100na - A few years ago you decided to come back to NYC to meet the right people and attract wider audience, as I read. Why did you move to the South again? Is it because you find Southern music scene more inspiring at the moment?

JJ - Yes and No. I live in Georgiavania. GA to PA. So I'm up north and south. The south is a great place. My dad was born in Georgia and my mom is born in South Carolina. So my roots has always been southern and it holds a place in my heart. Blues and Soul was born there. I have all dat in me. I'm a huge Dungeon Family fan. Being from the south and being very knowledgable in hip hop I could really relate to where they was coming from. That gritty southern Wu Tang kinda vibe. So all dat being said. I'm very inspired by the south!

You grew up in Houston and you know people who are now responsible for the world famous “dirty south sound” in hip hop (e.g. Big Pokey). What is so special about the South in your opinion that every couple of years there is a wave of fresh sound coming from the southern states (like e. g.: Stax, Philadelphia Sound, Dungeon Family or crunk)?

Yeah I grew up mostly in H-Town after leaving ATL. I used to go to school with Big Pokey. Used to give him mixtapes back in the day man. I'm talking Eric B and Rakim, Audio 2, and Big Daddy Kane on the mixtapes. Put him on to hip hop hard then. See the south got a lot of dope creative innovative people. The only thing is right now you kinda only see one side of the south getting mad play. I love some crunk/snap music but more needs to be heard too. Outkast and Gnarls Barkley are helping.

“To stand for something morally and spiritually sound means so much to me. This is something I've felt since I was a child because there were things I was being exposed to that made me see this world for exactly what it is” – these are your words. Can you remember any particular events or people that you met that made you think this way? My Grandma! She's my rock. My strength.

You mentioned Rich Medina as one of the significant people around you. What is your relationship with Rich Medina now? Are there any official releases of the tracks you’ve created together? Any plans for the future or the fact that you live in Philadelphia excludes future collabos?

Rich is like a brother to me. He just had a baby so now I'm an uncle. I'm very tight with Rich. He's always my dawg and we may get back up again on some music fo sho. Most likely the tracks that we done will be released through him somehow. I let him handle all dat.

Speaking of collaborations. You’ve worked with many great people so far. Can you choose one project/person that inspired you the most? Are there any artists that you would particularly like to work with and have you already made any moves to make it happen?

At the moment! Working with Khujo Goodie has been very fun and inspiring. He is like a brother to me now. We click so well man. His mind is so deep man. He is a beat head too. We are called Willie Isz. Look out for that later this year. Pharcyde are the homies too. A big inspiration when I was growing up in hip hop.

You said that you were working with Pharcyde. Have you recorded any tracks together?

Fo sho. We got a song called " Feel So Good" I'm working out a release date for that too. Now you can hear it on www.myspace.com/jneirojarel . Plus doing some remix work for them and possibly doing some production on there new album they are currently working on. What was the situation with Ali Shaheed Mohammad? Did you meet just to have a chat or are there any musical plans? And what about the other ATCQ member Q-Tip? I read that you met him as well but did you talk about working together?

Oh no doubt. Ali is my homie for real. He have supported me and my sound. He is working on a project now. We spoke about us collaborating. It's in the air. Just waiting on the track. I may even drop him a beat to rhyme on. hmmm yeah that's what I will do too. ha. The home Kamaal aka Q Tip! Yeah Tip is mad cool. We was supposed to get up on Electric Blue but I had to get it finished before I could get him on it. I was disappointed of course. Who wouldnt want Tip on a song? Shout out to the homie Kamaal.

Tell me something about the Willie Isz, you project with Khujo of Goodie Mob. I know that you reached him out over MySpace, but could you reveal your plans? Can we expect any releases in near future? Have you already done any tracks beside the Operator remix? How does you work look like? What are you hopes concerning this collaboration?

There are BIG plans for Willie Isz! I can't reveal the top secret moves we are making yet but just know we are making some serious moves. Just expect to see another side of Khujo and I. We plan for it to be out by the summer or fall. We already got like 10 songs under our belt. I can't wait for cats to hear our song "Georgiavania" I love it. I love all we have done so far.

Last spring I was listening to your BTS Radio mix over and over again, and there were a lot of unknown beats of yours. Now we know how the Shape Of Broad Minds sounds like, but what about the other projects such as: Capital Peoples, Dr. Sci (have they been already released? These are your another alter-egos I suppose?), tracks not yet released (or available) e.g. Dr. Who Dat and Jneiro Jarel – “Coco Loco” (was it used in some commercial or does it contain sample from some ad?) or remixes e.g. DKD - Brighter Day. What about you work with IG Culture, Recloose, Flying Lotus and finally, what’s the deal with Kiva that made “ Blended Rat” track with you?

Good question. Capital Peoples? U know it's funny because I got all these Capital Peoples songs and I never released them. Just played them on my mixes. I need to drop it. I will this yr with Label Who hopefully. Dr Sci is me and Lil Sci aka John Robinson. We may do a single/EP or something. Some Dr Sci tracks will be on JR's new album coming soon. Coco Loco is just a fun thing I did. I jacked a commercial. All fun. The joint I did with IG is out on Jazzy Sport. Recloose "Dust" remix dropped a few years back. Gotta google that stuff. lol. Flylo spit a freestyle on a beat I did. That's the only thing we did so far. We are talking about getting up some official songs though. Kiva? ha ha his is a very creative kat. He took a voicemail I left him and put it on his track. I had no idea he was gonna do that. It was mad funny.

