In Conversation With J.Chambers & Qyor On The Project ‘Homecoming’
Musician J.Chambers latest project Homecoming weaves a poetically compelling narrative around what home feels like and how it is defined. Produced in Jamaica and crafted in a way that has beautiful resonance, its deep reggae influence fuses inspiration from genres such as rap and drum & bass, with supporting visuals in the form of documentary.
In a dual interview, we are later joined by brilliant artist, songwriter and producer Qyor, known for his collaborations with musicians such as Dexta Daps, Kranium and Agent Sasco, adding even further background into the making of ‘Homecoming’. With BLK BRIT, both artists go into insightful, powerful conversation around belonging, identity, physical and spiritual connections, collaboration, navigating hardship as men and much more.
Photography by @kennybrownphotos
With your Homecoming project, you've got the music and you've got the documentary film which has been doing pretty well at festivals. What inspired you to put together this body of work, having the immersive visual experience to go along with the music?
“It was building off the first album Escape the Kingdom written around the time of George Floyd. In Manchester we ended up leading a protest and it was kind of like the visceral expression of that time. As I stood back and began to overstand the ting, I was like, well what's the next step after I mentally escaped the shackles of ‘Kingdom’, colonialist society and all the weird things we have to navigate. As we're shedding that weight, the next thing would be having a homecoming, returning to source, returning to inspiration, returning to peace. I kept seeing this word homecoming everywhere, I journaled it and I was like, that's the vision; I know where I need to go. The short film element of it was thinking about how I can build something that really elicits what I'm trying to get to the listener. Our experiences as Black people navigating this society is not one-dimensional, and so to really have that conversation and explore the themes I want to, I have to do it in a 360 way. Music is incredibly codified, there are things we say in the project that we will get on a cultural basis, but for those who aren't necessarily part of the culture who want to learn, there's also a visual aspect that shows you that journey. Pairing the two together it can be used as a piece of conversation, but also hopefully a piece of overstanding where I'm at, where others might be at and spark some interesting conversations.”
Yes, definitely. Touching on a phrase in the Fields piece was ‘daily armour.’ Those two words alone, it definitely helps describe the UK experience for Black people, that feeling of preparing yourself. You were born here, 1st gen, but there’s still that strong connection to Jamaica because of family ties. That leads me into the next question; how does your sense of belonging and identity look in the UK versus Jamaica?
“I feel like it doesn't really exist here. Flying out on the plane to Jamaica with the team, I've not told anybody this, but I had a physical reaction. The team were worried, like I don't know what happened - I kind of remember blacking out on the plane like 3, 4 times. The video guy Sein was trying to chat to me, then I woke up and there were people all around me. I was like, rah, this is kind of deep, I don't know what's going on. I wasn't overheating, I don't get any sort of anxiety from flying or anything. So I think it was a thing of my body just being like actually, you don't have to deal with all of this shit that’s in the UK, you’ve actually come into peace. After that happened, I hit the ground running, I was able to create. In the UK I feel like you bring your race and your identity everywhere you go, that's the first thing that you have to address, but in Jamaica it never became a conversation. For example, when I'm dealing with promoters booking my headline show to launch the project, whilst there are promoters that are allies, there are also some promoters that immediately have a perception of the type of audience that I will bring because it's reggae music and because of my culture, also because of the type of artist I am. That's always going to be something that we have to navigate and in the arts it’s particularly evident. The music industry wants our culture, wants our art, but it doesn't seem to want the faces that go with it…The way Fields came about, there was Qyor with his team and my team sat across this table at this hotel. He's mad spiritual, like he's a channeler. He's asking me all these questions about everything apart from music; spirituality, family, life, it felt like I was being interrogated. The first time meeting a creative, you don't want to bottle it, you just have to firm it. As we answered questions, different members of his entourage ended up doing their own thing until it was just my team and [Qyor], then he was like, ‘Alright, I'll come to Tuff Gong and do the session.’ The last thing he said to me that day was, ‘I want you to take your shoes and socks off and physically dig your feet in the soil of Jamaica, because the ancestors have a message for you.’ The morning of the Tuff Gong session, I did that. And no word of a lie, Fields how it is, I wrote the verse in one continuous sitting. I read the verse to Qyor whilst we were recording something else and he immediately pulled up the instrumental and that's how that song came out. There is a different thing creatively that you can tap into out there that you just can't hear [UK]. Britain is my home, it’s a place that's made me me in some aspects. But I also think there needs to be an honest discourse around what Britishness represents at all levels; whether it's political, local, educational, because things don't make sense at the moment. We're seeing on social media Labour leader Keir Starmer, a primarily left-wing party that historically has been an ally of people of colour, are now considering having conversations with Nigel Farage, who is very much on the opposite side. I feel like everything is really convoluted and that there's a real experience going on, there's just not many safe spaces where we are having these open conversations and dialogues. That's what hopefully this music is encouraging, for others to explore this for themselves thematically. Whether that's through art, sport, photography, whatever their creative medium is. But it's like that's the only way that we can make sense of it, is going inwards to overstand the outward.”
