Coming Home with JessB
JessB is the type of artist that you just can’t ignore. Defined and dynamic, her poetic, witty and heart-felt lyrics to her highly-acclaimed rap songs act as a breath of fresh air that resonate on multiple levels.
Since her break-through debut single in 2017, ‘Soul Free’, and her number of acclaimed projects, Jess has certainly been one to watch on the musical landscape of Aotearoa. She’s collaborated and worked alongside music’s best too—Stan Walker, Kranium, G Flip, Kehlani and Stormzy, to name but a few.
One of the stand-out aspects to this artist’s verse is her hard-work and determination, lessons she learnt through her previous life as a netball player for the Central Pulse and the Northern Mystics.
Growing up in Mt. Roskill in Tāmaki Makaurau and crafting rap music in high school, Jess’ influences spanned across the early-2000 music diaspora, from Missy Elliot, to Timbaland. Born to a Kenya-born father and Pakeha mother, the importance of cultural identity and finding community has always resonated with Jess and she must’ve found a home in her influences. A home, in fact, that took her around the world.
Mostly, it was shown in her EP’s (Bloom in 2018 and New Views in 2019) and a mixtape (3 Nights in Amsterdam, released 2020). It was just after Bloom in 2018, her first extended release, that she took home best hip-hop artist at the New Zealand Music Awards and the Best New Zealand Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards. Jess’ influence is major, and she doesn’t plan on slowing down any time soon.
Released in July this year and set to tour in November, JessB’s long-awaited debut album, Feels Like Home embodies the idea of home not being where a person physically is, but also where the heart is too.
We got to sit down with Jess and talk on her album and what ‘home’ is to her.
What does ‘home’ mean for you?
I think in the context of the album, the idea of home was never about a literal place. It’s more about a feeling. It’s finding my own home in my career, and who I am as a person and the things I represent. I guess, the idea of ‘home’ is something that is always changing and not fixed. It’s metaphoric. The literal meaning of home for me is where I feel like that people see me.
Tell me about Feels like Home…
So this is an album that has been in the works for a really long time. There’s been many, many bumps in the road to getting here. It is an album that is reflective of my journey as a musician, as a person and the place, the world that I’ve come to find at. It feels it was really important for me to do this album for myself as much as it was a decision for my career. I feel more self-assured than I did when I started.
You used to be a professional netball player before finding your way into music. How did that transition happen?
I grew up in Mount Roskill so I guess music for me was always something that I felt. I felt like I could have different parts of my identity. Seen and validated and having lots of different genres. I’ve always had a really big love for music and the way that it’s made me feel seen. I think that it’s always been something that I’ve been very involved in. Even before netball I thought that I could do music as a career. I was so immersed with all these different types of music. It became a creative outlet. Whilst playing netball, it was like I had opportunities arise in music that I followed. When the netball journey came to an end, I just seamlessly transitioned into doing music. The amount of things that I’ve taken with me. Things like goal setting and working in a team environment. Being punctual and on time—all these skills that I learnt through sport that I’ve applied in. So even though they sound like they’re really far apart. I really enjoy doing music because of the things that I enjoyed about doing sport.
Who or what would you say inspires you the most to create?
It’s the feeling of expressing who I am in the most authentic way that I can at that time. It’s created a community for me with other people who I can relate to on all these different levels. I think that feeling of community and feeling seen and heard just by who you are has been insanely rewarding for me. It’s a huge part of my growth. I feel that’s why for me the album and the idea of Feels Like Home can’t be separated from my own growth as an individual and the experiences that I’ve had in my life. I’m always inspired by the people around me and kind of that desire for connection.
What was your creative process for writing Feels Like Home?
When I started making the album, I had the working title of It Feels Like Home. Every possible delay that could have happened in making an album happened. The songs and the process for writing all of them happened across several years with several different methods. It was a really true representation of this idea that home is moving. So the process was over several years. 70 percent of it was actually written in Amsterdam which is where I made my last project. It’s just the producers that I connected with in Amsterdam. I knew I had to go back to make my album with them and expand on the sound that we’d cracked on together. I wrote some of the songs completely alone. Some I wrote here, some I wrote in Australia. So there’s kind of like a really broad journey with how these songs all came together. It really represents the way the last few years have happened for me. It’s very authentic and I’ve grown through some of the things I’m talking about. I’m on to the next phase of my life, but it’s all still existing in the same world, you know?
What have you learnt in yourself over the expanse of your career?
I think it’s been an experience of stepping into parts of myself that I already knew were there, but like allowing them to exist as they are and kind of being confident in that. Allowing my own expression with music. It’s an expression of myself as a person and knowing that not everybody is going to relate to that. Being authentic means that the people who can relate and are meant to find you do so. The whole experience is so much more fulfilling for me as an artist, because it’s like a feedback loop. When that feedback loop is honest and vulnerable and really true to who you are it feels like it’s not about successes in a commercial or tangible sense, but more about like that energy that’s created as space for connection. Learning to step into that has definitely been the process of this album for me without fear.
What track is your most fearless?
The song on the album, ‘Waiting Patiently’. That’s a really special song to me. I wrote it with a friend of mine called India, and the whole concept of the song is essentially to a future partner or like a soulmate. It’s kind of trusting the process. It’s knowing that when the time is right things will flow to fruition. I’m a very nostalgic person; I’m nostalgic for the past, but I’m also nostalgic towards the future. I just think that ‘Waiting Patiently’ really encapsulated this emotion that I was trying to convey really well. I was really proud of how the song came together and it was me stepping outside of my comfort zone. I hold the song dear to me without the need for validation for other people to tell me it’s good. And I think that’s really an awesome place to sit where you’re vibing with your own sound. I think there’s so much peace in that.
What was the best collaboration you’ve ever done?
On the album is track ‘Power’ featuring Sampa The Great and Sister Nancy. That was an insane collab for me. I am huge fans of both of those women. It’s kind of surreal to me that they both of their own accord offered their talents. I feel so humbled and I had a great experience with both of them. Me and Sampa have filmed a music video. When I first started doing music Sampa was based in Melbourne and she was someone I really, really looked up to. I just had this level of such deep respect there and she was a dream collaboration for me. It was the coolest experience and something I’m really proud of.
What was your creative process with this album?
I think that this album was hugely inspired by my traveling. Being able to go to different places in the world and connect with creatives who have that shared understanding. They’re all part of making the album, because so many of the experiences that I’ve had in the years that I made the album became direct talking points for songs on the album. I can’t write a song without first experiencing the thing that inspired the song. I think outside of that, in terms of the lyrical process, I had both opportunities where I was in Amsterdam. We did a studio where there was lots and lots of people around, coming and going, and there was a great vibe. Then I also had times where I wrote songs, wrote and recorded songs completely alone in a tiny little studio here in Tamaki and so I felt like I was really lucky to be able to have both experiences of creating.
Do you have any touring plans for the new album?
I will be doing an Australia and New Zealand tour later in the year, in November. That’s nice because it means it just allows some time after the album comes out for it to just simmer.
What is your definition of success?
I’m a goal-oriented person. Redefining success to be about your own journey and your own position with things. I think success to me is about the experience; putting your full effort into something regardless of the outcome.
Do you have any future plans?
I think this album has forced me to not think about the future because it’s such a marathon to even get here. Just trying to get all the things that I need to do done and getting it out. Where I’m at currently, I’m very much lost to the source. I’m just focusing on getting there.
