Jayedee - What Happened To Rapping? Prereview
48 weeks on from his debut LP Just A Young Dream, Box Hill’s representative emcee Jayedee is set to drop a new single titled What Happened To Rapping? this Friday, 26th of March. The single is produced by Mic Controller Mark, and is the second solo release from Jayedee so far this year.
Tupac Shakur’s voice from the lost 1995 prison interview echoes through the intro to What Happened To Rapping?, a feature foreshadowed by Jayedee’s March 7th Instagram upload that quotes 2Pac’s 1995 Old School hook teasing “new music soon”. Following this excerpt from the famous interview, the instrumental kicks in fully and Jayedee goes off on a long-flowing rhyming spree essentially for the track’s duration.
The 2021 Jayedee sound is infinitely sharper and more refined than the 2020 Jayedee - the progression is happening before our eyes, and What Happened To Rapping? is evident of that. Between Jayedee’s January 24th Shine and What Happened To Rapping?, set to release this Friday, advancements from last year’s Just A Young Dream album are made clear. From the instrumental/vocal balance, to the vocalism (i.e. singing the hook in Shine), to the master quality - Jayedee is getting better and better. This is, in part, due to Jayedee self-teaching of recording, mixing and mastering skills to help better cope with the national covid lockdowns. The result is a 90s boombap-inspired track built to emphasise that real hip hop is not dead - you’ve just got to find it.
What Happened To Rapping? is produced by Mic Controller Mark (aka MCM), who is formerly of the hip hop group Caveman - the first British hip hop group to be signed by a major American label back in 1990. Jayedee had originally met MCM through an acquaintance who was trying to form a group. The middle man split due to creative differences, resulting in Jayedee and MCM losing touch for a number of months. Now, though, they’ve hooked back up to release the illest boom bap track of the year so far.
“I’m looking for something that we as a human race can learn, evolve and grow from as people”
One standout bar within the song says ...ain’t looking your wallet when I say I want some change, I want some ink so I can pen it, push the peace yeah I said it, which Jayedee broke down exclusively for SOuthside Mag: “I’m not looking for material possessions - I’m looking for something that we as a human race can learn, evolve and grow from as people...the part about peace is ultimately where we should be as people’ there’s so much hate nowadays and it’s such a common thing because it’s so easy to do. But, when you really try to change the way that you react to things, and not reacting out of hate but instead reacting out of love, that’s when I believe we will truly see a change.”
The track’s catchy hook will be available for all ears to hear this Friday, March 26th 2021. Tap the album artwork below to presave it!
