Q&A with Jimmy B

On one of the first very cool fall days of 2013, rapper Jimmy B sits at the basketball court he grew up playing at in Toronto’s Scarborough community, the day before he and his SmashMouth homies will head out on the Canadian leg of the Smokers Club Tour alongside Ab-Soul and Joey Bada$$. The grind is real for the young up-and-comer. He just finished his tour stops with Flatbush Zombies and is now heading out on the road again. He juggles this while preparing to put out his new project, L.O.R.D.S. Here, the young emcee with a laid-back sound, shares insight on the upcoming project and what life is really like as an opening act on tour.
WE’RE HERE AT THE BASKETBALL COURT YOU GREW UP PLAYING AT, HOW HAS YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD INFLUENCED YOUR MUSIC? It had everything to do with it. If you listen to the music, there are people’s names in there that I grew up with, there are certain situations that we’ve been through in this area that happened and transferred over to the music. We’ve seen a lot of things here, seen people get locked up, we’ve been through things of our own so that all just translated to the music and it is the environment that has everything to do with the music.
YOU ARE GETTING READY TO PUT OUR YOUR NEW PROJECT, CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE PROJECT AND WHAT IT REPRESENTS FOR YOU AS AN ARTIST? The project just represents everything that I’ve been up to up to this point as far as life goes and as far as music goes. It’s called L.O.R.D.S. and I use it as an acronym that stands for “life only respects the successful,” because me and my whole team are trying to be lords and whenever people think of lords, they think of gods, so we are just trying to be that in our own society. You only get respect in this life when you are successful. The whole project is just me trying to be successful when I’m still stuck in a place where I’m not.
WHERE DO YOU THINK THAT YOU FIT IN, IN THE TORONTO AND CANADIAN HIP-HOP SCENE? I just feel there are a lot of Toronto artists and everyone is doing their thing and shit, but I don’t feel like anyone is really telling the story of everyday life in Toronto. In Toronto, I feel like you’re either doing gangster rap or you took the Drake route, where you are making that singing/rapping music. There are not a lot of artists that are on a middle ground and if there are, they only appeal to a certain amount of people. I just want to broaden that horizon and appeal to everyone and the everyday person. You don’t have to be a gangster to know what a gangster’s mentality is. You don’t have to be a prep to know what a prep’s mentality is.
YOU OPEN FOR QUITE A NUMBER OF SHOWS, SUCH AS THE FLATBUSH ZOMBIES AND THE SMOKER’S CLUB TOUR RECENTLY, WHAT IS LIFE LIKE FOR AN OPENING ACT ON TOUR? Honestly, it is a bit of what it’s cracked up to be, but it is also smoke and mirrors. You’ve got to deal with janky promoters, when you are an opening act, no one really knows who you are, you showing up at these venues, you’ve got to explain to them who we are. The dope part of it is the performance part and chilling backstage and meeting people, but the smoke and mirrors part are long ass rides, you’re exhausted by the time you even get to the show and it takes an hour and a half to get settled in. It is an excruciating process, but it’s dope as hell, because you are on the road with people you work with, friends and shit and you know you get to party here and then.
DO YOU EAT FROM IT OR IS IT AN INVESTMENT? Right now, it’s an investment, because I believe if the music is good enough and if the person works hard enough, then all of that will come in time. A lot of people in my position would be out here trying to get a cheque off of everything, but me, I’m not doing this to be famous or to get money, but I’m doing this, because I actually love to make music.
WHEN IT COMES TO PERFORMING AND MUSIC, WHAT IS YOUR END GOAL? The end goal is to be the best at what I do, build a business and make sure everyone around me eats.