, I watched these niggas sell
this cluck some soap...He came back to complain because they gave him
some fake work...So they pretty much whopped his ass like HE was in
the wrong and took his bike...(laughs)
Now I shouldnt be laughin' at that, But I could write a whole song on
JUST that!
But I mean, Other than Chicago and the hood in general...Because there
is obviously more to life than that, I draw my musical influences from
any and everywhere...I'm a well-rounded nigga, So that helps. Aside
from the typical nigga shit, I'm into everything from comic books and
technology, To history and government...
You ask another rapper what type of shit he's into, A nigga gon say,
"Uhhhh...Ummm...Basketball...Ummm...hoes..." (laughs)
So thank "God" there's more to "Jewels" than that...Ohhhh, Did you
peep the wordplay Floss? I'm cold as hell...(laughs)
FLOSS: Can you describe who you work with in the city? Any group affiliates?
JEWELS: Oh, Off top, Its Embassy Empire, Better known as "E2" all day.
Diction, My brother to the death - Naych, Real...E2 crazy.
I fuck wit The Boy Illinois heavy...That's my guy. That's like the Ryu
to my Ken and shit...My rap sparring partner...Nigga keep me on my
shit...He cold. Aint too many niggas fuckin' wit The State. Be sure to
download that Inhale Part 1 when that drops...Shouts to F.A. Squad
too.
Ummm...It's another dude by the name of Ickus...He was dope. He was a
Northside dude...I'm Southside to the death...So we was gonna put a
joint together called "The Crosstown Classic"...Niggas not in the know
can Wiki that...But anyway, That punk just fell off the map...I don't
know where he at...Hit me up if you see this Joe...
But that's it though really...Hopefully I can expand that resume and
work with more Chicago acts...
FLOSS: What projects are you working on at the moment?
JEWELS: Glory Or Death...Which is coming along great...real great.
It's just a lot of the little shit that needs to be done...Shit like
artwork and what not...Shouts to Dub on that...
And I'm planning on doin' the Glory Or Death covershoot this
summer...I need to do some more recording and tighten up some old
songs...As far as release, I'm shooting for early 2009...Winter music.
FLOSS: Can you share what you usually go through when your creating a song?
JEWELS: Beat first. Period. My prerequisite for beat selection is this: It has
to grab me...Pause. You know how you felt when you first heard the
Blueprint production? It's was just something that grabbed
you...Pause. So I feel if the beat can successfully grab
me...Pause...It will more than likely grab you...Pause.
I cant be NaS with the beat selection...But shouts to NaS.
After that prerequisite is cleared, The beat has to either fit a
preconcieved concept, Or speak to me in such a way that it TELLS me
what to write about...You know those beats where you be like "Oh, This
is the joint where I speak on this...". The type of shit that was just
tailor made for a certain topic. But you gotta be careful with that,
Because you can box yourself into a cliche topic or talking point.
Then after that, I want to express myself in a way that hasnt been
done before...If it's something thats been said already, I have to
freak it to where its fresh and new again...If I'm traveling the
beaten path that everyone else walked down, I gotta at least backflip
down that ma'fucka...
To steal one from Pusha, "Twist metaphors to avoid sounding cliche..."
Too many niggas rap...You gotta approach shit from whole new angles nowadays.
FLOSS: Name your fave verse of all time... And one from yourself as we'll
if its not already your favorite.Explain why.
JEWELS: I can't do that...(laughs)
There are TOO many verses to name, And I'm so finicky that if I ever
did establish an all-time favorite verse, It would change everyday...
But I CAN tell you my favorite all-time verse is for today and today
only...(laughs)
So yea, As of today, I'm really fuckin' with NaS's verse off of
Revolutionary Warfare on God's Son...
That shit is really potent to me...A lot of gems in that verse...But
niggas don't really dissect NaS shit the way they be tryin' to DaVinci
Code Jay-Z's verses. But I guess Jay is more accessible...
But anyway, This punk NaS said:
"The beauty of life was when my moms said 'Nigga, YOU could be
Christ...', I wasn't old enough to hold my dick and pee right..."
Nigga...what? (laughs)
Then he follow that by sayin':
"Jesus? What is He like? I pictured Him standin' with diamonds on Him,
A little different from the way my Mommy saw Him..."
His momma saw Christ in him when he was just a shorty, And he saw
Christ as some nigga with all types of ice on...(laughs) Everybody
views Jesus differently, And Jesus is a part of all of us...It's just
ill to me how NaS conveyed that in that verse...His mind works crazy.
