FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Music

Welcome to the World of Jono Das

Stream 'Illustrations' the the New Zealand hip hop producers debut solo album .

For a little while now the Facebook profile banner image for Auckland-based producer Jono Das has read, “Debut solo Ep out really, really soon”. Well it’s time for Jono to update his Facebook profile, as the release of Illustrations has made that 'really, really soon' a 'now'.

Jono de Alwis wears several creative New Era hats that include producer, artist, graphic designer, illustrator, and videographer. But it’s as Jono Das that he puts his hip hop skills to use and presents a musical style that is informed as much by the Impulse and Blue Note catalogues as it is the Def Jam label.

Advertisement

Having released singles, and a collaborative project with Angelo King (Third3ye) Illustrations continues on Jono’s mellow and relaxed take on hip hop.

We had a chat to Jono about his music and art.

Noisey: What is it about East Coast hip hop and jazz that influences your own music?
Jono Das: I grew up with a jazz family. It was always jazz. Herbie, Marcus, Shorter, all the homies. But the first piece of music that I ever got for myself was a DJ Jazzy Jeff and Will Smith tape. I don't know how I made that jump, from jazz to hip hop. I was 7, so I have no idea.

My first CD was Run DMC. At the same time that I bought that, my dad got a Santana compilation. I listened to both, a lot. My house would still be playing jazz, and my headphones would still be playing hip hop. I think it was just the familiarity of the hip hop sound, along with the youthful injection, that helped me to relate. The beats and production of East Coast Hip Hop sounded similar to my dad's music, but it was more exciting to me, something new.

Are there any similarities between those American scenes and the NZ hip-hop scene?
I remember watching Jay-Z on Letterman describing hip hop as a beautiful marriage between boxing and poetry. He was trying to illustrate how hip hop had originated, really, as a competition. A battle between two people, as they fought each other with words, and boasted about who was the better emcee

Advertisement

As Kiwi's, we don't boast. We don't brag. Anytime someone stands up and says, “Hey, look at me, look at this great thing I've done”, we collectively reply, “Settle down, mate”. Because of that disconnect we've been forced to come up with our own brand of hip hop. If you look back at NZ hip hop, it's not the guys who have tried to rap like Americans that have been the most celebrated. It's the guys who have kept it Kiwi, and just been more humble about it.

This is the reason that there are so many dope beatmakers in NZ. We're hip hop kids, and we want to somehow be a part of hip hop, whilst still staying low key.

Does the EP have refer back to any visual elements - illustrations or otherwise?
I can say that the EP, and my music as a whole, is heavily influenced by visual elements. Besides being a beatmaker, I'm also a graphic designer and a photographer/video shooter, so it all links in. But the title of the project, Illustrations EP, dates back further.

I could draw before I could write. Flip, I could probably draw even before I could walk. I've been drawing since forever. You know that kid in your class, when you were 6, who always had the dopest title page in his 1B5 notebook? That was me. Drawing was just what I did. I still draw now, but for the most part, drawing has been replaced by beat making. So, when it came time to name the EP, I already knew what I wanted to call it. Making music is my new drawing. Songs are my new sketches. Beats are my new Illustrations.