This week DeBraun Thomas profiles hip-hop recording artist, Rob Jackson.
Rob Jackson is a native of Lexington who grew up around music. During the 90’s he was an avid fan of hip-hop in Lexington, but he says he didn’t get serious about music until he moved to Dayton, Ohio, started recording while in college and got some encouraging feedback.
“I actually went in the studios and started making records and people liked them, it was just something you play around with, but then you realize ‘hey, people like this, you know I might be able to do something with this’ so I started really taking a different approach at that point, and it wasn’t long after that, that I got feedback from ‘industry’ you know what I mean, and that’s what solidified ‘ok we can try to make a career outta this.’”
Industry recognition landed him a record deal signed by Clive Davis to Arista Records. During his time on the label he worked with producers such as Kay Gee and Kanye West and was featured on albums with groups like UGK and Boyz II Men. When it comes to recording, Jackson says his goal is stay true to the vision of the song.
“It’s a visual thing, I get finished music and I have to close my eyes and kinda see that record, in terms of what does this sound look like, you know what I mean, and it might be like five guys wrestling on the prison yard or whatever, that’s what it looks like, and then you take that and then you say ‘how do you translate that vocally,’ then I take the actual sonics of the track to figure out how I’ll approach it, there’s all this instrumentation, I try to vocally become the instrument that’s not there inside track with my syncopation.”
Since moving back to Lexington, Jackson has been an integral part of the hip-hop scene. He’s been featured on tracks with many different artists, but says he’s willing to give more to younger artists than a few bars on a song.
“I’ve got a certain amount of knowledge that came along with my experiences, I’ve got a certain amount of information that came from the work that I put in and I share it with whoever wants to know it, so I just encourage the younger cats to approach me, if you wanna talk about it, we can and those that do, I impart any knowledge that I have.”
Rob Jackson is a solo hip-hop artist. More information about Jackson can be found here.