As far as a favorite verse of mine, My most recently created verse is
usually my favorite...So I would say I'm fuckin' with the verse I
wrote for this joint with me and Henz0 called "Royalty". My usual
sarcastic, sardonic, smart-ass, joke-cracking, witty, condescending
shit...A nigga was just stuntin' on that one...Havin' fun...Nothin'
too serious.
FLOSS: Your not a stranger to the limelight, and we all know that's when
people start taking shots...have you had to put any "Out of Liners" in
place? If so who? (Subliminal or not lol)
JEWELS: First off, Stop with that limelight shit G...(laughs)
I can be an arrogant asshole, But I know how to humble myself at
times...To be real, I haven't really done anything yet by my
standards. Yea, I'm better than a lot of niggas rappin' and I have a
very good chance to be "great" in this game, But I'm not there yet...I
gotta keep workin'.
So there is not limelight yet...Shit is lemonlight...I'm bitter as
fuck G...(laughs)
As far as puttin' people in line, I'm gonna have to put one of my
little kids over my knee in the near future...Grounded.
No TV...No phone...Ummm...Gotdammit...No goin' outside...No video
games...They gon have to come straight home from school...No
extra-cirrcular after school shit...I wanna check your homework too...
Ay, Y'all remember that shit? Everybody ridin' their bikes, Playin'
and shit...You in the window with the salty face....Ahhhhhhhhhh...
(laughs)
But yea, A nigga had to take his belt off...You'll see it...Call DCFS.
FLOSS: You've openly touched (nh) on your dislike for Cassidy, can you go
into detail why and what actually happened @ Mtv studios?
JEWELS: I don't dislike Cassidy...I don't feel any type of way towards him
good or bad. He's just not a genuine individual...He's not real.
Not real in the sense that he doesn't do what he raps about...I don't
care about that...Cuz we all guilty of that in some way, Just give me
quality music...
I mean that he's not real on a person-to-person level...He's just not
that down to earth, Cool, Approachable type nigga...He's just not that
nigga.
And we need more niggas like that in the industry...But unfortunately
there are more Cassidy's out there than there are good dudes.
As far as the MTV situation, I'm not gonna break that whole thing
down, Because I'd be here all night explaining it...But more or less,
MTV/Cassidy/J Records pulled a little switcheroo that I wasn't
prepared for that I SHOULD HAVE been prepared for.
Just a paragraph in a chapter of the book of my life...Learning experience.
FLOSS: What do you expect and want to see from the Chicago rap scene in
the future?
JEWELS: Oh, I expect to be at the forefront...(laughs)
Me and Illinois basically had this same conversation, And we feel as
though Chicago hasn't fully been represented from OUR viewpoint
yet...Y'all have only been shown a small facet of it thus far...
Yea, Lupe is great...Common is amazing...Ye is incredible...Twista is
awesome...And I'm extremely proud to claim all them niggas...I poke my
chest out in pride over them niggas bein from the Crib and
accomplishing what they have accomplished.
But none of them speak for US, Or rep US...At least not in the way we
would like.
We the young, early 20's, streetsmart, booksmart, aggressive,
fashion-conscious, and hungry niggas
from Chicago...We want in.
Floss FAVE Five
1. Fave mixtape dj
Fuck the DJ...The DJ is dead.
...
Nah, I'm playin'...(laughs)
Shiiiit....Gotdammit...I dunno...I guess whoever will play my records? (laughs)
2. Lord Willin or HHNF
HHNF...Bitch Bra-zilian, Purse rep-tilian!
3. Fave Jordan shoe
A tie between the Aqua VIII's and the Inf VI's.
4. Studio or the stage
Studio...You wouldn't be able to reach the stage if you didn't go into
the studio first. That's where you perfect your craft. I couldn't get
on that Iverson shit..."Practice?"
5. Hidden Talent
Drawing. I'm nice with the pen in more ways than one..."Legend in two
games like I'm..." Lemme stop...(laughs)
Once again its closing time here @ IA, so i want to thank my interviewee (G.o.D Jewels) for sharing with us, and you know i couldn't leave without a viewer treat, so i got that Vinyl Heroin ,an exclusive track from Jewels called Word Play...Also stay tuned for his website
http://godjewels.com/
2 comments:
Ye$$ir
already ... know ...
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