James Crow (Herbert Brown) and 5th Child (Stephen Brown) are not only two of Jackson’s finest hip hop artists are purveyors of the culture, but they are also brothers, members of what this particular blogger likes to call “the first family of Jackson hip hop.” They sit down and talk all of the time, but this time we made it official and got them to do another installment of our artist-on-artist interview. Find out what 5th really thinks about haters, while hearing about James Crow’s favorite place to do the dougie.
Click here for the most recent Back to Basics Podcast, featuring 5th Child, James Crow, and PyInfamous.
First, James Crow has questions for baby brother, 5th Child.
James Crow: Tell us about your new project?
5th Child: My new project is self-titled and it’s the 3rd installment of a trilogy. The first installment was Behind the Music, which was my in-depth evaluation of the music industry and the highs and lows that I experienced as an independent artist. Pianos in the Dark was the second installment in which I take the same thoroughness in evaluating myself and my personal demons and downfalls. The new album, 5th Child, is the resolution to the questions that I raised in the first two. It is my way of coaxing myself out of the depression and extreme lows that I discussed on Pianos In the Dark.
James Crow: Who are the top 3 hip hop influences to your music?
5th Child: Jay-Z, OutKast, Common (Resurrection through Be)
5th Child: Nina Simone, Bob Marley, Jean-Michel Basquiat
James Crow: You are a rarity in that you write, produce, & promote your entire catalog. What is the most difficult aspect of that?
5th Child: Promoting my music is definitely the most difficult aspect of it. I like to think of myself as a pretty humble dude and as a rapper you’re already talking about yourself most of the time. When I’m just being Stephen its been hard in the past for me to talk on and on about 5th Child. I transform when I’m on stage but when I’m in public it feels weird to keep talking about myself like that. Plus, since the industry has become so saturated and everybody raps, it kinda feels cliché to tell people about the album that you have dropping or the show you’re doing. Certain stigmas are attached to the word “rapper,” so that guerilla marketing feels a little corny to me sometimes. But still, if you don’t feel strong enough about your product to promote it, then why should anybody else?
James Crow: Fill in the blank and expound: Hip hop will not survive the next 20 years without ___________________?
5th Child: “Haters.” Although, I have a different outlook on the word. As Kweli said, “Reverse psychology got em’ scared to say when sh*t is wack, out of fear of being called a “hater.” Imagine that.” I don’t mean hater as in the popular interpretation of the word where you just don’t like someone because they’re successful. Nowadays if someone drops some garbage and you pull their card on it, then that makes you a hater. If that’s the case I must be a hater. But until people start speaking up and stop co-signing stuff just because its popular, the music will continue to get watered down and the “suits” will take complete control over the culture that WE made and struggled for. You have really good indie artists out right now and once the majors get hold of them and start prepackaging songs with crossover pop and R&B hooks, their pockets grow fatter and the passion in their music fades into nothing.
5th Child: Tell us where your name comes from.
James Crow: Back in ye olden days of 1998 when being a rapper wasn’t so cool, I went by the name Bullethead. That name was real lame so I wanted a change, but a change that would mean something. I wanted something that in a way represents black people’s conditions in this country over the last 100+ years. I chose James Crow because James is the “adult” version of Jim. And by the name James Crow, it’s a way of letting people know that the conditions are the same in this country as it was over a hundred years ago, only the methods by which blacks and the poor are oppressed are more refined, grown up and matured, if you will.
5th Child: What is the story behind the song “Cripple Fight?”
James Crow: You were watching a youtube clip of two less-than-satisfactory rappers beefing with each other. I said, “Why are you watching this? It’s like two cripples fighting.” I paused for a moment, went to my notebook and wrote that song in 5 minutes. It’s obviously a satire piece. It’s what I hear when I hear certain rappers in the industry. If the shoe fits, walk it off.
5th Child: What are the best and worst aspects of the Jackson, MS hip hop scene?
James Crow: The best is that there are more venues now than ever for artists to perform. Also, along with the entire hip hop universe now, you have a lot of artists taking the independent route, pushing their music out themselves and getting their voices heard.
The worst is definitely way too many rappers, especially the ones who have no respect for the culture locally and across the nation. In a city of about 175,000, you’ve got 90,000 rappers and 15,000 DJ’s. And out of those I bet only a few know of cats like Us From Dirrt or Illabob Cain, let alone own a copy of Grey Skies. It’s too many cats that want to rap and not enough consumers of the music. But that’s everywhere, not just Jackson.
5th Child: You are also a connoisseur of jazz music. What jazz artist had a similar approach to their respective culture as your approach to hip hop?
5th Child: Fill in the blank and expound: The most interesting place that I have ever done the “dougie” is ___________________.
James Crow: With yo mama (Brooklyn Son)!
That's it for now. Come see James Crow and 5th Child, along with the king, PyInfamous, rock the stage with a live band this Saturday night at Suite 106. Doors open at 9:30 and show starts at 10:30.
If that wasn't enough, if you go to Rip the Cypher beforehand at North Midtown Arts Center, you get into Back to Basics for only $3!! That's it. A night of hip hop culture for $8 total dollars.
Who said there is nothing to do in Jackson?
