Take Your Seats; Class Is In Session
J-Live speaks on hip-hop and the eductation system
2004-05-17
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In 1996 when the needle dropped for the first time and J-Live announced on his
debut single, “Bragging writes,” "for underground metaphors
/ you can scrape an inch below the turf for what it's worth / my style's been
developed in the core of the Earth / the exhale’s volcanic / the inhale is
seismic," an underground hero was born. J-Live embodied hip-hop, and
his commitment to the art could be found in his lyrics, as well as his skills
behind the turntables. Hip-hop wasn’t a hustle or a way to get out of the
drug game for J; it was a passion. After going through the typical label bullshit,
J took his skill with the English language to the classroom. As a middle school
teacher, J nurtured young minds, but his dreams of being a full-time MC never
ceased. Finally in 2002, J was given the chance by Coup De’tat Records to
shine with his first official debut full-length, All the Above. The instant
classic propelled J back into the limelight, and ever since, he hasn’t given
it up. His latest effort, Always Will Be, proves that nothing has changed
since the start, and that no matter what direction hip-hop may go, the true school
will not fade into current trends.
Has your career gone as you envisioned it?
Nah, nothing really happens the way you think it’s gonna happen because as it happens you learn about how it happens, and why it happens. The way I thought it was gonna happen I’d be three albums deep on Payday Records, with four or five videos, ya know? But I think it worked out for the best, because I’m in a position now to do things that will have a very long lasting impact on my ability to put out music, and on the music I put out.
What are some of the most important things you’ve learned through the process?
Patience. I learned that nobody is gonna treat your record exactly how you want them to. You just gotta make best of what you got.
Is that something that every rapper should go through at some point?
Nah, some people have it easier, a lot of people have it harder. It’s hard to say really. Everybody’s got to go through it the best way they know how, and study how this game is played so they can make the most out of their opportunities.
Do you take rapping as a job or are you just having fun with it?
I heard someone say the other day, "if you can do what you love for a living, you’ll never work a day in your life." I think that about sums it up.
I understand that you’re no longer a teacher, but what made you want to teach in the first place?
Studying to be a Five Percenter gave me the values that it’s real important that the kids have what they need and are getting it from somebody who cares. When it comes to middle school level skills that you need, I had a lot of students who weren’t able to do what they needed to do and weren’t prepared for high school; so my job was to bridge that gap. There is a certain passion involved when you deal with it like that. You know you have a job to do whether they like it or not. It’s like you want your kids to like what you’re doing in the sense that they feel like they’re accomplishing something, but then you don’t want them to like you too much because you gotta be hard on them sometimes.
What are some of the problems that you saw within the educational system, and how do you think the kids can be guided in the right direction?
I think the parents got to get involved more to make up for the lack of resources in the educational system. I don’t think there is ever any excuse to let a kid go through his academic career without the necessary skills, but when you don’t feel like you’re getting it from the school system, if you’re on top of the system, then it’s one thing to say that my school doesn’t have it, or my school’s not doing it. It’s another thing to not try and do something about it and say that. I think if the parents get more involved and start commanding more from the schools, that will have very serious long-term affect on America’s educational system as a whole, regardless of class or race or what have you.
I’m in school right now to be a teacher, and the reason I chose that was to make a difference, but the more I talk to people I realize that my visions were idealistic.
Yeah, but you gotta be idealistic. If you’re not, then you end up mulling along with the status quo, and you have no sense of what’s wrong in order to be able to improve things.
So did you find that you had a lot of freedom to add your own influence?
I had one good principal out of four I worked under. There is a certain level of freedom because they want you to be creative, but then again you find the conflict is, are we preparing students for standardized tests? Or are we giving them the skills they need for after those tests? A lot of time’s set aside for developing kids’ interests and their skills, even extra curricular stuff, that time was taken away, and the focus shifted on preparing for the tests because that’s what determines whether or not the school stays in business. They use the test to determine how well the students are doing, instead of dealing with them on an individual basis, which is hard for an administration to do; but still, those kids at the end of the day, that test is not gonna walk them through life and help them with their decisions. Literature might. Guidance might. Having the ability to speak on different registers and write on their age level, those things will have a long lasting impact, more than what kind of skills they have when it comes to multiple choice questions. I just think that priorities need to be shifted from the students, to the teachers, to the parents, to the people who develop curriculum, to the people who write the budgets.
Do you feel some of the same responsibilities you have as a teacher that you have as a rapper?
Yeah, absolutely. I always tell people it’s the same thing preparing a lesson plan as it is preparing a stage show. You gotta be able to keep people’s attention, not bore them, but give them what they need. On stage the MCs job is to make sure everybody is having a good time. The teacher’s job is to make sure people get what they need academically. At the same time, as a writer and a performer, I definitely feel like I have something to offer in terms the way music has inspired and taught me so many things, whether it be hip-hop, jazz, soul or R&B. From that standpoint, as a sort of passing of the torch, I do feel like I teach through music the way I was taught through music.
Lyrically you address a lot of issues - whether they’re social or political. Why do you think people don’t adhere to that kind of music?
I can’t say that they don’t. Radio doesn’t focus on that kind of music, video doesn’t, the press doesn’t always focus on that kind of music, but when people hear it, if it’s dope, they listen. That’s kind of been the story of my career. As more and more people hear my music through all these alternate means, since it’s not played on the radio and there’s not enough money to compete with these major markets, as they go through these alternate means they like it. Sometimes it’s because it has something educational to offer, sometimes it’s just social awareness. I wouldn’t say that the people don’t want to hear it, that’s just not how the game is played right now.
