J. Rocc has been a notable entity on the hip-hop scene for decades. As one of the original founders of The Beat Junkies way back in 1992, his impact on the culture has been undeniable. This month sees the release of his second studio album, A Wonderful Letter, which focuses on his home city of Los Angeles and the various scenes that exist within. Gingerslim spoke with J Rocc to talk about the making of the album, as well as the infamous L.A. beat scene, the art of turntablism and what the future holds for his city.
I want to talk about the album, A Wonderful Letter, because it’s almost upon us and I notice it’s been 10 years since your last full-length.
Yeah 10 or 11. There have been a few little things in between, but this is really only the second LP.
So why now and what prompted you to put out another record?
Really just [Peanut Butter] Wolf. He was like “Yo man, you need to make another record. Why don’t you make another record?”, so it was really just Wolf pushing me into it. It’s always been a thought, but then I just got caught up in DJing and touring. But then Wolf was always like saying I should make one and he’d put it out, so finally I got around to making it happen.
I’ve had the pleasure of listening to it over the last week or so and I’ve really been enjoying how varied it sounds. It’s definitely not a straight up hip-hop album. Was that part of your vision for it when you first came up with the idea?
Definitely. I didn’t want to do a full straight, boom bap hip-hop album. Also I didn’t just want to do instrumentals; I didn’t want to focus on just one thing. I wanted to cover everything I play, because I don’t just play hip-hop when I DJ. I may be thought of as a hip-hop DJ because that’s where I started, so I can’t front on that, but I like house, I like disco, I like RnB… I like all that and I wanted to touch on all of it.
Well it works well. I know the album serves as a sort of ode to Los Angeles, so I was wondering if it was tricky trying to compress a scene as expansive as that into just one album?
Not really. I just focused on the areas that meant something to me, so you’ve got the electro stuff on there with Egyptian Lover. That’s when I started getting into music, ‘83, ‘84, hearing him perform “Egypt, Egypt.” I remember buying that record and thinking this dude is killing it. So just growing up in all the different scenes and going to the raves we used to have out here. We used to be real big on the rave scene, back in the days when you’d pull up to a phone booth and somebody would give you a flyer, then you’d have to go to another place to get the ticket, then you finally get to go to the venue… and of course the beat scene, from Low End Theory to Sketchbook. There are so many different scenes and it just all goes together. Everybody knows each other, everybody is either a homie or an acquaintance. So it’s a big place, but a small world. You wouldn’t think the house club fucks with the hip-hop dudes, you know what I mean? But you’ll see everybody at the clubs, everything mixes up anyway out here.
And is that an extension of the city’s ethos as a whole?
Yeah I think you can say that. Everywhere you go out here, there is a scene for something. But I guess it’s the same over there for you in the UK. Like people in Bristol aren’t going to London for the club, in the same way that people who live in Venice aren’t going to downtown L.A. So you may get another kind of a scene in Venice, but it’s still L.A. and it’s still going to be competition – or not really competition – but like, well if that club’s doing it, then why don’t we try doing it? So it’s super spread out, everything is hella far. But at the same time, everyone is super close and knowing what everybody else is doing.
Do you feel that the L.A. from your early days still exists?
To a degree, but everything changes. Electro is not what it was for example, but it’s still a scene. Gangsta rap isn’t what it was, but it’s still there. We just move on to different things and some people outgrow things, but we still pay homage to the past and it’s influenced everything up to this point. Going back to Egyptian Lover, he’s someone who’s still doing it. He came out in 1984 and he still put out an album last year! He’s still doing it and he ain’t changed. Still making 808 beats… he ain’t changed once! He stuck to his guns and I respect that. That’s what I love about LA, because you can stick to your guns and do what you do, and you’ll be accepted; people are still going to support you. He may not have “Egypt, Egypt” numbers going off, but at the same time he’s still touring, he’s still performing overseas. It’s a beautiful thing, man. So it’s changed a lot, but at the same time everybody still pays attention to the past and also to the future, thinking about what we can do next to continue to elevate the game out here.
And do you have any idea where that’s headed, what is coming next?
Actually, there’s a nice scene starting to pop off at Leimert Park. There’s a woman named Linafornia and she has her own day over there. She’s a beatmaker on an SP404… She’s like the female Ras G.
Oh shit, okay.
Yeah she’s bad, she’s dope. So there’s that and then we have another crew called Selection. They’re more 24-27 year olds, but you go there and you can get that battery in your back. You’re like, “Oh shit, that’s what the kids are listening to now?”. There are just so many little niches where you can go and explore. So really in L.A., there’s no telling what’s next because maybe somebody’s already doing it. Oh also, Serato does these beat meetups once a month, where someone will choose a sample and then like 20 producers come in, then use that same sample to make a beat. But it’s crazy because everybody’s on different beats! They’re like, “Sample this Bob James – Lucky Seven”, and you’re like, “That’s not even a good Bob James album, why am I going to sample this?!”. But then you hear everyone has a different ear and they all freak it! So yeah, L.A. is always expanding. There’s always something going on, or someone moving here and influencing L.A. Like Dilla, he moved here and influenced all of L.A. while he was here. Like BOOM and then he was gone and everybody was like, oh shit the master teacher’s gone and everyone had to figure out how to do it themselves again. Things are always evolving over here.
