We were lucky to catch up with Jeeper$ recently and have shared our conversation below.

JEEPER$, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you tell us about a time that your work has been misunderstood? Why do you think it happened and did any interesting insights emerge from the experience?

I know I’m “provocative” and I intend to be as much as I can. I’ve always appreciated disrupters in American society. I think in general we need to face the challenging and ‘uncanny’ more often instead of staying in the rails of what’s safe—ideas are never safe. I lean into a very specific line of rap and hip hop that prides itself on the explicit, shocking and funny. It’s not easy to gain an audience when you’re intentionally playing the villain. Even Eminem needed “Marshall Mathers” to balance the psychotic Slim Shady. Not that I really want to compare myself to Eminem by any means—but it’s to say, he still maintained a likable perspective in his music even during its more tortured and dark days. I think that those weird and strange and dark moments are pretty beautiful. And while I always strive to maintain a thoughtful intent in everything I do—regardless how audacious—it’s not always read the right way. I know I upset people, and sometimes I’m trying to—but I’m always amazed what some listeners will choose to get upset about, versus some of the more suggestive things I rap about.
The thing is JEEPER$ doesn’t exist simply for shock value or to trivialize bigger issues and really itch at the listener. As a rapper and lyricist he’s a return to form for rap, when things weren’t so touchy and the foundation of the culture was truly freedom of speech. Of course the duplicitous nature of JEEPER$ is something I get off to as well—I’m always hoping in whatever I do and whatever step I take, someone will size me up wrong, underestimating me, so I can dunk on ‘em for real.

JEEPER$, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

JEEPER$ is a rapper, but overall he’s a character.
JEEPER$’ career began as a hobby, an experiment in lo-fi, bedroom hip hop. It was an amalgamation of people from K.illa Cali and Gainstaville to Sie Yung, Self Paid OG Tez, and ultimately WEARRWOLF, who cheered me on and told me I was doing ‘good work’ and I guess they made me believe it.
It’s hard to say I didn’t take it seriously at first—in fact I’d argue I was working harder writing those original songs back in 2017 and that THEY were full of new ideas seldom heard or simply missing from hip hop—but I definitely didn’t think of it as a career. I’m still not sure I do—it’s not like we’re raking it in over here. JEEPER$ is a project. JEEPER$ is art, whether you’d like to believe it or not. I am an artist and JEEPER$ is another step on the journey.
It’s very easy for most to listen and look past any sense of depth because they hear the dirty language first and foremost. I appreciated a review of my latest album “UP$ET” where the writer hit the nail on the head understanding the sardonic expression and “slimy irony” (their words) of my lyrics. You come to JEEPER$ for something different, and that’s been one surefire thing: JEEPER$ is different. He doesn’t always fit in, and when he does it’s where you’d least expect it.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Art for art’s sake. There’s a lot of people out there who call themselves rappers. I’m not a rapper. I am an artist. I can rap. My aspirations in life, whether while wearing the proverbial JEEPER$ mask or my own face behind the character, is to make something that I appreciate and speaks to my soul. I can only assume if it does, it might connect to others as well. I—probably unfortunately—don’t care about “fans” in the sense of how many I have or if anyone is listening. It’d be dope if they do! But I make my own music so I have something I truly love that I can bump in my whip. This shit is all for me—and I think that in itself is my ethos: make art for yourself. If you do, it’ll more than likely end up being something unique and if you have a sense of taste, listenable.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I come from a background in film that shares a lot of parallels with the music world—and the rap culture to be specific—but veers off when it comes to some random nuances. Everyone thinks artists are weird—and they are—but rappers are truly weird. I’ve met a lot of genuine people in hip hop, and I’ve also met a lot of the types that think being tough or enigmatic is going to get them anywhere. You meet some of the aggression in the film industry, but it doesn’t come off as strange. Rappers are here for money and celebrity, artists usually need to just get something OUT. It’s rare you have a perfect line-up. Everyone’s got an ego, but some of these rappers really think they’re special in a sea of billions who can do the same or better—in a time where everyone has a microphone and DAW in their pocket. You just can’t expect much from rappers—they’re on different time, completely. While collaboration is still an important aspect of the craft, how you deal with the people you’re working with is entirely different. While friendliness and logic has gotten me far in film, it doesn’t lend well to hip hop. For example: a compliment to a rapper is you being a fan. At least in my case, that’s just not always true. Appreciation gets taken too far—right to the ego, in fact—and what could usually be an easy back and forth can quickly turn into to someone taking you for granted.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jeepersraps.com
• Instagram: @jeepersbuxx
• Twitter: @j33p3r666
• Youtube: @jeepersbuxx
• Soundcloud: @saintjeepers

Image Credits

DANGERHOUSE