THREE MINUTES WITH... J CHAMBERS

Ahead of his headline performance at The Old Pint Pot in partnership with NOWT, Mancunian rapper J CHAMBERS chats to our music editor Will Stevenson.

N: How’s life?

JC: It’s good man! Working hard on a new project, New Levels New Devils. It’s a little different from Moment of Silence.

N: What’s changed between Moment of Silence and NLND?

JC: The honesty. If you listen to Moment of Silence 1 and compare it to Moment of Silence II, it’s kinda like peeling back the layers. Instead of overcomplicating things and hiding behind metaphors, I’m saying things as they are. It creates an instant connection with people cause they can just get it. There are still lines in there which you can go away and decipher, but a lot of it is instantly gratifiable. I’m not going to compromise my message but to get into the industry, you have to have music that appeals to everybody - but the message is still there.

N: What other media are you enjoying right now, outside hip hop?

JC: I read Milk and Honey by Rupi Kapur which is pretty cool. Been well into reggae recently, listening to Popcaan, Morgan Heritage, Steel Pulse, Protege.

N: What’s your favourite venue to play?

JC: Band on the Wall. I’ve played there lots and they’re really supportive of the scene. The big boom we’ve had in Manchester music is partially down to them, giving Manchester artists a platform to perform and make money.

N: Who have they particularly supported?

JC: Layfulstop, Woody – a lot of people sleep on woody - Dane has genius level bars. Original Genius.

N: How should upcoming artists make a name for themselves?

JC: Making friends with promoters. When I first started I’d hang about at gigs I liked, wait around after, clock who the promoter was and asked for their email, sent them my music. Just networking! Together you can build.

N: What’s next for J Chambers – next 6-12 months.

JC: Put out New Levels New Devils. Do some shows, put out some videos and just grow man. There’s a lot of ownership with this project and wanting to be mine in a specific way. There’s been a trend of hip hop doing performance videos, so yeah I want to do some conceptual videos.

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