You mentioned that you put your feet in the soil and Fields coming out of that, I wrote down from researching the Tuff Gong session that you did 8 songs in 8 hours?
“It was 8 songs in 7 hours - ”
(Both laugh) Oh right! That's even more amazing-
“I don't flex that much. So when I did that, I was like, all right, we haffi get it right. There's a clip on Instagram where I'm literally outside of Tuff Gong and I'm like going to Sein, ‘What've we done?’ And he's like, ‘You've done 8 songs in 7 hours. You scoring extra points or something?’ (laughs). Then in another video, it was like 8 songs in 8 hours, but it’s definitely 8 songs in 7.“
Photography by Sein (@Seinhq)
You were at Big Ship Studios, which is synonymous with Freddie McGregor. It must feel powerful creating not just within Jamaica, but also within those spaces. Please go into the power of collaboration with this particular project.
“100%. We went to Jamaica with no agenda; myself, producer Rebecca Raum aka Small Gunz, the videographer Sein and then Simeon who was my engineer at the time. We just flew out, booked a couple of sessions at these different places and just created; whatever will be will be. We had two days to acclimate before the first studio session, getting bits of content and it was cool because in that environment, I was able to just focus on research and reset. The first session we did was with Kongz Drumatic and Donté. Donté plays keys for Lila Iké and Kongz plays drums for Protoje. We did a couple of things with him already, like Overstand so that was like seeing old friends because you've spoken before. In the background, Rebecca was setting up meets with artists. On the way to Tuff Gong, I'm kind of bricking it in the car, I'm not a big talker, I'm really quiet. When we got there, it was just like, right, it's your time, it's make or break. The very first song that Boxy the engineer pulled up was one of his, this Grammy Award winning producer. I have no time to be nervous, I have no time to panic. Smashed out my verse in 20 minutes, the first one, went to lay that then Qyor arrived. He came with Mandela, then we did that, then we did another thing. By the time I clocked I was just working with so many different producers and writers that it just became this thing, it was almost like a learning community. There's so many cool moments reflected in the film, like coming up with the hook for ‘Fields’. The conversation at the end of the video is how that chorus happened. There's me, Unga Barunga who's from Heavyweight Rockaz, he also drums for Beres Hammond and then Qyor, we were talking about the chorus and what we wanted conceptually. Qyor literally went in the booth as you see in the video and laid the hook.”
That sounds like such a wholesome, organic experience. You touched on something; I tend to find a lot of creatives when it comes to social interactions they're quite introverted or ambivert. So what is it that led you into music; the background of J.Chambers.
“I didn't really process music was something that I was really supposed to be doing until a few years ago. I looked back at my school reports and you can go back to reception and read, ‘This individual has an aptitude for music.’ My earliest dalliance into music would have been at the age of 12, I started taking drum lessons, played drums in a couple of bands up until the age of around 18. 21 was when I wrote my first solo song, put that out and then started going from there. So I was kind of a late bloomer in terms of my solo career, but I've always made music in some form and my family are incredibly musical. My father was a DJ, my mother was a singer, I've got cousins who are artists in their own rights, there's artists on my granddad's side of the family; everything about my family I guess has been surrounded around creativity in some way. Being naturally introverted, music offered me a space to say things I wasn't necessarily confident to say when I was younger. As I've become older and become more mature, I’ve learnt how to hold court and articulate how I feel irrespective of others perception, we all have a right to speak and music was the key to unlocking that door.”
