Jus Chris – Q&A Interview
Tell us a little about yourself. Where you are from? How long have you been making Hip Hop?
I’m from the south side of Chicago, IL. Born and raised. Grew up in the church started making music/ writing poetry when I was 10. I wrote gospel music all the way til I was about 21, but my poetry was never “gospel.” Eventually I felt like I was limiting myself and started to put my poetry to music and thus became my version of hip hop.
What influences you in making Hip Hop?
Life. Almost everything I write about comes from personal experience. I remember on my first album I was walking in the park and saw fireflies everywhere and I thought it was an amazing sight. I took that and made an entire song, aptly named “Fireflies.” Other artists certainly influence me as well though. When I hear a dope song it makes me wanna write more. I’m in love with the culture.
Describe your music, and what separates you from other MCs?
Truthfully, I feel what separates me is my content. All of my music is directly about life. Relationships, struggles, fantasy. I feel like nowadays there’s a recipe that everyone follows when making music, that deals more with what the artists presumes the listeners want to hear versus what the artists actual experience. I also feel I incorporate a lot of singing in my songs mainly due to a heavy neosoul influence, Badu, John Legend, Lauryn Hill etc.
Who have you collaborated with? Who would you like to collab with in the near future?
I’ve collaborated with Add-2, Real T@lk, Maine TheSaint, Burman, Dimtri McDowell and I.V. All upcoming artists in the industry. And it was a pleasure vibing in the studio with each one they all bring something different to the table. On the top of my list of people to collab with would be Janelle Monae and Andre 3000. I’d also like to collab with Chante Cann, Snarky Puppy, Childish Gambino, Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole.
Your definition of “Underground Hip Hop”?
Underground hip hop is the dopeness yet to be discovered by the masses. The people I associate with always look for those hidden gems. The music you can’t find in every record store but is just as potent as anything you’ve heard on the radio. Usually it’s the content that the masses can’t handle. That’s underground hip hop.
Production wise, who are your influences? Who does your production? And who would you like to work with?
I like to have a different identity for each project I come out with. I hate when a project sounds similar to another project. But for this last project, I just searched the internet for dopeness and started writing. But some of the main producers I work with are Black Kubrick, Wayz Whizz, and Best Kept Secret. I’d love to work with Mdnsgn, Authentik Made, Exile, and JUSTICE League. I mainly love producers who play multiple instruments. In my opinion, the quality comes out so much better when you’re fluent in the language.
Any current or future projects you are promoting?
Mainly promoting my current project, “Dear Madame.” I have other music I’m working on but the majority of my focus is going into his project.
Can you give us a brief description of the creative process of “Dear Madame”? Also/ what was the idea or concept description about your Album Art Cover.
This project was inspired by Good Kid Maad City. I’ve always wanted to do a concept project but never really had the inspiration but after hearing that album twice, I was convinced. What’s funny is even though the story is partially fictional, there are certain verses I wrote while going through something with a girl I was into at the time and the verse just went perfect with the vibe of the song so put it on the project. Dear Madame is a concept project, each song is a piece of the story. It’s a story about me and my relationship with a woman (hint: the woman is music). If you see the videos, which have a direct correlation with the storyline, there’s a note being passed between me and my love throughout all three videos. The title “Dear Madame” is based on a letter I wrote to this woman who started off as, “Dear Madame.”
Where can we find your music and info?
Juschris.com
Twitter: @ImJusChris
Facebook.com/whoisjuschris
IG: @ImJusChris
Soundcloud.com/whoisjuschris
YouTube: whoisjuschris
Any shout outs?
My family. The art and soul crew. Devin O’Bannon, Real T@lk, Yoke, Smeek, JB, Brit, Zee, and all supporters of dope music.
