Q&A With Oakland’s Fastest Rising Hip Hop Artist Jamal Jordan
Whats Up Jamal Jordan! We really enjoyed your new EP “The Cost Of Living” , one of our main contributors BOOM will be doing your review, and we are sure he will dig the project!! Your single Part 2 Freestyle is FIRE!!! How long have you been making music? What area code(s) do you rep!? And how did you get your emcee name?
I have been making music on and off since 2009 but I have been writing lyrics and songs since I was 11.
I represent Oakland, California 94619 (Maxwell Park)
I started off as Ty-Spittah when I first started recording music (Ty is my first name). That was a name that was given to me by some of the homies. As I started to develop my sound I decided to come up with an actual name for myself that I felt would be marketed and received well. I took my middle name which is Jamal, and combined it with Jordan because Michael Jordan is the GOAT so I took on that last name in honor of him.
Your sound does give off an original smooth, hard-hitting yet effortless style for sure! Tell us how you were able to form your sound? Any OAK influences??
I think my sound is heavily influenced by where I am from. Being from the East Bay Area, the music that would catch my attention is the stuff that had a dope beat. If the beat slaps, then I will give your song a chance and listen to what you have to say. So when I was putting the production together for this EP, I went searching for the type of production that I would want to hear as a fan. Once I found a few that I liked, and that fit what I was trying to do, I began writing. I don’t think I sound like anyone from the Bay so I wouldn’t say I have any Oakland influences but I am a fan of a few Oakland artists. I grew up listening to Keak da Sneak. As the sound out here started to shift away from the hyphy movement. As of now the only Oakland people I listen to are AllBlack and Tedro Dolla.
Lets face it, social media since 2015 has grown tremendously, especially IG!!! Tell us how is your IG grind is looking, and how have you been able to keep up with the high demand on social media? Do you have a website??
I just started getting back into doing music this past year and in doing so I have used IG as a platform for my music. I don’t think I was going as hard as I could’ve gone with the last couple of projects I put out so it didn’t really expand my following too much. Through trial and error and conversation with friends I learned about things I could do on social media that could draw attention to my page and develop a following. It’s been a process but my following is growing steadily since I put out The Cost Of Living EP. I don’t currently have a website. I wanted to wait until my following reached a certain level then I was going get a website going.
How do you go over the production you decide to record over?? Your beat selection is super crazy!!!
As far as the beat selection I chose for this project, I wanted to rap over beats that I would want to listen to if I were the fan. Once I compiled about 10 different beats, I chose the ones that fit my vision for the project.
Please breakdown the creative process to your latest EP “The Cost Of Living”?
Once I narrowed down the selection of beats that I liked to the 5 that I used for the project, I went through them one by one. I pick one to start working on and I just listen to it over and over for however long it takes me to catch a vibe for it. Once I get that vibe, that will kinda let me know what type of song I want it to be. I listen to the beat on repeat and I just start writing to the beat, and most of the time this process doesn’t take me very long. For instance, once I heard the beat for ‘Vintage’, I immediately started to get ideas and the song came together, with the hook included, in about an hour. That was pretty much the process for the entire album. It took me about 2 weeks to write and record all of the songs on this project.
SXSW, seems like the place to be this year if you’re an up and coming artist!!! Are you going??
SXSW is definitely something that I would want to do, I don’t have any plans to go out there this year but I will definitely make a push towards performing their next year.
How often do you perform live?? Any indie DIY tours in the works?
I currently perform live about once a month and I am currently seeking a tour opportunity for this summer.
The direction that hip-hop music has taken in the past 5 years is an interesting one. The youngsters are definitely a driving force in what is hot and this is the sound they want to hear. I listen to some of the stuff, and I like some of it, it’s cool for what it is. At the end of the day though, I need substance and a lot of the new stuff isn’t really talking about anything so I listen to the people who will give me what I need.
I have a couple of visuals coming soon and you can definitely expect more music in the near future. I am going to just be grinding and trying to put myself in a better position all this year!
Where do see yourself in 5yrs? (2023)?
In 5 years I see myself as one of the best song writers in the game. Even if I am no longer an MC I definitely want to keep writing and being a force in music through my pen game.
Where can fans find your music? Drop all links!!
People can find my music on all of the streaming platforms:
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-cost-of-living-ep/1345244134
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/32WioH9PSIEER3NTd4WSlg?si=bLBNL4k5RPCaIO8K8J8VdQ
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/jamaljordancol/sets/the-cost-of-living-ep
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLa_F6SvSWfJpe40rbW-7NkK5-kW5Wc927
Any new shout outs?
I want to give a shout out to the city of Oakland and everybody that supports Jamal Jordan music