Brilliant, it speaks to how important the arts are in terms of not just entertainment and expression, but also personal development. I think people underestimate the actual power anything to do with the arts has. It's way more than just songs. Being able to connect with people that you've never met before through this medium, love things like that.
“It's that universal web of arts, regardless of where we're from, the music connects us. When we went into the session with Kongz Drumatic that's the first time we were ever in the same room. We've only corresponded by email. I don't even think we jumped on the phone at that point, we just voice-noted or Whatsapped. But then when you're in a space with somebody, immediately because you've had that, you've communicated musically, it's like you know people. I feel like music allows people to build those groups and find their tribe, because your tribe isn't always like what's around you immediately. Sometimes they're international as well.”
Do you feel there's a north-south divide in terms of community experience, like the Black experience?
“100%, I think that there's a lot of, I want to say looking down- there's a hierarchy of perspective that the industry is willing to accept and a lot of our experience is articulated by the London lens. If you look at artists like Chiedu Oraka, he’s a good friend of mine, he's been doing his thing for years and has carved out such an important space in terms of representing the Black Nigerian experience in Yorkshire. That's an amazing thing that the industry really should be looking at and being like, yo, there are like Black people up here too, or the Black people in Manchester. There is this lack of representation at those levels. Anything that could be considered unconscious at this time shouldn't be, I think most of it is consciously decided. The excuse is that the industry is down in London, but then if there's a gap that you see within the industry, then you go and find the artists or the practitioner. We can find soul singers all the way up in Scotland, or you can go to Leeds and sign a soul singer, if you're wanting rappers and artists that are talking to an experience, a culture, we do exist. There's a hesitancy from the industry to get involved up here, or it's gate kept in some regards, not speaking about my own experience, but I know that there is a feeling amongst some artists that certain opportunities or certain doors aren't open to them because you have to be able to I guess, appease certain people or appease certain bodies or companies to get ahead. When you get to a stage where you're unapologetically yourself it’s a beautiful thing in your art, I don't believe you should be made to compromise on that to fit into a box to be able to be pushed further. If the machine exists and we are good for the machine, then we should be able to work collaboratively to produce, but that balance is off kilter at the moment.”
Photography by @kennybrownphotos
When it's creative arts, something that requires funding, there is still a disparity between the north and the south. Moving on, when you were on Bridge 99FM, Ronnie gave you a massive nod to say the way you fuse genres and the way you present your music you can feel the synergy in there. When did you find your sound or find the kind of hybrid you wanted to do?
“In the least pretentious way of saying this, it found me. Initially, when I first started making music, it was hip-hop based, like many artists, you fall into that trap of looking at where hip-hop based on a major scale was, America, even though England was doing its own thing. But even at that time UK rap was very influenced by the American sounds. And I could see where the audience was going, where the industry was pushing and I'm like, it doesn't really fit. So I had to go inwards. At the time, my cousin, 2Nice, he's a reggae singer, he was always asking me about collaborating. We did the first song which was ‘2:18’ which references the bible scripture which says, ‘Render your heart and not your garment.’ We did that song together and it was like a mad fit, but he had epilepsy and he ended up passing away the day he sent me his verse. We were voice-noting through that day, and in his last, he broke down the chorus for me. Then I didn't hear anything else. Then literally, I started seeing tributes from like Wiley and other artists on social media being like, yo, RIP my man. And it turned out he died; the last thing he ever said to me was breaking down the chorus to that song. So we had to mix and master it. And then I was like, this feels like a pivotal point, because I know he was really interested in me going down this direction of reggae and my engineer JSD was saying that to me as well. I was like, you know what, it feels authentic to me. So I thought, let me try a couple more songs. The more I was making it, the more I just felt like this is the space where I can say what I want to say spiritually, culturally and it feels like a personification of myself; the marriage between hip-hop and reggae and obviously they're ancestrally linked. So I was like, yeah, this is me. And here we are.”
