Jason Nkanga is on a quest for identity
“We go, we go all night,” Jason Nkanga sang on his first official single ‘Go Dumb’, released in 2014. It was the first encounter the Nigerian music scene had with the budding musician whose goal was to put his name out to the world and showcase the talent he had been brewing since his early teens. But it wasn’t until the release of his single ‘Remember You’, taken from 2016’s debut EP Beyond My Imagination that placed him in the spotlight and allowed him to gain mainstream attention from rap fans and industry professionals worldwide.
Since then, Nkanga has released three EPs, The Calm Before The Storm (2018), TAOR (The Art of Rap) (2018), and Redemption (2019), and a string of singles that have swerved in and out of Afrobeats, 808s, and hip-hop. Whether it’s tracks like ‘The Book Of Legends’ which harked back to the kung fu and hip hop sound popularised by 90’s rap group, Wu-Tang Clan, or the love-themed RnB infused track ‘Forever’, Nkanga is occupying more than his reasonable share of musical ground. As he prepares the release of his next single later this month, and a forthcoming project which is set to propel him to even greater heights, the independent rap artist is truly unstoppable.
We caught up with Jason Nkanga to learn about the man, the music, and his storied journey since his debut in 2014.
Tell me, what have you been up to?
I have been making music every time. That’s all I’m trying to do. I am putting some things together; singles, most likely a project very soon.
When did you start rapping?
I started seven years ago, that was when I put out my first song. Before then, I was always rapping in the class and attending talent shows here and there. But then, I didn’t structure it to make a song. I was just rapping different verses and even songs that weren’t mine. But I made my first song seven years ago.
You were born in England, and you attended school there. How did this experience influence you musically?
Well, I wouldn’t say I was influenced by the music scene in England. I don’t think I was, but I met a couple of friends who did music and it just made me want to work a lot more with music and put a few things together with them. This is because my music isn’t centred around the United Kingdom. It’s a different sound from how they make music there. It is more or less like the music in America.
Who were some of the artists you looked up to when you started rapping?
I had a lot. I listened to a lot of Lil Wayne. I also listened to Eminem back then but it wasn’t more of what I was going for. But much further in my career, I started listening to J. Cole. Surprisingly, people never believe that he was one of the few people that inspired me to do music.
You seem to have a strong sense of melody. Did you sing before making a foray into rap?
I only sang once in my life actually, and that was to my mom. Singing wasn’t what I was heading for, it was always rap. But now that I have some sort of melody, I might venture into singing.
It’s been over five years since the release of your debut project Beyond My Imagination. What are some of your memories of putting together this project?
It was my debut and I was so scared [laughs]. I was like, ‘what if people don’t like it. I was thinking If people don’t like it, I’d probably try something else. I put it together with about three or four friends and we just started reaching out to people for collaborations. Luckily, they all wanted to collaborate with me. It got massive positive feedback and I never expected it. I wish I could relive that moment because I was so happy.
What goal did you hope to achieve with it?
Honestly, I was just trying to put my name out there. My friends felt like I should go for the music and take it a little bit more seriously and not just a hobby kind of thing. They wanted me to make it serious, go in, practice, and make it perfect. That’s what we wanted to achieve, and I’m happy to say that we kind of achieved it.
Tell me about your last project Redemption. What was the mindset as compared to other projects like The Art of Rap and The Calm Before The Storm?
When I was creating the project, I felt like I didn’t do the best on The Calm Before The Storm. So this was a way for me to redeem myself hence the name. This was also a way to show people that I could do a lot more on this project than I did before. That’s where I was because I had to hit the hammer on the nail. I had to put pressure on people, letting them know that I can rap. And I was still trying to find my sound too because some parts of the project weren’t the same as other parts.
How did your collaboration with Juls Delø on “The Book Of Legends” come about?
I met Juls Delø when I was in England. He listened to my song and he was like “This is great, we should work on something”. Then he brought the beat and explained it. It felt interesting because it was something that nobody had done among my peers. People weren’t into the story-telling type of rap and it was a fresh breath of air in the game. And I said “Yeah, I’d go for this”. He sent his verse to me and immediately I replied and sent my verse to him. He sent another verse again, and I sent mine, and we were just going back and forth. It was amazing. We hit the studio to work on it and we did it straight up. It was funny because when we first dropped it, people didn’t see the vision. It was until we released the video that people were like “Oh yes, now we see the vision.”
Speaking of collaborations, I know you have a new single featuring fellow rapper, Acebergtm, set to be released later this month. Can you tell me about it?
I was in the studio listening to beats and while I was listening, a particular beat caught my attention so I decided to record it. While playing it back I immediately thought about Acebergtm and how well he would fit on it. I reached out to him, we spoke and he agreed that he would hop on it. He sent his vocals a couple of weeks later and it was just what I had envisioned. It was awesome working with him, trust me. He loves making good music as I do. He is extremely versatile so no matter where you put him on the song, he is going to make it sound so much better. Hopefully, we can make a lot more records in the future. It will be dropping soon, it’s a single off my project. I’m super excited to get it out and let the world hear it.
Who else would you want to work with next?
If we are talking about all-round artists, then I’d love to collaborate with J.Cole, Oxlade, M.I, Nasty C, and Rema. I love their sounds.
What’s your creative and recording process like as an independent artist?
Everything is hard being an independent artist because you have to do everything by yourself. The advantage of this is that you get to put out what you want and what you feel is part of you. It’s good that way because sometimes, it’s a lot easier to do collaborations with independent artists rather than people who are under a label. It’s a lot stressful but I feel it has its pros and cons.
How do you feel about the hip-hop/rap scene in Africa since you entered it?
I released my debut in 2016 and I feel the rap scene in Africa, specifically, Nigeria still has a lot of work to do. There are different types of rap, there are songs that need straight rap and there are songs that need melody mixed with Afrobeats. And I feel that the population in Nigeria fancy Afrobeat to rap. I have seen so many people pushing the hip-hop culture like M.I, Ladipoe, and so on. People who have stuck to this rap. I have seen some of my peers also pushing it and compared to back then, it has grown to a certain extent but it has not reached its full potential. This is because it is overshadowed by Afrobeats. It is a good thing for Africa in general because it’s pushing Afrobeats to the world, however, you also need hip hop because there are so many underground artists that do hip hop but they don’t get the proper recognition they deserve.
What plans do you have for the rest of 2022?
I have a project on the way that I’m still working on, a couple of singles and I have so many artists on it. I have reached a stage where I have to get things perfect. I’m working so hard with a couple of friends and producers. People are spending nights in the studio trying to put the best together, and I am positive that it should be out by the other half of the year.