Now we’ve touched on the guests on the album, but your earlier works were all predominantly instrumental projects. What made you want to bring other artists into the mix for this one? Was that just part of the vision again?
Yeah, I didn’t just want to do beats this time. The first album was more or less me biting Endtroducing, because that’s the dopest instrumental album ever. But this time I needed to have some MCs and everybody that’s on the album are people that I’ve worked with already over the past couple of years – either done scratches for, or made a beat for at some point. So it was a case of saying well I’ve done stuff with all of these people, now I want them on my own album. I’m on their album, let’s put them on mine. And everybody was down! I sent them some beats, told them to pick whatever they wanted and we’ll make it happen.
So they all got to pick the beats? Because it sounded like a lot of them were tailor-made.
The Egyptian Lover was the only one that was made for the artist. I said I needed him on a track and we need to call it “Pajama Party.” We’d always talked about throwing a pajama party, because in the 80’s in L.A. there were pajama parties. Ladies would come out in their lingerie and guys would have their pajamas on; that was a real thing out here. Oh and the Budgie one was made for him. I had a sample and I told him I wanted him to sing over it, to do his thing with the Vocoder.
Well it worked out well, man. Just going back to the beat scene and talking about evolution, is that still the same as it was? Is it still as influential?
Yeah it’s still out there but it’s not as big as it was. Again shout out to Linafornia, she’s the one bringing it back. But ever since Low End Theory closed down it kinda killed that whole vibe. There’s no place like that, that you could go to and just hear instrumental beats. You might go to a club and hear a set like that, you might hear Daddy Kev, or The Gaslamp Killer doing a set that’s in the Low End vibe, but there’s no club that’s all that, all night. And that place was packed every night.
So if it was so popular, why hasn’t someone taken the initiative and opened up another event like that?
I mean Daddy Kev has another night but, I don’t think he’s trying to bring it as another Low End Theory. I think he’s trying to create a new thing. I don’t know, maybe no one wanted to fill those shoes, you know? They’re big shoes to fill! Low End Theory had everybody come through, from Thom Yorke to Tyler, the Creator, and it became a legendary place. It didn’t start out like that of course, so maybe there might be something coming up that might be the equivalent to that and we just haven’t seen it yet…
Well yeah fingers crossed.
Yeah fingers crossed because we need something like that, but those two things I mentioned are children of the Low End Theory. It’s the same energy, just not in a club this time.
You’ve been a DJ since the early days, so I was wondering how you feel about turntablism as an artform. Is it dying out? I see a lot of people complaining that DJs as a whole have changed, the role of the DJ has changed, etc.
There are still people doing turntablism in their sets, but it’s not as DMC / ITF battle-wise as it used to be. You still get people like A-Trak, like Skratch Bastid, so there are still DJs that definitely keep that tradition and keep it alive. It’s not like what it was of course, but people still want to learn that. And that stuff is harder to learn for the new kids, on controllers or CDJs. You’re not doing the stuff we did on vinyl with that. You can try but it’s definitely not going to be the same. So there are a lot of cats still keeping that turntablism alive, but everyone is a DJ now. Everybody has a laptop, you don’t need to invest in records anymore; you don’t need to do any of that. When we were coming up you had to buy doubles of everything. You had to go to the record store Tuesday and Thursday, the day that the records came out. Now it’s just a download link, you’ve got the song on your computer and you’re ready to go. So it’s cool that everyone wants to play music, but at the same time the art of the DJ is going.
So do you embrace this new generation of DJs?
I love it, man. I just love music! I love going out and catching other DJs getting busy. If I get the chance, I love to hear what Kaytranada is playing out… there’s another club called Donovan’s Yard out here and they play everything. They started out as more of a reggae / dancehall club, but now they’re a lot more progressive. It’s as close to the UK as I’m going to get out there, without going to the UK. I embrace it all, man, I love it. They’re not taking anything away from me. They may take a festival or two away, but thank God I’m still able to survive and do what I like to do.
Yeah I think that’s the correct ethos to have. Embracing change rather than pushing it away. Now that’s almost it from me, man, but the album is almost here and summer is just around the corner, so what’s next for you?
I’ve got a couple of shows coming up in The States. I’m trying to link some stuff up out there in the UK and then I’ve got a couple in Japan already. This album is like my business card, so once it’s out to the public then I’ll have a lot more going on.
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A Wonderful Letter is out this Friday, June 17, on Stones Throw, and you can purchase it here. Follow J. Rocc on Twitter and Instagram.
Gingerslim has been a hip-hop fan since 1994 and has written for various blogs and websites since around 2006. During that time he has contributed to The Wire, style43, Think Zebra, Headsknow, Front Magazine and more. His main interests in rap are UK hip-hop and the underground movement in America, with a focus on Rhymesayers Entertainment and the once mighty Def Jux label. He lives in Bristol and has a beard. All other details are sketchy at best. Read his own hip-hop blog and follow him here.