Powerful story, thank you. For the project you said that you did 14 songs for the 14 parishes. What inspired you to do that?
“It’s weird, with the whole project all I had before going to Jamaica was the concept and that’s it. Everything's manifested that we just so have 14 songs, and there are 14 parishes; and it came without trying or thinking about it too consciously. Working with Qyor has been really great as well, because he's been a really good soundboard in terms of my ideas and guiding me in terms of my writing and where I want to go, he's been a really big mentor; I'll add him shortly just so you can hear from him because he's really been a big part of this project as well.”
Brilliant! Last question before we introduce Qyor; ‘Mandela’- It's a beautiful song because it's inspiring, overcoming trials, you really get the sense of that. What inspired you to enlist the track ‘Mandela’?
“Each of us had our own experience that came together- the song started with Qyor, to Fyah Roiall then came to me and it's become this thing where it's almost been a remedy for emotional injuries that we didn't know we were going to get at the time of writing. When I recorded [Mandela] in May last year, while in Jamaica I was told that my grandfather was going to pass away. So I was doing these studio sessions and trying to navigate that, but also mitigating the emotional impact of that as well trying to be creative. It transpired that my verse is essentially me writing to myself, giving myself that guidance; “This is for you when you feel you're at your limit, every battle's a scripture to see the wisdom in it, remember tears cried on a mountain fall, pave a way for a new growth to benefit us all.” I was in the moment thinking, what's an up for when you're feeling downtrodden or when you're feeling like you can't go on, what are the words that you want to hear? Those are the words that I needed to hear. I know Fyah had similar situations in his life and his verse has spoken to that; he's been very adamant since we had that song completed that this is the song that's going to change someone's life. In the rollout, ‘Mandela’ wasn't going to come out early but it was because of the strong spiritual belief and the connection that each of the artists involved had in this needing to come out, so I switched up my rollout and we'll just put it out now, so it resonates and sets the scene.”
Qyor joins the interview***
Blessings to you, I'm very privileged to meet you; virtually meet you- (both laugh).
J.Chambers: “We were just talking about ‘Mandela’, bro. And I was like, the journey didn't start with me in it. So I need to give the context and then we've got the whole well-rounded story of ‘Mandela’, but also ‘Homecoming’ as well-”
Qyor: “Yes for sure! Meeting J in Jamaica and talking through life, our first conversation wasn’t much about music. It was more about life and making sure to meet the energy and soul of anybody I'm doing music with, so that it can be more than just sound, you know, that matters to me. It was good we had that conversation too because by time I spoke to J again, it ignited a lot in him too. We got to the studio and I had ‘Mandela’ for I'd say maybe a year before that, the initial idea. I was going through a lot with family and my dad was approaching a physical transition, so it was a lot of hospital visits. Then there was a lot with music, work and co-parenting was a big challenge. I was really at a point where I had this studio set up at home but I wasn’t making no music for a while. A really close bredrin of mine, an artist as well, Agent Sasco, he reached out to me and said, ‘I'm picking you up, get ready.’ He brought me outside, we drove to the top of this hill called Beverly Hills in Kingston. I've had an album done for years, but I've not released a lot from it, I've just been going one-one from it and not releasing the project. He played one song for me that was his favourite in the truck and I started breaking down, you know, and he's like, ‘It sounds different now doesn't it?’ He was laughing, and he's like, ‘Yeah that's how music is, you have to let it continue to be your medicine.’ There are times when we don't see the things that we're wrestling with and what it’s gonna do for us in another year or 2 or 10, but we have to make sure that we're not stopping it from coming out. And he said to me, ‘Yeah, so rain don’t last forever and ask Mandela,’ and he laughed. I was like, ‘Thank you,’ and I wrote it down, that was on my phone. We really chat for a good while and then went back home, and I just started like creating, because it couldn't come out of my head and I just couldn't move- “Tell him that the rain don’t last last forever, ask Mandela,” I just need to build up on more, “sun will shine," did all of that. And I had that for a while. I was thinking, yes, something like Kendrick, come on, something different would have been nice with it. Fyah Roiall was always working at a studio called Frankie Music Studio that I often work with. I said to him, ‘Yo, I want you to do something different. I don't know if you've ever done something like this, I've not heard it. But I want you to tell me something real that's happening with you.’ Oftentimes as men, we're not given space to be vulnerable.
