Jae Skeese Speaks on Latest Album "Abolished Uncertainties"
WORDS WITH WORD$ INTERVIEW #12
A MESSAGE FROM JAE SKEESE:
“Burner Phone” by Jae Skeese:
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$$$. THE AUDIO TO THIS INTERVIEW
Yo, it's the Pope, 1000WORD$.
Jae Skeese is a fierce talent making waves out of Buffalo, New York. His undeniable skill and unyielding determination have helped him forge a unique path in the rap game, with his latest album "Abolished Uncertainties" showcasing his dedication and raw authenticity. Jae Skeese's music is deeply rooted in his life experiences and the gritty reality of his city, making it a must-listen for fans of real hip-hop.
While Jae Skeese's journey has been filled with challenges, his resilience and unwavering belief in his craft have carried him forward. As a member of Conway the Machine's label, Drumwork, Jae has had the opportunity to work alongside some of the most talented artists in the game, solidifying his status as a force to be reckoned with.
In our exclusive interview, Jae Skeese and I delved into his come-up story, the success of "Abolished Uncertainties," and his plans for touring and future projects. He also opened up about his influences, passions, and the obstacles he's faced and overcome along the way.
Jae Skeese is an artist who remains true to himself and his music, consistently delivering heartfelt and substantial hip-hop. Don't miss the chance to get to know this rising star and experience the depth of his artistry.
THIS IS WORDS WITH WORD$.
1000WORD$: Yo, this your boy 1000WORD$. I'm here with Jae Skeese, man. Let the people know where you from, my brother.
Jae Skeese: Buffalo, New York man. Buffalo, New York, what's going on?
1000WORD$: So how was it growing up in Buffalo, New York?
Jae Skeese: Buffalo, New York man, you know the first thing, you get pretty much every season in Buffalo man. Like you gonna get your cold winters and you gonna get your warm summers you know what I'm saying? Buffalo is a place like, you know it's got a lot of cultures, a lot of food. Obviously, we love Buffalo Bills here. Man, Buffalo as a whole is just like, super segregated, right, so I grew up on the east side of Buffalo. And that's where primarily African Americans reside. And, you know how you got like LA and you got a lot of different gangs and things like that, where people rep different colors? Buffalo was more so people rep they streets, you know what I mean? So if you from Six Duece or Bailey Style, or whatever the case is, you just repping your street. But overall, I mean, my experience in Buffalo was cool, because I went to a school, especially like high school, I went to a school where not a lot of a lot of black people really went. I still grew up in the hood, but I was I was able to kind of get the best of both worlds, you know what I mean? Just through the people that I grew up with, and went to school with, and I just kind of knew. Because growing up in the hood, and then going to school and interacting with other people would kind of show me a lot of different sides of everything.
1000WORD$: How was the culture in your house? What were your parents listening to?
Jae Skeese: So my mom and my dad, they tried to stay away from Hip-Hop a little bit. We did have like a couple of like BDP CDs, and we had like "The Score" by "The Fugees." That was like one of my first introductions to Hip-Hop. But my dad passed away when I was ten, and that was around the time when I really started getting interested in music. So I was listening to a lot of Mary J. Blige, and Monica, and Groove Theory, they had an album that was super influential. But yeah, those are some of the joints from back in the day. It was just a lot of R&B, you know what I'm saying
1000WORD$: As far as when you was able to put together your own palette to pick what you wanted to listen to, where would you go to in Buffalo to get these [mixtapes]? Because I grew up in the mixtape era, right? Where would you go to get something like that? Like mixtapes, what were the spots in Buffalo?
Jae Skeese: So there was one spot that was around the corner from me. It's funny, I actually don't remember the name of the spot, but I would go there all the time. It turned into a barber shop, it was called Magic City. It was right on Bailey Avenue, on Bailey and Andover, that's where I grew up at. And then one of the other spots where I would go, like I got my first Shyne CD from there, and I got my first Nelly CD, and Jay Z CD, [it was called] Record Theatre. It was over on Main Street. So they had two locations, or maybe they had more than two, but the two that I would go to was Main and Delavan, and then they had one in University Plaza. So Record Theatre was the spot where everybody went to to get a lot of their music. But mixtapes I would get from, it was like this other little record spot that was right around the corner. I just can't remember the name of it. I don't even know if it had a name, it just had music in it.
1000WORD$: Nice. Alright, so at what age you figured out how to put words together?
Jae Skeese: I was probably 12 or 13.
1000WORD$: Okay. Where were you? And what do you remember what you did; what you thought about; what words you put together?
