Today we’d like to introduce you to Jackson Hunter.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
The first bands I fell in love with were emo, punk bands such as Good Charlotte, All American Rejects, Brand New, Taking Back Sunday and the like. I started writing music and lyrics in the fifth grade and played in rock bands throughout my adolescence. When I was 15, I was introduced to Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Biggie Smalls and Jedi Mind Tricks. As teenagers, my friends and I would put on an instrumental, pass weed around and freestyle. It’s inexplicable; the feeling of trying to string along the most complex rhymes while still telling a clear story with depth and originality.
This challenge led me to putting out nine hip hop albums between the ages of 21 and 25. In the past year, I have opened up for many of my idols such as Bone Thugs-N-Harmony (twice), Yelawolf, Raz Simone, Big Boi, Immortal Technique, Andre Nickatina (four times), Big Sean and many others. I make music for myself but I do hope it can help others the way it has helped me. Through multiple substance dependencies, run-ins with the law, academic failures, rejections, disapprovals, next to my mother, music is the only other thing that has never ran away from me even when I wanted to run away from myself.
Please tell us about your art.
You could probably call what I make hip hop music. I really just make instrumentals that sound good to me and bring something out of me. Then I try and rhyme a whole lot between the beginning and end of each line while making sure the lyrics have continuity, are able to be followed along and display emotion.
The message is going to be different for each listener. My intended message for basically song is: don’t give up. There is no such thing as “too far gone”. Don’t believe all the crazy thoughts in your head. It’s perfectly fine to feel insane. Every person on Earth is essentially the same. We all want to not feel alone. We all want connection. However, social conditioning and a multitude of external influences have pressured us into separating from one another. Race is a man-made idea. Drug addicts should not be ostracized. You are not ugly. Tomorrow is not promised, so, to quote the great Joseph Campbell, “follow your bliss” while you still can.You don’t need to know anything about my artwork but, if you stumble upon it, you might be able to tell I put my entire life into it.
Given everything that is going on in the world today, do you think the role of artists has changed? How do local, national or international events and issues affect your art?
I cannot speak on anyone but myself. Personally, the only way events and issues affect my art is if I put them into my music. In other words, they might become the subject of a song if I feel so obliged. Other than that, I keep it moving.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
My latest full-length album Gallows and Safehouse is available on iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Bandcamp etc. It’s free on Bandcamp. My Instagram, which documents a lot of my life, is jacksonhuntermaverick. I perform a lot in San Diego and Los Angeles, so if you see me at a show, or anywhere, please say, “What’s up?”
Contact Info:
- Phone: 858 829 5419
- Email: jhunter@csumb.edu
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/jacksonhuntermaverick
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jhuntermav
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/JHunterMav
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_EgXFIX78o
Image Credit:
Philip Rohlik, Cody Ulshoffer and Nigel Tanabe.
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