New on the scene and coming in hot is Jess B. She has performed a few times over the last month alongside some of our favourite local girls, Jane Deezy and Soraya. With her tomboy style, badass attitude and verses to match, Jess B is our new favourite.
You are performing at the LICK gig this Saturday night at NOTW, what can we expect?
It's gonna be lit! High energy, good vibes, no scrubs. Lol.
How are you finding it as a female rapper who's come up through the local cypher scene?
In my opinion, the NZ Hiphop scene is popping off better now than it has in a long time. There are so many dope artists from around Auckland / NZ that I genuinely look up to and enjoy their music, so to be coming through as a newcomer in the scene and getting recognition from some of them has been awesome. Being a female rapper also gives me a point of difference! I believe that I am different to any other MC (female or male) that has come up in NZ before , and I am keen to show people what I am about, and that I can kick it with the boys just fine.
You produced seven clips as part of your ‘What you know about me?’ video series. This was awesome and an amazing marketing move as a newcomer. Tell us a bit about the idea behind the series and what you achieved from it.
I think that throughout my life, people have created pre-conceived ideas about who I am, whether it has been to do with my gender or my background. This series was about me finding myself, both as an artist and a person, and hopefully letting people know a little bit about me along the way. My background and being part Kenyan also made my experience growing up in New Zealand different to the people around me, so I wanted to share my stories and experiences with people who were interested.
Initially the idea of the series and the 7 videos was to promote my most recent music to the hip-hop scene here in Auckland, and get to know some of the artists doing their thing here at the moment personally. I also wanted to build a following online - so releasing the videos primarily on Facebook seemed the best way to achieve this. As a whole I have been stoked with the reception of the videos as a starting point, and i am excited to move onwards and upwards from here.
What are you hoping to achieve in the next few months? Who are you working with, what’s next!?
In the next few months I am hoping to perform at gigs as much as possible and continue building a fan base. I am also in the very very early stages of planning and creating an EP - so I am looking to start working on this in the coming months. P-Money has been a friend and mentor of mine for several years now- I look to him for a lot of advice on things, so I will continue to work with him. I also hope to have a few dope collabs on the EP too.
Check out Jess B at LICK this Saturday night at Neck of the Woods, 10pm.