Q&A: JoeJas Flexes His Eccentricity With New Single “Lax”
☆ BY Kristian gonzales☆
Photo by Ashley Evans
NOT TAKING HIMSELF TOO SERIOUSLY — UK-based rapper and producer JoeJas is finding his way through the current rap scene by not caring about staying in one lane. Releasing his laidback single “Lax,” he’s chilling as the genre’s next resident oddball.
Over sparse Neptunes-inspired instrumentation dominated by 8-bit synths, JoeJas flows with nonchalance as he spits bars with a mix of absurdity and braggadocio such as “Guts busting out the navel / Left handed bandit / Bars still llamas / Gaps and that's shit / Ain't evolve a lick /Like a male salandit.” He elevates his quirkiness in the music video below, rife with Spongebob-esque imagery and colorful gear, even rocking a horse head mask at one point. With this new single, JoeJas is just riding his own wave wherever it takes him musically.
Rapping since age 11 and producing his music since age 17, JoeJas is cool with going wherever and whenever as an artist. Dropping his debut album, Planet, in 2016 and following it up with projects such as 2018’s Gappy and his newest album, Gaps & Nomads, last year, the rapper embraces self-acceptance and defies the expectations society places on people based on their image.
Mashing R&B, hip-hop, punk, and other genres into a sonic gumbo, he makes it known that he’s not getting boxed in whatsoever. Pushing his self-made mentality even further, JoeJas has also dove into editing his own music videos and establishing his multi-genre creative brand Fat Llama, stamping his name with events around London.
He even recently won Vans’ Musicians Wanted 2020 contest and gained notice from Anderson .Paak and JID — JoeJas isn’t taking his foot off the pedal. Luna connected with JoeJas to dig into the creation of “Lax,” his creative expansion with Fat Llama, and what’s next musically after getting major co-signs. Read the interview down below.
LUNA: Hearing how quirky and spacey “Lax” is, how big of an influence has The Neptunes been on your genre-bending approach to your sound?
JOEJAS: Huge — when you listen to The Neptunes versus The Clones project and every song is a different genre and sound, it’s so sick. Because it’s not like they’re just making the stock of the genre. They are always putting their spin on it, and I really try to do that with everything I make. I wanna make some opera shit and [have] people be like, “Oh yeah, that’s a JoeJas beat.”
LUNA: What was your process like in creating this track, especially when blending their style with your flavor and keeping the vibe chill?
JOEJAS: I wanted it to sound cool. I’m not really cool, though, but cool is subjective. Cool is a weird word to look at: cool cool cool. Honestly, I just remembered the vibe that “drop it like it’s hot” and grinding had, and I was like, “Yeah, I wanna make that weird af.”
LUNA: Did you have any weird or abstract ideas for the video that didn’t make the final cut?
JOEJAS: Yeah, there was a scene where I had filmed all my homies on green screen and wanted them to be flying through the screen, but it didn’t work with the song.
LUNA: With your newest project, Gaps and Nomads, out now, what’s the biggest growth you’ve experienced as a musician since you started?
JOEJAS: I think I really got better at getting straight to the point with my ideas. I was listening to my first project, Planet, and there are so many cool ideas I had but didn’t know how to shave it down to the most necessary parts sometimes. I still love it, though. I also think that “Escape!” is the best song I’ve written and produced so far, just on what it’s about and the structure.
LUNA: Do you feel like there will be a point when you’ll be open to collaborations in production and mixing while keeping full control of your creative vision?
JOEJAS: Yeah, probably in the future — I never rule anything out. Always down [to] collab and stuff, but in other ways like features and production for other people. But I always have really focused ideas when it comes to my own projects, so if I think it will work they can jump on the pirate ship.
LUNA: How far have the events under your brand, Fat Llama, been able to bring your “weirdness” to life?
JOEJAS: Pretty far! When I did the pop-up shop last year and saw all the different people that pulled up and just had fun, it felt so sick. At Llama & Friends Vol. 5, I pretended to be this character I made called “yung radiator” and wore a blonde wig, gold chain, and no T-shirt, and everyone got it (laughs). Sometimes I get bummed out that people might not get it but at times like those I remember I’m doing something really sick and unapologetically me.
LUNA: Has Fat Llama exposed you to a greater degree of innovation in London’s creative scene than you originally expected? How has this influenced your artistry?
JOEJAS: Yeah, 100%. I started doing the event side of Fat Llama ’cause people weren’t booking me or weirder-sounding music because it’s a business risk — even though I’m a fire performer (laughs)!
Also in lockdown and stuff ,when things were half open, I threw this event called Speaker in a Park where I did what it says: I put a “speaker in a park.” That was fun as hell, and it let me know anything can happen in life and it can never stop me. In influencing my art, I guess it made me double down on, “Hey, any idea I got, just do it no matter how wild it seems.”
LUNA: Did you feel any pressure to elevate your music to the next level after gaining praise from Anderson .Paak and JID in the Vans Musicians Wanted contest, or is it simply seen as a stamp of approval of the grind you’ve been on with your work?
JOEJAS: Nah. They’re just people. If they like it at that stage and I know I’m only getting better, then I have nothing to worry about. I never want to stay stagnant or make things for people's approval because that’s not what I make music for or what people like about my music. It was nice, though, for Paak to be [there] — this dude’s cool.
LUNA: Can we expect many more surprises in your continuing multi-genre fusion for upcoming projects?
JOEJAS: Yeah, I might do a rock opera (laughs). Nah. Well, maybe… Nah. Okay, what I’m on now is really pushing the world of Gaps & Nomads. I got so many cool ideas around the project to help fill out the world, so when you go back into the album for another listen, all the videos and stuff I do … gives the album even deeper context! Watch “Lax”! I love that video.
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