JGE Retro: "The Message Is Turn Up!"

JGE Retro are heartbreakers in the making. Apparently the duo—made up of cousins Shad and Tab—are already so popular in the Midwest that they have, on occasion, been chased down the street by overzealous female fans. When I meet them in Nelly’s HQ in St. Louis (they’re his nephews), they’re unfailingly polite, addressing me as ma’am, and flashing bright white smiles. Sometimes they even come off as a little bit bashful. However the next day when I join them for rehearsals, onstage (and in their videos), they’re anything but. Give them the mic and they’re transformed into hypey party starters. You’d never expect them to spit the line “Bang chicks like pots and pans,” or come up with the brooding “I Could Neva” ft. St. Lunatics’ City Spud (see below), but barely out of their 20s, the fashion conscious duo are eyes-on-the-prize serious.

I talked to the Shad and Tab about the St. Louis scene, giving their uncle advice, and screaming fans.

So JGE Retro, I’m confused about your name. Can you explain?
Tab: Well, JGE is actually the whole group, and there’s six others with us, so it’s kind of a label. And the JGE actually means Jackie Gabrielle Entertainment. Jackie is my mom.

Shad: Gabrielle is my mom.

Tab:T he retro comes from the fashion, bringing the old school into the new, just the whole look because we really are into Jordans, all the old-school things and just making it cool again. A lot of people have been doing it, so it seems like the perfect name to run with it right now, especially in our generation.

What’s the appeal of retro clothes? Why are you nostalgic old clothes?
Shad: I’ve seen Tab do some stuff like, “You gonna wear that, for real?” And he makes it look cool.

Tab: It’s like doing something a little different.

Shad: Yeah, and doing what you want. Everybody thinks this jacket is too bright, but I’m just doing what I want!

Yeah, I need shades to look at you right now.
Tab: Yeah my little sister was talking bad about me yesterday, like, “You ain’t gonna get dressed?!” But it’s cool, a lot of the people who follow us dig the way we dress, and it plays a great part in our career.

Let’s talk a little bit about your fanbase, because I heard that you sometimes get chased down the street by girls, true or false?
Tab: It’s true, we’ve been chased out of places. We did a concert with Mindless Behavior, and after shows we like to interact with fans, and this time it was a bad idea. When we started taking a couple pictures, everyone caught on and started chasing us. So we went running, and I came out of my shoes on accident. [Laughs.] This other time we were performing and we both hugged a girl and she passed out.

She fainted?
Tab: Yeah, it’s on the internet. It was crazy. JGE Retro at Nelly's favorite "hood wing spot" London and Sons.

So the main reason we’re here is to talk about the St. Louis music scene. From what I’ve gathered there’s like two types of hip-hop here: you’ve got the party rappers and those whose lyrics are more “conscious,” for lack of a better word.
Tab: Yeah, we’re definitely the party type.

Talking to fellow St. Louis rappers Tef Poe and Nick Menn, they were pretty vocal about their lyrics having a message or at least talking about their experiences growing up living in the city…
Shad: I think our music has a different message, but it’s still a message.

The message is party?
Shad: Yeah! The message is turn up, always![Laughs.]

Tab: But we also do have songs that express our life, but most of our music is fun music and feel good music, we don’t want people to listen to our music and feel depressed!

When I talked to Nelly yesterday he said sometimes he looks to you guys for advice, what does he go to you guys for?
Tab: He finally admitted it! Fashion tips, cause we the young ones now, so he’s like “Oh that’s what’s cool now?” Keep him young. We used to do the same thing, we looked up to him like, “Oh wow.” Music-wise, he’s Nelly, he can’t look to us for music tips.

What was it like growing up in St. Louis? Were your family encouraging in terms of your musical aspirations?
Shad: Yeah, we were definitely around it. We went out of town with Nelly when he toured.

Tab: My mom didn’t want me to do music. I had joined the neighborhood group, and she wasn’t feeling it, so she pulled me out. But when Nelly got on, it motivated us more to do what we want. Even before he got big, we loved music.

Do you feel like it’s an open community in St. Louis in terms of musicians or is competition?
Tab: How we look at things, we don’t want to spend our time on other artists, instead of ourselves. Competition’s there, but we don’t force it. Everyone’s friendly, we do songs with STL artists and from other places. We just have fun with it, bring back hip-hop to being cool and fun, not beefing all the time.

Do you think you’re gonna stay in St. Louis?
Tab: Of course! I can’t leave my family. I’ve said before I love LA, but if I lived there I’d get bored out there.

Shad: Family can come with me.

Tab: He’s leaving! [Laughs.] I ain’t leaving.

Is it a running theme here where artists feel like they have to rep the city?
Tab: Yeah. Most of the artists feel like they have to, so if you YouTube “St. Louis artists,” you’ll see people under the arch, or by Busch Stadium. Which is great, that’s how Nelly got on in the St. Lunatics.

What’s your grand plan for the next five years?
Tab: Tour a lot. Build a fanbase, and make people love us for us and not just our music. Cause that’s how we got to where we are, cause our fans love us for us. They think we’re cute or cool and we communicate with them.

Shad: I just want me and him to hold up a Grammy. Just one of them.

Tab: [Laughs.] If we could get a Grammy in five years that would be amazing! JGE Retro rehearsing.

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