Q&A With Rising UK Artist Don Jones

Congratulations on your latest Mixtape release “Hurricane Season III”. We checked it out and we really enjoyed the fresh new sound & perspective on new Hip Hop coming out of UK. What motivated you to create this style of music.

My motivation for creating music is simple, everyone told me not to and I like proving people wrong but on a deeper note music is emotion set to a beat and without expressing how I feel in my art I would just keep it bottled up inside and I don’t want that energy to come out in a negative way so my music helps me to vent like a personal therapist.

And how did you come up with your emcee name Don Jones?

So funny story, only the real ones are going to remember this but I used to be called “Liquadator” But people would always call me “THE Liquidator” eventually I got tired of correcting people when they got the nama wrong and also I wanted something that was more “me”… my God given name is Nathan Donald Jones. Donald is also a family name; my uncle, my grandfather, and his father before him were all called Donald. Also coupled with the fact that when you are the “Don” of something you basically are the Boss! Is just fit in perfectly with the direction I was building in my brand.

How is the underground Hip Hop scene out in the UK right now?

Even though I’m still pretty heavily in with the UK scenes I actually immigrated to the US when I was 10, I always love going back and catching up but with all this corona virus going on all that has been on hold but it’s crazy to see how the scene has developed. When I started there was not a lot of people doing UK rap and definitely no melodic type music it was all grime with fast and heavy bars over electronic type beats definitely fit for that UK underground club scene.

How are you dealing with this whole nationwide lockdown due to Covid-19 CoronaVirus? Has this affected your music career in any way?

To tell the truth a month before all of this lock down I lost my father to an unknown condition that developed suddenly so the virus wasn’t the biggest issue I was dealing with at the time. However concerning the music Corona Virus thankfully hasn’t impacted me in a negative way. I actually used a lot of the free time to write a majority of the songs on Hurricane Season III. The main impact I would say has been the limitations on travel and not playing shows.

Who is your biggest UK Hip Hop influence?

My biggest UK influence has been Stormzy, he is also from Sheffield, same city as me and he has definitely given me and my mates alot of hope that we can reach a global level of success, considering how much there was a lack of mainstream support when UK rap was first on the scene.

You recently dropped a new album “Hurricane Season III” across all streaming platforms! We understand it’s a part of a series of projects! Please give us some background on that series? Could you tell me the inspiration behind the mixtape and artwork?

Let me start with the artwork for season III… lately on my spiritual journey I have really been trying to understand the concept of duality. So if you look at the cover you will see on the left there is a dark demon looking figure to represent my dark side and my struggles. On the right there is an angel holding and halo above my head. This represents that I am trying to understand more about myself, be more positive and strive to make my life a blessing to other. In addition to this I had recently learned about 432hz frequencies and how music can physically and mentally change you depending on the vibrations, and how words are literally “spells” that we are casting. For this reason I made it a point to make this my first release that is 100% clean, after reading a study about how negative words affect our spirit and mentally.

It was really the journey starting back im Hurricane season one that brought me on this path. I had just lost my job, my car got crashed by my roommate, and I lost the clothing company I was building… I was just going through a really depressed state and a huge identity crisis. But like I mentioned before music has always been there for me so Season one was really about trying to figure out that internal hurricane of emotions I was dealing with and trying to battle against drug addiction and the fear of throwing my life away In front of the people who care about me.

Hurricane season 2.0 was really about coming into a better version of me; hence the “2.0”
I started to study more about spirituality, understanding the law of attraction and the benefits of having a positive mindset. Song like “True To Me” and “Against All Odds” really embody where my mind was at in these moments).

How does social media play a role in pushing Don Jones. Which is your favorite platform (FB, TWITTER, IG).

Social media has been a huge part in connecting with my listeners and building relationships with other artists from all around the world. I definitely use it a lot for Pushing promo and letting people know what im up to but like I said the biggest thing is being able to have a direct connections with my fans and letting them know im here for them in a positive way!

We have to ask, with all this social discourse and revolt, protesting and rioting, exposed police brutality toward blacks and BLM, how do you feel about this? We would love your perspective on the climate we are living in right now?

All I can say with this one is DO YOUR RESEARCH! Don’t just blindly follow the crowd. Like I agree we need reform we need to love each other and we are in great need of a better system but lets be honest it wouldn’t be publicized the way it is now if it didn’t benefit some greater agenda. Like black have been murder in the streets ever since I was a kid and I was raised with that fear of police and whites being above but why did it take until 2020 for all of this to hit the mainstream. A lot of these donations people are giving aren’t all going to the causes you are trying to support. Ive seen the records my ancestors were on that slave ship and I still haven’t got my 40 acres and a mule? But on the ground level it’s been awesome to see how so many people from all over the world have been coming together and showing their support for black people and out culture. A lot of my fans in different countries have reach out to me with ways that are supporting the movement which is awesome.

What are a few different moves you’re making for 2020 when it comes to your music career?

I have definitely leveled up the team I am working with! Getting some folks on board to help with social management and PR has been a life saver.
My next step in music has been to work on more features and collaborations and branch out with different musical styles.

Our most popular question….What is your definition of “Underground Hip Hop”?

For me Underground hip hop is the widest most diverse style of music in the world. Basically anything that is not under a major label is up for consideration. From bigger artists like Yung Simmie, and Caskey, to artist like SEBii and Angelo la Flare. Underground hip hop is more of a community then just a music genre!

Where can our BLOG audience find your music and follow you on social media?

Here are my media links

Instagram: @donjones.uk
Twitter: @donjonesuk
TikTok: @donjones6
Snapchat: @Nate_Jonez
Facebook @donjones.uk

Streaming links to your favorite platforms can be found at the link below:

https://smarturl.it/HURRICANESEASONIII

Any Shout Outs?

I want to give a HUGE shout out to my videographer and co artists IKNOWMARK along with the whole Always Active team! Also a shout out to my business manager (anonymous).  Stay tuned for the Always Active release of the official music video for some of the tracks off of Hurricane Season III.