Bringing Boombap Back with Rapper/Producer Blister Jay Pop

He is one half of Free State rap duo, Phour20, and he goes by the name Blister Jay Pop or The Funky Fresh Kid On the Block and he's about to change the face of South African hip hop.

At only 19, the lad is known to spit sick lines and make mad beats. He calls his sound AfricanBoombap and says has been active in the underground Free State music scene for about  6 years.

We hooked up with the kid and this is what he had to say for himself and music career... 

 

RVL: Who is Blister Jay Pop.? How did you come up with the name?

Blister: Blister Jay Pop is a music producer and rapper from the Free State.Haha, funny incident, I had a Blister under my foot and I was wearing (Jays) Jordans, and it popped inside the shoe, and at that time I wanted to change my stage name and Blister Jay Pop came up in my head and I decided to go with it.

RVL: You say you’ve been in the game for about 6 years, what are some of your earliest memories of hip hop as both a rapper and listener?

Blister: I've always been crazy about the underground hip hop scene since I was a youngin’. I used to listen to a lot of rap, Boombap, dungeon... Dope emcees like Master Ace, KRS, Pharoah Monch,Godfather Don, Method Man, Biggie… the list goes on.

 

RVL: Coming from the Free State, how different is the hip hop scene in comparison to other provinces, particularly JHB and Cape Town. How is the culture: graffiti, break-dancing, knowledge of self etc?

Blister: I've seen dope graffiti art works from niggas in the cape and the local hip hop,Afrikaans rap. The people are all about the hip hop culture and they love it. I don't know a lot of niggas in the Free State that do graffiti but the culture is very much alive here too. Bloem has a lot of dope dancers - I salute them, haha and the people here are crazy about poetry... Jo’burg is the city where people go to make it and you find a lot of talented artists with different styles. I like the BTTC events because you can see how much love hip hop is getting.

Graphics by Angela Nimah

RVL: What do you feel you represent in your music within the South African hip hop landscape?

Blister: I feel that I represent that crazy style in the South African underground hip hop music...

RVL: How did you get into producing and who have you produced for?

Blister: When I was starting out with the rap, I was in a crew with two of my homies and one of them was a producer. I used to watch him make beats and I got interested so I got FL Studio from him and I started making beats. I've produced for Niiio,Cadastrofik,G32, Jalettua Nuune, Impropoe.Just to name a few.

RVL: Who are some of your hip hop influences and why?

 

Blister: KRS One,Godfather Don,Method Man, Dr Dre. These People made me fall inlove with hip hop, I guess they are the reason I’m baking that crazy Boombap. I like the raw style, the beats… everything… haha

 

RVL: We interviewed Miss Jalettua Nuune the other day and she mentioned African Boom-bap as a genre and you say that you’re the founder. Is it a movement, is it a sound…?

Blister:AfricanBoombap is a genre that I founded last year. It’s mainly about making Boombap with more of that African, tribal music feel with the instruments used.

AfricanBoombap is a sound and a movement. I've been learning more about Africans; our history in music, because people only give a bird’s eye view into the African Music. I'd like more artists to gain more knowledge about music from their 'home'.

RVL: Seeing as you come from a small hometown, Johannesburg is a city where artists or rather people come to ‘make it’. Do you envision yourself moving to the big city to expand your career?

Blister: Yeah. I’m definitely coming...

RVL: What are your thoughts about the hip hop industry now and how it has evolved and how do you see Blister Jay Pop within that mix?

Blister: I love the hip hop industry. There's a lot of dope artists coming up with different styles. I see myself as that crazy producer/rapper to bring out that eccentric good music.

RVL: What are busy working on, is there a project you’re releasing as a producer and or rapper?

Blister:Yeah,I’m working on a beat tape that will drop sometime this year and I worked on an AfricanBoombap Tape with Jalettua Nuune to drop soon and more music coming...

Facebook: Blister Jay Pop

Twitter: @BlisterJayPop 

© Revolution Validates Life