Timelessness, longevity these are the concepts that you often mention in your lyrics. Are they your priorities when it comes to making music?

I just make music I really feel. Once I really feel it then I see where it fits. Once that's all straight then it's time for the world to hear. It is a natural process. I don't really think about it but thankfully it's been timeless music for a lot of people.

Could you tell me what have you already accomplished with the Label Who and what are the plans for the future of this label? And business-wise: is it all based on the cooperation with Lex Records?

Label Who stands just what the name is, Label Who? Why? because I was like why do I have to do this with a label when I can just release it myself. We've been slow the past year because some major changes was made. Timeless was our most successful release. It's a classic to a lot of my supporters that was down since the late 90's. A lot of beats will be released on Label Who this year though. Yes we also partnered up with Lex for some of our releases like "Beat Journey" and "Craft of The Lost Art"! They help with the bigger releases. Lex Records are great partners.

You said that cover art is an integral part of the record. Both videos and art works on the covers of you records are totally unique and highly acclaimed by critics and fans. Who does this graphics stuff for you? Are some of them made by you?

A couple of cats done my art. Bhat and Joshua Mays. I'm about to start doing my own art again though for my exclusive Label Who releases. Art is a big deal to me. The process is like stepping to women. At first you see a women and depending on how she look (album cover art) will determine if you are gonna go try to get to know her. If her personality (music) is dope then you gonna fall in infatuation and possibly real love instantly or with time. Get it?

Could you confirm that Panama Black and Rocque Wun are your aliases, because I have met different opinions on this (some even list this guy as a member: http://www.myspace.com/panamablackbse , seems unlikely to me)? Why did you decide to appear as a few different personas on the album and what are the roles these characters play in SBM? Does each of them contribute in any special way?

Yeah they are all aliases. I don't know who that is on the myspace link. There are a couple of cats that use the same name. I'm just the most known. It's all good though. There was two Dr. Dre's too. The reason why I use different names sometimes has to do with how I feel. I can be a completly different artist at times. Sometimes I don't feel like rapping and Dr. Who Dat is kinda that dude. He dont try to be the dopest mc or anything. Panama Black doesnt really play a huge roll. He just was featured on SBM and is a extended member. If fans request then he will be back to drop on something. Ha, The only other cat that is real is Jawwaad. He is out of H Town. How did you hook up with Jawwaad? Is he an MC or multi-instrumentalist or maybe both? What was his input in the Craft of the Lost Art album?

He is both. I've known Jawwaad since he was 14. He was a young cat from the north side of H Town. He would catch the bus all way SW to the Clarke and come to my house and we would freestyle to my beats along with Aahtue, Derrick and others. I was like his big brother. Now he is a grown man and spitting some serious heat still. He is a deep cat a may be a lil ahead of his time but dude is ill. He was a perfect mc to have rock with me on the "Craft".

On SBM myspace profile there’s a video from the live show and there’s a bunch of people on the stage. Are Shape of Broad Minds concerts always shows with “live” musicians plus DJ? Are you thinking about using more instrumentalists in general or is it something you wanna do only during live shows?

SBM is my band now. Yes it's all live with some electronic involvements. There is nothing like live music. I get bored just seeing an artist on stage with a DJ and thats it. People pay to see you so you better come with something interesting.

It must be one of the most frequently repeated questions, but I would like you to name some artists form the past and present that have the biggest influence on you. You’ re well known for the wide scope of different genres and musicians you listen to so I believe that you can open the ears of our readers to the new or classic sounds worth checking.

Portishead

The Bird and The Bee

Prince

Outkast

Bjork

TV On The Radio

Apollo Heights

All of the Dungeon Family

Tribe

DP's

Steely Dan

Cocteau Twins

There seems to be more and more tracks where we can hear you singing. „It Aint Dead!” is the perfect example but on a lot of other tracks there is also this unique “vocal background”. Have you ever thought about making an entirely “singing” record, something like Dudley Perkins does?

Funny you ask. My new EP Voilet Heart Box is me mostly singing. I'm doing a lot of singing on the Willie Isz project too. A lot of people want me to do more Rocque Wun vibes. I'm like yeah that is where I'm at. I've been wanting to this for years and I'm finally gonna do it.

In our interview in 2005 you said: „you are recording this now and in few years time you’ll realize: Jneiro mentioned those cats, now I see what he was talking about”. That is now very true taking Stacy Epps or SBM for instance. Are there any new things you’re working on that we have no idea about yet but we should expect them to be another musical bomb?

It's kinda hard for me to say now. I've been out the loop. Willie Isz is the one though. U haven't heard to music yet. Don't expect the kinda beats you hear from me usually. It is more musical than ever. Willie Isz coming!!!!

How is your son Monk? Last time we were talking you said that he was only 4 months old, and he was already trying to get on the mike. Is he still attracted by music so much?

Oh yeah. Thelonious hears the Willie Isz demos and freaks out in the back seat when we are cruising. lol Bouncing up and down saying parts of the chorus.

He is a character.

Peep

myspace.com/jneirojarel

myspace.com/shapeofbroadminds

www.lexrecords.com

for more info on Jneiro Jarel

 

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100na