Jae Skeese: So I don't remember the exact raps and everything but I had my man I grew up with, my man Scoop and his cousin Ron P. I was rocking with them real heavy because they were right across the street from me growing up on Andover. And you know, them dudes man, they always wanted to rap and get next to they uncles because they uncles had a group that was called Jay Billings. They had a studio and they wanted to get in the studio with them so back then, they would record on a karaoke machine, my man Scoop and Ron P. We would take the computer speakers and you would plug one of them into the mic jack and one of them into the speaker jack and hold the speakers like this and rap like that. They really wanted to get in a real studio because they had a real studio set up in the basement. I would go over there to they house and I would just beat box, you know what I mean? I would listen to them rap and do they thing, and one day they was like "Yo, you should go home, put together a rap, and bring it back. We'll see what it sound like." So I went home, wrote down some bars, trying to get my little rap together. I went back the next day, spit it for them, and they was like, "Yo nah, that's tight. You gotta do this shit." And so that was what really got me my start with putting words together and trying to write, you know what I mean? And then my man, Ron P., he really showed me how to put my bars together and how to structure the songs and everything, stay on beat and stuff like that.
1000WORD$: Now growing up in Buffalo, did you go to any concerts? Like did you get a chance to go witness any Hip Hop shows, or any concert in general?
Jae Skeese: I wasn't super into going to watch the shows. It's funny, the first couple shows that I went to were really my shows. I did shows [at] a place called Afro dogs. There's actually a motorcycle club here in Buffalo and my first couple shows were actually at their compound. But I had never really had too much direction as far as doing shows and performance, cause I ain't never really been to them shows, for real. It was just, you know, everything was just natural.
1000WORD$: And your first time performing, how did you feel? Was you nervous? Who did you perform in front of, or who came out to see you, like people in your city?
Jae Skeese: Yeah, it was definitely people in the city. I was super nervous. I was probably 13 or 14 at the time, just tryna do my thing, you know what I mean? Going back to that first show, I don't think anybody was really even paying attention. It was like young kids, trying to get hurt. We were at his motorcycle club drinking, and it was just kind of crazy. But once I got up there, and I did it, because I was always super shy as a kid, it just kind of showed me like, okay, if I really love this thing that I'm doing, and I overcome that fear, then I can get up there and do what I want to do.
1000WORD$: Fast forward, did you always go as Jae Skeese?
Jae Skeese: Yeah, it was always Jae Skeese.
1000WORD$: Nice. What was your first project?
Jae Skeese: So my first real project, I had a mixtape. It was called "Women, Alcohol, Cash, & Kicks." That was my first tape. It came out in September of 2010.
1000WORD$: Fast forward now, you recently dropped your newest project. Let the people know the name of it. Me, I dived into it this morning and shit. "Burner Phone" was my shit, and "Bonneville." That shit was fire. How was your approach for this project different than any other project?
Jae Skeese: So the approach for "Abolished Uncertainties" was I wanted to really just explain me as a person. I think with some of the other projects that I've tried since I signed to Drumwork, it was really me just trying to get people to understand why Conway signed me, you know what I mean? Because it was super random. I think people, they didn't really understand it at first, and it kind of came out of left field. It was really me trying to get people to understand like, "Yo, I'm nice. Like I do this shit." As opposed to with "Abolished Uncertainties," I more so wanted to tell my story, and I wanted to show off my artistry, because I do more than just rap. I do more than just spit. I can put songs together. I can evoke emotion out of the listener through my story, and I can inspire others with my story. So I wanted to really make it a point to tell my story and just show off everything that I can do. If you listen to the album, I'm telling stories, I'm rapping my ass off, of course. At some points I'm singing, so I have some dope collaborations on there, and I'm going toe to toe with some of the best. Conway, Freeway . So I just feel like I put on a full display of everything that I can do.
1000WORD$: But you know, a person like me, I went to Buffalo a few times. I can see where you think that people would think that you came out of nowhere, but not really man. You've been out there putting in a lot of pain. I can say that because I've met a lot of people out in Buffalo and they all speak about you. And you know, you've been around, you've been in music groups with some of these guys. So shout out to you man and your blessings, bro. It's time, you know what I mean?
Jae Skeese: Hell yeah, salute man. I appreciate that.
1000WORD$: Now how does it feel traveling around? You traveling around the world, bro. You're all over the place.
