INTERVIEWS
JB [JBaller] DISCUSSES GAME OF THRONES [Vol.1], HIS ALBUM AND THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED KLEAR KUT ALBUM.
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| Games Of Thrones Vol.1 [Cover Art] |
By Byaruhanga Felix (@TheNinjaFelix)
On 18th October 2013 JB a.k.a JBaller (C.E.O Blackstorm Ent.) was supposed to release his Game Of Thrones Vol.1 Mix-tape but due to some features and material that was supposed to be added to the mix-tape was pushed a few weeks ahead (date to be announced soon).
good boss?! Where have you been it’s been a minute since you made a
major appearance on the UG hip-hop scene? What’s keeping you busy
these days?!
JB: Im good man hustling day by day. Yeah I’ve been a little quiet
working on Game Of Thrones, and my first solo album. When I get into
my creative mode I kinda go into my creative cave lol. A couple
things have been keeping me busy. I’m in the process of talking to
some international management in Canada. A few people have heard my
material and are interested in what I can offer. So I’ll be able to
have my music heard more on an international level, not just on the
UG/East African scene.
So,
let’s talk about your upcoming mix-tape “Game Of Thrones”,
why the name Game Of Thrones?
watching the Game Of Thrones series. I chose to entitle the mixtape
the same, cause I kinda compared it to the hip-hop game. Every
mc/artist want to be number 1, be the king. It’s a competitive
business sometimes you have to go to war to get to the top, or defend
your rightful place in the game.
walk us through the making/recording of this mix-tape, generally the
whole experience.
I did most of the recording at the new Baddi Studios in Makindi. The
process I took to start on this project myself and Play went through
his whole hard disk of beats. This guy has hundreds of beats from
different genres, styles, and sounds. I also had material that I had
written to other known songs. So I told Play to remake a beat around
the original instrumental I wrote the song to with the same tempo. I
also have some pretty nice features on this project like Rabadaba,
Keko, Klear Kut, Lillian, and more. It was nice working with them
usually we’re hanging out with each other but never got the chance
to work with one another. So once we got into the studio the
chemistry was already there cause we’re close and know each other.
you returned to the music scene you dropped a mix-tape “The
Prequel” now it’s Game Of thrones we(as the fans) were hoping
for an album what’s taking you long to drop one?
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| THE PREQUEL MIX-TAPE |
JB: I am working on the album. Creating an album is a little more
complicated than a mixtape. There’s allot more that comes with an
album, and when I drop mine I want it to be perfect from production,
quality, art, and marketing of the project. Probably the album will
drop next year summer.
should your fans expect on this mix-tape that you haven’t delivered
to them yet and what makes this mix-tape different from the previous
one?
delivery, subject matter, and writing skills have improved. On this
project I’m giving you a glimpse of what you’ll get on the album
to come. I get more personal on life, spiritual issues, and love. I
believe the fans will not be expecting that side of JB so it will be
real interesting I know they will love it.
much is it going to cost and where can people get it both online and
offline?
UGX 10,000. You’ll be able to get the other locations where it’s
sold from my social media accounts.
makes JB different from other rappers in the industry?
western world and relate them to matters here in Africa that we go
through. I guess it’s an advantage growing up on both sides of the
world. I fell in love with hip-hop in the south in the states, and
developed my style there. So when someone hears me they hear the
emotion that southern hip hop artists have in their delivery.
do you think about the current state of the Uganda hip-hop industry?!
DV8 in the early 2000’s UG has developed some good hip hop talent
and has managed to get the genre to the fore front of the corporate
market. We still have a long way to go in developing better
musicians, producers, and even film production. We are getting there.
Uganda has some of the best raw talent in East Africa. With the right
molding in the next few years and us as an industry, country, and
people sticking together we will go further than anybody in Uganda
would have thought. Not even just hip hop but as Ugandan music in
general.
(mainstream or underground) hip-hop artist has earned your respect
and why?(One who is not from Klear Kut)
good to see him getting his success cause he’s one of the mc’s
that have come up from back in the day with us. Enygma is nice. I
really like Tucker HD from AirportTaxi. He is going to be a beast in
the next couple years.
we know that klear kut is working on a joint project( album), can you
leak something about the project or something we should expect? Is it
going to have Abba Lang (Langman) and Papito on?!
cause of our schedules and we want to get everyone on the project.
Plus we want to make a classic album. We can get in the studio and
put tracks together that’s nothing. We could give you two albums
like that by December. But we want to put together a master piece,
but don’t worry its coming real soon. I believe we’ll leak some
tracks to tease the fans in the next couple months, or weeks. Yes
Papito and Langman will be on the album the whole Klear Kut crew all
five members.
JB was
born January 16th 1985 in Montreal, Canada. With Jamaican background, at the
age of 4 JB and his parents moved to Kampala Uganda. He always had a love for
music learning how to play the drums at an early age; he would play during the
Sunday morning services. Later on in his life he gained an interest in rap and
decided to further his talents in rapping. Returning from school in the States
he linked up with old school friend Navio and formed a group called Killa
Millz. Not too long after they linked up with three other friends named The–Mith, Langman, and Papito and formed Klear Kut.
managed to release 3 albums (Mind, Body And Soul, K-Squared and Klear Discussion) that have received critical acclaim. ‘Mind, Body
and Soul’, their first album garnered them 2 nominations at the all Africa
KORA… Awards (Best Hip-Hop Artist and Revelation of the year), making them
Uganda’s first ever group to receive such success.Like they say the rest is history.
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