Italian collaborative JS3 have released a video of a track called “I Say” which incorporates a vocal sample of Jim’s from the Phunk Investigation “4 Letter Word” outing.
I still can’t quite ascertain whether Jim’s vocal on these recently surfaced tracks are recent or not. Reading the translated blurb from the following article (click here for original Italian language article) – it appears to be a vocal recorded some time back, but used to release new material?
Anyway, I’ll link to the YouTube clip first and have the transcript of the article follow.
Twenty years have passed since the beginning of that project that brought the surname of the surnames of the brothers Valerio and Massimo, “A story begun and coincided with what was at the time the period of the” posse “, a movement able to conjugate the rage sung by punk, the infallible pen of rap and the energy of the Jamaican reggae, but above all the “message”, social or political. From those 99 Posse left from the industrial suburbs and that has outlined the characters of the scream of the Neapolitan counterculture and in general of the Italian alternative scene.
For Valerio, in that twenty years, there have been in the middle eight albums, poster songs reggamuffin, dancehall, pop etc, hundreds of concerts taking it also around Europe, a TV experience talent (remember the transition to “The voice of Italy “in the J Ax team), collaborations with numerous other artists such as O’Zulu ‘, Speaker Cenzou and Cor Veleno, Tony Esposito, Cico, Jah Sazzah, Don Skal and Itaiata de Salsa, Miase Pmk, Boom Buzz and Reddog, Ciccio Merolla also that special moment, at the beginning of his career, in which he found himself acting as a shoulder group at the Italian Simple Minds concerts.
History, like a big circle, could start right from here. In fact, the single “I Say” (which you’ll find among other things on Youtube and Spotify) has just been distributed under the acronym of the new project “JS3” (Valerio and Massimo Jovine with Alex Aspide) produced together with Stefano Silvestri (Phunk Investigation ), which samples a piece of the historical voice of Simple Minds, Jim Kerr “4 Letter Word”.
Starting from the new project Valerio tells us: “Js3, simple, Jovine Studio 3, starting right from the recording studio where we work, over the years Alessandro and I (Alex Aspide) have been producers of all the Jovine material and therefore c ‘is so much of our but with many other musicians and we decided to make this place the study of our own project and from there are also other productions. I tell you, for example, that we have almost completed the new Maria Nazionale album, produced with Js3, but also a new emerging project like Ventinove and Trenta, or the music for the latest Arteteca film. The productions that go beyond, far from my reggae world, we like to listen to completely different things, we first like to make music. For the song we met with the producer Stefano Silvestri, who has a great experience, one day brought us this voice of Jimm Kerr, the idea was, we take his refrain and write the verses. Obviously I wanted to wear a new dress, like the dancehall that belongs to me, but also the roots and the new roots. When the voice of the refrain comes in, something familiar comes back to the mind, but certainly with an entirely new aspect “.
We also remind those who did not know that you found yourself working with Jimm Kerr and Simple Minds: “We started just like their shoulder group, not even feeling up to the time, but it was a good test, do it to twenty years is not for everyone. ”
I also wanted to know something more than the video clip of the song (three young Neapolitan boys who, between quick and parkour subjects, chase each other around the city):
“We tried to show the city through another type of movement, we shot for example at the Policlinico but we were also in Bagnoli where I see a banner in front of” Free Palestine “. We wanted to give through other forms of communication how a video can also be a message, our basic principles are always the same, those who want a different world. ”
In fact, through the banner, or in any case paying attention to the text of the song, we find it right ?: “Yes, even if it is much more mental, even if a criticism about the social veil is there, like the total immersion that forces us a mobile phone. Even today, unfortunately, I have to think about music based on the web, so the first form of art, music and emotion, a little ‘getting lost, I feel a child of these times but often these times are tight. Sometimes it would just be nicer to get in the street and start playing there. ”
Taking a step back, I liked the previous single “Puortemecute” and the resulting video, do you talk about it?
“For me too, it was a very important piece. there on a sound that can reflect contents like no, like the trap, at least for the Italian example, a genre to which I do not belong, for me does not count the appearance and the image, this song despite sews on a sonority reggae-trap, goes very well with what I say, important issues, such as violence against women, or the lack of opportunity to stay in your city and have to emigrate. In general, I see a flattening in the search for issues and we lose ourselves in the virtual world. I tell you that now I’m working on a new album, my ninth, but it could start from different ideas, I do not know if these last two songs will be part of it “.
The previous album, “In the absence of gravity”, listening to him I found a lot of you, very personal ..
“Yes, a passing album that comes from a need, just familiar. I told my true story, a song like “Self Portrait” could only be there on that record, I became a father of two children, when my daughter will ask me what album I listen to I will tell you this. Delicate and introspective album, less reggae, instead in the next album I can say it will be very Neapolitan, reggae and with themes already identified “.
Compared to the “Terroni Unite?” Project
“It helped me a lot, also to unite the Neapolitan artists, like my friendship with Pepp Oh, who collaborated with me on the writing of the last piece. Music has already undergone the exchange, and if it happens between musicians it is even more beautiful. In this city we are many and we could even more, shame about the lack of infrastructure, here you make music and you get to certain levels but it will never be the same as those who leave elsewhere that has more possibilities. Also I made TV (The Voice) to have the opportunity to expand the message. I prefer to be a small artist but to say what I think “.
And the collaboration born with J Ax? (a duet on the last record of the Milanese rapper)
“A character who tries to make music at 360 degrees, even when seen on television, I knew that the project would not last long, but it has a lot to teach.”
You, however, who has gone through a generation, the one that goes from the Posse to the trap as you see the current scene changed? Especially here in Naples …
“The Naples scene is always very productive, during the Posse period, maybe someone does not know it, but here Article 31 left, there was a label” Flying records “, which started from Naples but to produce music worldwide , even the Massive Attack came here to record. Many artists came out thanks to a mechanism that worked. Even today there are many artists, also good, but they are small components that if you could join something really nice, the artists are very close but should also be those who work around, but they are not for bad will, you have to have a suitable infrastructure. ”
“The two last projects were beautiful, I say that there will be live events in December, but I say that in the first months of the new album we will be mainly focused on working on the new album that I would like to come out before next summer.”