Who Is UK Wordsmith Jam Baxter?
Back Story – Member of the High Focus Records family, UK rapper Jam Baxter has remained an integral cog within the realms of the UK Hip Hop scene. His catalogs of work contain some of the most unique, versatile and abstract rap records and he continues to prove himself as one of the most outlandish and trailblazing songwriters on the scene.
Maintaining a legacy as a wordsmith he has released a staggering nine full-length releases since 2009. His notoriety within the scene is far from unnoticed and his prolific work rate coincides with the high quality of material. He has dropped heavyweight projects such as Rinse Out Friday / Spack Out Monday’, ‘The Gruesome Features’, ‘…so we ate them whole’ and ‘Mansion 38’. In addition to this two LP’s as one-third of the Dead Players trio and he teamed up with Ed Scissor to release the future pop classic ‘Laminated Cakes’.
His most recent endeavor comes in the form of his psychedelic and abstract track ‘Saliva’. The music video has reached a dizzying 37k views since its release and it has been added to the RAP UK playlist on Spotify. The gem is taken from his upcoming project Touching Scenes, set to drop on the 16th of November 2018 and features friends Stinkin Slumrok, Rag’n’Bone Man, OG Rootz FKA Durrty Goodz, Kate Tempest and Rhi.
The Hype Magazine got Baxter to weigh in on a few things from across the big pond:
From the outside looking in, who is Jam Baxter?
A quick image search can show you pretty much what I look like from the outside, but probably from a contrived and flattering angle. You can’t see my insides because my skin is in the way, which is great. Basically, I’m a human male that looks almost like I do on Google. Plus I make rap songs for kids and some adults. From the inside looking out, I am your king.
What brought you to the entertainment industry, music specifically?
I wanted to be like Puff Daddy in a shiny red suit in a tunnel in the Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems video. I saw it on MTV Base once when I was a kid. Then I became that guy with a 2pac earring and gelled curtains and no one wants to be that guy, luckily that didn’t last long. I just wanted to write bars from a really young age. I had a crazy appetite for music and it all just happened so naturally. I still haven’t had my red suit tunnel moment but it’s coming, I can feel it.
What do you want people to get from your music?
There’s not one single overarching message I want to convey really. People get a lot of different things out of music. A lot of people tell me my music has helped them through some dark times and I love that. Some people don’t really have dark times and just rate the vibe and I love that too. One thing it’s cool when people get is the visual aspect of it all. When I’m describing something, no matter how strange or surreal it gets, I can see it really vividly in my head. If I’ve done my job properly whoever’s listening should be able to see at least some hazy version of it.
Tell us about your current project.
This album is called Touching Scenes. Me and GhostTown thought of the name while drinking melon wine in Finsbury Park. I went back to Bangkok to write the bulk of it and record it with Chemo. It’s the follow up to an album called Mansion 38 that I made in exactly the same way but with a lot more intoxicants. This one is more composed and there’s a pace and confidence to it that sets it apart. It’s a good mix of that weird dense descriptive shit with that straight fuck you shit over some amazing production. It’s a good album basically I like it.
For new listeners, what song of yours would you pick as an introduction to you as an artist?
Listen to “Bodyslam” off Touching Scenes, that’s basically the hardest verse I’ve written in a while and you can’t tell me otherwise.
Tell us a bit about your work and passions OUTSIDE of music…
If you’d asked me a month ago I’d probably have painted quite a reckless drug spattered nihilistic picture for you. Right now, however, I’m knee deep in my second life the South of Spain, I just planted a whole broccoli patch and I’m researching Mongolian Yurts. I’m fully backing this double life thing, why be one person when you can be more people?
I’m doing a bit of writing that isn’t rap music at the moment, bits of prose here and there. Music is my life though and outside of that I basically just eat and link people and catch jokes.
Last but not least, HYPE wants to know…What’s your CRAZIEST “Where they do that at?!” aka WTF?! moment...
I played a headline show to a thousand Vietnamese people who had no idea who I was and spoke no English wearing hotel shower slides and knee-high socks in 2016.
TweetAbout the Author
Dr. Jerry Doby Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.
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