We're not given space to be in touch with the things that we feel, we're told not to feel much. But for me, I always talk about emotional marketing. If we can tap into whatever we're sharing to the world and have it be something that will meet people emotionally, it can last longer. It engraves a little bit deeper in their souls and in their energies. So that was it for me. He wrote a beautiful verse and we recorded it and by the time I met J that was done, but it was still something very open… Whether it was my ancestors or just that spirit in him that's beckoned for something like this, I was like, ‘Yo, there's something I want you to have for your project. I think it would sit in alignment.’ He heard it and he just started writing in the studio. Never forget that morning, almost midday, Tuff Gong studio and it was beautiful to see him just go. As much as it's something that I've produced and I had already started writing to, I wanted to give him space to be, then at any point in time it would have been like, ‘Yo, Qyor hear what I have,’ and we can figure it out. That's really what it was, just sitting aside and watching that happen. We have clips of those moments fine tuning and just seeing it all come together, it's just a beautiful song. Fiya always says it, ‘Yo, this song gon’ heal somebody,’ and my response is that it has… We're not saying anything about Nelson Mandela himself, but it's important that we shared this song on May 10th because that date means a lot to Nelson Mandela. We can always allow ourselves to celebrate the moments that don't feel like the greatest times of our lives, but celebrate what they're doing for us. There are times when people call the rain shit weather, and I understand, of course, but the rain does this beautiful thing to the earth, and that celebration is necessary, just as the sun is doing its duty. So yeah, that's what Mandela is, and I'm really excited to share this to the world, energetically and sonically too.”
Photography by Sein (@Seinhq)
I really think that that's what added the emotional power to it, music is more than just words, you're listening to a connection, you're listening to a synergy between the producer, the singer, the rapper and for a track to be powerful or successful it has to have that right combination of energy. I know that you've worked with a lot of great people in industry; do you usually have those conversations beforehand where you get to know the artist's background? Is that how you normally collaborate with people?
Qyor: “For me, that's often my approach. There are some that you can have that conversation first with, and there are some that you have to kind of wait a bit and eventually it's a lot of discovery, you know? For me the collaborations I've had, when I say worthy I mean the ones that have lasted and ones that are deeper rooted, that's how it was; conversations that would bring us to an album. I have friends that I often work with and we don't write, we don't sit down and try to write a song. We sit and we talk about things. We can go into our heads and try to be overly poetic, but the very things we’d say in a conversation is really what can be sung. Because that's what really people need, just a creative soundtrack for the things that they will talk about, it’s nothing complex. I remember years ago I used to have a thing called writer's block and I used to hear people talk about it and I never experienced it until about 10 years ago… if we're writing about our lives, all we have to do is choose to be honest. If we're choosing to be honest, then there's no block, but if we're blocking ourselves from facing the truth, then there's going to be a writer’s block. There are some things that we don't need to sing about anymore and then sometimes that would be a writer's block. Music for me is a conversation, so most artists I work with understand worthy creativity, that's where it is. People often times put us in this robot thing, ‘Oh, music starts, let's write. Beat is making, let's write.’ (both laugh). It's nice to do that, but it's not everybody's approach to the music, it's a much deeper mission.”
It's so nice to see a project with Jamaican and British artists; I'm hoping to see a lot more of that, especially as more people in the UK are understanding and connecting to their roots and showing appreciation for what they grew up on. What do you think is catalysing the movement of people collaborating more internationally?
Qyor: “It’s nothing new, just a cycle returning. There’s always reason to connect and not let distance hinder connection. Back in my day, I used to have a thing called Pen Pals, I'm an oldie -”
Me too! (both laugh).
