(AllHipHop News) Huntsville, Alabama-bred and Universal/Republic-signed rapper Jackie Chain recently spoke with AllHipHop.com about his upcoming work titled The Bruce Lean Chronicles Volume 1, which is set to release next week on July 31.
The Slumerican affiliate explained his diverse style of music, his recent change of labels from Universal Motown to Universal Republic, and his grind of performing shows across the country at varied locations for a wide spectrum of fans.
While his releases as of late have been more dance inspired, Jackie Chain says that this project is a return to the dirty south rhythms and melodies of his initial work.
“It’s just the last couple CDs that I put out, man, have been more club orientated and on some dance and some getting f*cked up sh*t,” Jackie Chain told AllHipHop.com. “Bruce Lean is really more of what I’ve been going through in my life, man. I’m just really back on that trap sh*t, man, and it’s me going back to my original roots and more of a street album, on that selling dope and pimpin’ h**s and that sh*t that we do in the South, man.”
With a steady work pace, Jackie has already started compiling The Bruce Lean Chronicles Vol 2, a project he says is more feature heavy.
“With the Bruce Lean Chronicles, I saved a lot of my features for the Chronicles 2, like, I got Bun B and Big K.R.I.T., but for my production on the Chronicles Vol. 1, I got production from MMG’s Beat Billionaire, I got production from Sonny Digital, Diplo and Burn One. So, I got so many different producers, and on my last one, I just used one producer for the whole CD. So I got street sh*t, as far as beats go; I got sh*t that people would have never thought they would hear me on, so I like the vibe that is on this CD.”
While some Hip-Hop fans may not be used to artists from Alabama and more remote parts of the South like Mississippi, these two states have turned out several of Hip-Hop’s top billed artists over the past decade, including but not limited to David Banner, Big K.R.I.T., Yelawolf, Tito Lopez, Joker and Jackie Chain himself.
“I didn’t really have anyone that went national in my area out of Alabama, so we had a lot of outside influence from, of course, Atlanta, Texas was a big influence, and Tennessee with Memphis and Nashville. So Huntsville sort of got a little bit of all the surrounding areas, and we grew up in an army base town so people from all the different areas brought all their influence,” Jackie explained.
“All these different styles came together – and I didn’t grow up around graffiti, and I didn’t grow up around subways like in New York; I didn’t see the same stuff that L.A. had with the ’64 Impalas with the rims and hydraulics. It was easier for me to relate to the Southern music, but when I heard UGK and when I heard 8Ball & MJG, I could relate – the Cutlasses, the ’73 ‘Lacs, ’73 Donks, the dudes out there with the jheri curls, and the ‘Bama pimps out there pimpin’ hoes.”
But despite Jackie’s upbringing of listening to the music from the “Dirty South,” he has embraced dance inspired styles of music, as it was those fans who were booking him and listening to his music from the beginning.
“I listen to so many different types of music – like rap is just one type of music I listen to. But, my first song that most people knew me by was ‘Rollin,'” which is a dance song, even though I’m talking about being in the club getting faded type sh*t,” Jackie noted. “I got booked at raves in Miami, raves in Austin, or L.A., like they didn’t wanna see my street sh*t, like they just wanted to hear my dance sh*t. But, man, I’m a hustler, so if I can get some money doing a show at a rave, a Hip-Hop show, or even a country show, I’m tryna get it, homie. I ain’t no spring chicken, know what I’m saying?” he noted.
It’s true Jackie isn’t new to the game, as he was signed to Universal Motown almost five years ago, and for that very reason, he is focused on putting out work regardless of the label’s financial support for his work.
“I’ve been signed to Univeral Motown since ’08, but at the end of last year, they disbarred the whole label, so I was fortunate enough to get moved over to Universal Republic, with Drake and Lil’ Wayne and Nicki and the whole Young Money camp, and Kid Cudi, and Pac D##. They moved us over, so with those caliber of artists, I felt blessed to not have been dropped and to be brought over to the Universal Republic Family,” Jackie said. “At the end of the day, I’m not waiting on nothing. All the videos I’ve put out, they ain’t never paid for na’a one video, even the Bun B video, I put my money into that. I got love for the label, but I ain’t waiting on nobody.”