Today we’d like to introduce you to Jabubu.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
A young man born and raised in Providence, Rhode Island. In an early age, I was very quiet, not knowing how to communicate well with my peers. Was oddly a great writer since a young boy and was in love with music, especially hip hop. Getting older I craved the attention of people my age because I was often overlooked. Started writing raps down and showing it to kids at school to see how they would react. With positive feedback, I started writing more and eventually started going by the name “Jabubu”. There’s no significant definition to the name that I’m aware of, I seen the name on a song called “The Adventures of Jabubu” and thought it would be a comical yet very unique name to go by. Fast forward to high school, say about 10th grade. I create a Facebook account and scrape up whatever money I could find to buy a USB mic so that I could record freestyle on my laptop that my mom bought me.
I started to record remixes for YouTube to beats such as “rack city” “the motto” “pound cake” and gained attention from not only my school but people I never even met in other schools. Fast forward to after graduation I started performing at local open mics to further my learnings of what it takes to be a rapper. Performing gave me a whole new perspective on how I should create my music. Still posting freestyles and now better music I started gaining more fans of my craft from other states and even other countries. As of late as a 25 years old man, I’ve been overbooked in my city alone and won a rap contest for Sway Calloway and was featured on his new show “Overtime”. Now the young boy who was looking for a way to meet new people and show them my skill is now being paid to perform at various venues and for features. There’s a lot more I could go on about but that’s just a small explanation of my comeuppance. Still a long way to go till I’m where I want to be. But I’ve made it farther than I thought I would.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
As far as life, struggles in school and at home kept me on my heels. From struggling with school work to being so poor to the point where my family could only afford fast food for dinner. While also trying to Survive my crazy city as a whole.
As far as music promoting myself and being consistent has been my major obstacles in life. I don’t have a team of people who help me push my music. It’s always just been me sending my work to everyone and getting in contact with people to get me into a showcase. In Providence, during my early stages of rapping. People kind of don’t believe in their peers. We come from the smallest state in the country so big dreams seem out of reach. The tides as of late have been shifting though. My city is coming together and starting to realize that all we have is each other and we can’t do this all alone. Inconsistency comes from a lack of funds. Everyone wants their money. Getting studio time, purchasing beats, paying for music videos all by yourself is probably the hardest thing an artist can do, especially with a regular 9-5 job. And not a lot of people are willing to put that business aspect aside to actually trust someone and create greatness.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a rapper just like everyone else in the world, lol.
People who know me know me for my great energy and lyrics as well as great aura.
My aura lights up a room and mixes that with good music and the people are hooked.
Something I’m most proud of is how far I’ve been able to go and all the connections I was able to make by just making music.
Gave me opportunities to perform for different colleges (one of the shows being an opening for Ty Dolla $ign) and winning a competition to be on a show hosted by the legendary Sway Calloway
What sets me apart from others is I’m not afraid to be myself. Growing up in providence you grow up around a lot of different people. I’m friends with gang bangers, drug dealers, and hood dudes, as well as skaters, nerds, and other weirdos. Growing up in such a mixed environment all those different encounters molded me to who I am today. The goofy lovable nerdy dude who will knock ya head off if you say sum stupid. And I use every side of me in my music without having to portray a specific identity. I’m just me
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
As far as good luck just being able to still live to write another day is a blessing in itself.
As far as bad luck with my music, I haven’t had too much. I’ve lost a few contests and got overlooked for so many years but that just comes with the game
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/Jabubu
- Instagram: Instagram.com/JabubuHD
- Twitter: Twitter.com/JabubuHD
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/SinistersEnt
