We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jonah Smith a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jonah, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

my instrumental project “northside.” means a lot to me for a variety of reasons. It is inspired by the area I was born/grew up/spent a lot of time in through out my first 18 or so years of life. All the track titles are places I lived or frequented. I lived on Elm St. as a young child. My mom would walk me to Wick Park to play and swing on the swingset as a young boy. “northside.” also means a lot to me because it was the first project that I released physical copies of. To date not many have sold, but I’m proud that I followed through and took the chance to see the project to completion. It is also the first musical project I have in stores, shout out to Fat Hippy Records.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Some people know me as the DJ from Animus Divine, some people know me as the host of Voicebox Battles, some people know me from hosting a variety of events, including my video podcast GrimeTime TV. Some people know me as a producer, some people just know me as “oh yea, that one guy.” For people that don’t know me, both locally and abroad, I dove into the industry head first a few years after I moved to Tucson. I coordinated and hosted events and rap battles, created a live video podcast (way before podcasts were as popular as they are now, i’m talking circa 2010) and performed with my band (Animus Divine)
My main interest lately is music production and collaboration with other artists.

I have produced for KOOL AD of Das Racist, Noah23, Riddlore, Born Sinners, Los Feo Faces, Stay Busy Crew and more.

I am currently in the middle of several projects while always adding to my vault of beats. My goal is to create full bodies of work with other talented artists. Stay tuned to my social media because my best work is yet to come.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

the escape. when your whole is crumbling down around you, and you turn on your mpc/sp/daw of choice etc etc., put on your headphones and just get lost in a vibe…it can save your life.

Also, the connection with other artists. its hard to explain, but its totally understood. When you lock in with another artist, things are just perfectly in sync and everything just sits right in place.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Be excited! Share links on social media. Go to your to local show and buy merch, interact with the artist if they are running their merch booth. Go to your local farmer’s market and buy goods. (learn about what you’re buying first, of course.) Slow down and take the time to appreciate art in all its forms. Go to an art gallery and wander for an hour. Ultimately, create something themselves! The more “creatives” we have, the less typical/average “society” we have, right?

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @grimeyl
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/grimeyLmusic
• Twitter: @grimeyrepublik
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/grimeylaunderings
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/grimeyl

Image Credits

Nabahe Benally (edit)