What in your career are you most proud of?
The kind of fans I have. It seems to me like the more my fanbase grows, and what I’ve heard from the people at shows that I get a chance to talk to, it’s like they feel that I’m making music that’s not only good to listen to, but it means something and it’s important to them. It’s not just workout music, or what they do to pass the time. I feel like what I might lack in quantity I gain in quality in terms of how people react to my music, and what I’ve been able to do.
Has your career gone as you envisioned it?
Nah, nothing really happens the way you think it’s gonna happen because as it happens you learn about how it happens, and why it happens. The way I thought it was gonna happen I’d be three albums deep on Payday Records, with four or five videos, ya know? But I think it worked out for the best, because I’m in a position now to do things that will have a very long lasting impact on my ability to put out music, and on the music I put out.
What are some of the most important things you’ve learned through the process?
Patience. I learned that nobody is gonna treat your record exactly how you want them to. You just gotta make best of what you got.
Is that something that every rapper should go through at some point?
Nah, some people have it easier, a lot of people have it harder. It’s hard to say really. Everybody’s got to go through it the best way they know how, and study how this game is played so they can make the most out of their opportunities.
Do you take rapping as a job or are you just having fun with it?
I heard someone say the other day, "if you can do what you love for a living, you’ll never work a day in your life." I think that about sums it up.
I understand that you’re no longer a teacher, but what made you want to teach in the first place?
Studying to be a Five Percenter gave me the values that it’s real important that the kids have what they need and are getting it from somebody who cares. When it comes to middle school level skills that you need, I had a lot of students who weren’t able to do what they needed to do and weren’t prepared for high school; so my job was to bridge that gap. There is a certain passion involved when you deal with it like that. You know you have a job to do whether they like it or not. It’s like you want your kids to like what you’re doing in the sense that they feel like they’re accomplishing something, but then you don’t want them to like you too much because you gotta be hard on them sometimes.
What are some of the problems that you saw within the educational system, and how do you think the kids can be guided in the right direction?
I think the parents got to get involved more to make up for the lack of resources in the educational system. I don’t think there is ever any excuse to let a kid go through his academic career without the necessary skills, but when you don’t feel like you’re getting it from the school system, if you’re on top of the system, then it’s one thing to say that my school doesn’t have it, or my school’s not doing it. It’s another thing to not try and do something about it and say that. I think if the parents get more involved and start commanding more from the schools, that will have very serious long-term affect on America’s educational system as a whole, regardless of class or race or what have you.
I’m in school right now to be a teacher, and the reason I chose that was to make a difference, but the more I talk to people I realize that my visions were idealistic.
Yeah, but you gotta be idealistic. If you’re not, then you end up mulling along with the status quo, and you have no sense of what’s wrong in order to be able to improve things.
So did you find that you had a lot of freedom to add your own influence?
I had one good principal out of four I worked under. There is a certain level of freedom because they want you to be creative, but then again you find the conflict is, are we preparing students for standardized tests? Or are we giving them the skills they need for after those tests? A lot of time’s set aside for developing kids’ interests and their skills, even extra curricular stuff, that time was taken away, and the focus shifted on preparing for the tests because that’s what determines whether or not the school stays in business. They use the test to determine how well the students are doing, instead of dealing with them on an individual basis, which is hard for an administration to do; but still, those kids at the end of the day, that test is not gonna walk them through life and help them with their decisions. Literature might. Guidance might. Having the ability to speak on different registers and write on their age level, those things will have a long lasting impact, more than what kind of skills they have when it comes to multiple choice questions. I just think that priorities need to be shifted from the students, to the teachers, to the parents, to the people who develop curriculum, to the people who write the budgets.
Do you feel some of the same responsibilities you have as a teacher that you have as a rapper?
Yeah, absolutely. I always tell people it’s the same thing preparing a lesson plan as it is preparing a stage show. You gotta be able to keep people’s attention, not bore them, but give them what they need. On stage the MCs job is to make sure everybody is having a good time. The teacher’s job is to make sure people get what they need academically. At the same time, as a writer and a performer, I definitely feel like I have something to offer in terms the way music has inspired and taught me so many things, whether it be hip-hop, jazz, soul or R&B. From that standpoint, as a sort of passing of the torch, I do feel like I teach through music the way I was taught through music.
Lyrically you address a lot of issues - whether they’re social or political. Why do you think people don’t adhere to that kind of music?
I can’t say that they don’t. Radio doesn’t focus on that kind of music, video doesn’t, the press doesn’t always focus on that kind of music, but when people hear it, if it’s dope, they listen. That’s kind of been the story of my career. As more and more people hear my music through all these alternate means, since it’s not played on the radio and there’s not enough money to compete with these major markets, as they go through these alternate means they like it. Sometimes it’s because it has something educational to offer, sometimes it’s just social awareness. I wouldn’t say that the people don’t want to hear it, that’s just not how the game is played right now.
What in your career are you most proud of?
The kind of fans I have. It seems to me like the more my fanbase grows, and what I’ve heard from the people at shows that I get a chance to talk to, it’s like they feel that I’m making music that’s not only good to listen to, but it means something and it’s important to them. It’s not just workout music, or what they do to pass the time. I feel like what I might lack in quantity I gain in quality in terms of how people react to my music, and what I’ve been able to do.
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