Qyor: “You see, only ones who want to find distance as an excuse will use it as one. But distance affects nothing, you know what I mean? My father is no longer in flesh and he speaks closer to me and louder to me now than when he was alive. I remember working on something with an artist from the UK called Doctor, a big drum and bass tune, it was interesting… it was good to do that. By the time we're working on this project with J, I'm understanding that temperature in the UK. I'm like, yo, let's do something like that, so we eventually remixed an initial idea and turned it into drum and bass. Without hesitation, without any limitation, I'd say Homecoming gives a bit of the reggae, the drum & bass, the neo soul, the hip-hop energy, all of that. So I'm excited about what it will do for more artists who sometimes don't understand how easy it is. Me and J will be on the phone for hours we're not writing no music, just talking, because it helps a lot in whatever he's about to go write when he comes off the phone, whatever I'm about to create or whatever we need to create together too. So yeah, beautiful the roots here, you know; we can talk about Maxi Priest, we can talk about Alton Ellis, we can talk about Bob Marley when he left Jamaica and came to the UK, and it will encourage us to remember that it's not something that’s complex, we are connected. I always tell the J I have a deep love for the UK and I don't even know why. But I've always said it's the perfect weather there, let me live there! (laughs). People are like, no, no, no. (both laugh). So yeah, it’s not so hard in creating across the seas.”
Photography by Sein (@Seinhq)
So last question for yourself [Qyor] and J. So much passion, talent, thought, heart and spirit went into this project, Homecoming. You do speak of not necessarily wanting to pander to the mainstream. If it does, it does. If it doesn't, it doesn't. But that's not the aim of the art. So what is it that you want individuals to get from this Homecoming project?
J.Chambers: “For me, it’s the value of returning to the source. I feel like sometimes in the community there's a lack of overstanding the value of going back home for the spiritual recharge. In Fields we talk about taking off the armour and the peace when you get to do that. It's very easy to think that the UK is representative of the entire world and it's not, it's a microcosm in this lived experience, I hope it encourages people to explore that, explore going home. I think we take the cultural link that we have for granted sometimes, because beat making is cool, we've got all this exploration of it within the music, the film, the fashion in the UK. But going home and creating unlocks something different within yourself, like I have never created this way as I was saying before, making some of the best music of my career. Qyor's mentorship has obviously seen to that as well, and I think it's that it's that openness; like look what I found, I found an album and a mentor.”
Qyor: “Yeah, the root is the messiest part of the tree experience but it's so much value. We see a bit of root going into earth, but those veins go deep, deep, deep. When we get the chance to tap into a deeper desire for the root of our experience, then there's so much more that can come from the fruits, so much more. So I'm happy that the spirit of his grandparents and great- grandparents, everyone within J’s lineage pushed him to come to Jamaica. I said to Small Gunz, I don't know why I feel like I've either been told about J.Chambers or I've met him before, but it's fine, and I just brushed it off. It will sound cliche for some, but because I know how I desire to be tapped in, it's crazy… I guess I was supposed to meet him now and the conversation brought forth so much. But even in daily motion in life, if we can allow ourselves to put our feet back into the soil, sometimes literally, and become like that root every day, allowing ourselves to really return to that part, it being a beautiful entry point. The wind is blowing on the leaves, branches and fruits, but getting back to that nutrient we get from the soles of our feet, that part is important to us, daily. I wouldn't say [the music] can't go mainstream, it will go mainstream, it's just doing what it needs to do now. If it goes mainstream now, great. If it goes there in 20 years then that's great too, we just want to know that we're not holding back our vessel and what we've been blessed with; I'm happy that's what it is too for ‘Homecoming’. It's a motivation for me as well, since working with J and just seeing how he works and how he organises everything, it's been encouraging for me to push on my projects even if I don't put it out yet. So that's it too, it's a blessing of the abundant flow.”
Bless in both ways. I know the quality of both your works and I'm looking forward to the world hearing it all! When is the full project due for release?
J.Chambers: “The full project will be out end of July, early August at the latest, but I've not got a set date yet.”
Qyor: “Sounds like it might be on the 6th of August -”
J Chambers: So Qyor’s been right with every day he’s predicted. You picked the whole Mandela thing dropping on May 10th. That was you enit! You vesseled that! (all laugh).
Qyor: It makes sense, like, it's not me, I don't know. I just open my mouth and say what comes and hopefully it makes sense. But if that's what you aim, let's make it work.
I’m with Qyor, it fits. (all laugh).