Yeah. It's a crazy feeling man, honestly. I gotta salute Conway for really putting me in that light man, and really bringing me along for the journey. He explains it like this, cause you know, he's still on his way too, you know what I mean? But he's in the car driving, and you know, me, [7xvethegenius], [SK Da King], Goose, and Shots, we just happened to be at the bus stop. He pulls over, like "Shit, y'all coming? Y'all rolling? Shit, I'm going here. This is where I'm going. I'm going to the top. If y'all coming, come'on, hop in," you know what I'm saying? And I gotta really salute Conway for that. But it's a great feeling, man. It's been a lot of times where I'll be at a show, and we'll be over in like Paris or Amsterdam, and I'll be at the merch table selling my merch, and somebody walk up, and they'll see the artwork, or the CD, or maybe it's a t-shirt. They'll be like, "Hey, yo, I love Jae Skeese. How much is this? I wish I could meet him." And I'm like, "Yo, that's me."
1000WORD$: Hahaha.
Jae Skeese: Like, "You Jae Skeese?! What you do here at the merch table?!" So, you know, it's crazy, man. It's really crazy to see the love and see the appreciation for the craft, you know what I'm saying? I'm just eternally grateful.
1000WORD$: Was there a point where you thought that the eyes wouldn't get to Buffalo? Like, was there a time where you felt like, "Man, I probably gotta do something else," you know what I mean? Did it feel like that.
Jae Skeese: You know, I feel like I probably hit that wall a couple of times in my life and in my journey through this shit. I definitely have. And the thing that kept me going was, it was really a few things, but my man, Weeze, rest in peace. He passed away in 2021 right before the first tour that I went on and he used to just keep telling me all the time, like "Yo bro, you are nice, bro. Just keep going. You got to keep going, ain't no way you can stop. Cause all you need is the right ears to hear you. All you need is the right situation and you gon' be straight." He was really my biggest inspiration, man. Actually, I got "Everything for Weeze," right here tattooed on my face, cause he was the person that really kept me going in this shit even when I didn't believe in myself. And like I said, it was plenty of times where I felt like that because, you know, being from Buffalo. Nobody was checking for Buffalo Hip-Hop, even the people from Buffalo. Like if you were from Buffalo and you rap, people didn't want to hear that shit, just because like, that's just the sentiment of the town. And now it's a little different with Griselda and [Westside Gunn], [Conway the Machine], [Benny The Butcher], and [Daringer] kicking down that door, and people are a little bit more receptive to it. But man, it was a point in time, I remember if you was from Buffalo, even if you wasn't wack, you was wack. That was just what it was. So to see them do they thing, it really inspired the shit out me. It really kept me going and I had my man, Weeds, in my corner, who really just like, he was pushing me, bro. Like, I'm talking about non-stop. So that was the things that really kept me going.
1000WORD$: How was your first experience seeing your album on vinyl?
Jae Skeese: That was crazy, bro. I ain't gon' lie, so I was doing late cuts. I was doing late cuts of "Revolver Ocelot." So that was my first mixtape that I dropped after I signed with Conway. We took that joint on roll, but my first official joint was the Big Ghost tape, "Authenticity Check." Just seeing all the different variants and everything man, it was just like "Yo, this is crazy." Because the way I think about this shit is, cause for so long I was trying to do it, and it was just like, dudes was fronting on me, or the situation just wasn't right. It's like yo, anything and everything else... I could do nothing else, I could drop another album in life. That wax is gonna live forever, you feel what I'm saying? Unless you get caught in the fire or some other shit, somebody break it. That lives forever. So seeing that shit on wax man, it's everything. I don't know if people really understand that feeling, but it's a great feeling, man.
1000WORD$: It's like a full circle moment of seeing all those records throughout your whole life and then having one on your own. It's like, you part of this universe, you know what I mean? It's an amazing, amazing feeling. Who are your influences? Who are some of the people that you always catch yourself listening to?
Jae Skeese: Definitely Nas, Lupe Fiasco, [Kendrick Lamar], [J. Cole]. I always go back to Jigga. Conway, like I was a fan first, you know what I mean? I just love the way he rhymes. Big L, Biggie, rest in peace. All three of them, for sure. And somebody else that I really got a lot of respect for, it's kind of left field, but I really love G. Dep.
1000WORD$: Man, shout out to G. Dep. I listened to his album, no lie, like every other four months. Like I just go into that bag cause he got some shit, bro.
Jae Skeese: You know that song, "Everyday?" So that joint was like one of the reasons like, if you listen to my shit, just the way that I'm telling my stories and I'm talking about the hood, I'm talking about how I grew up, real shit, he kind of set the groundwork for the way that I do that with that specific song. I remember online I found his information to write him. This was years ago, this might have been 2015-2016. I wrote him actually, and I told him that, cause I knew I was gonna get to this spot. Whether or not I was discouraged or whatever, I knew I was gonna get here. And I wrote him and I said, "Yo, you one of my biggest inspirations, man. Salute to you. I know you doing what you doing right now, but hold your head, and just know you was one of my biggest inspirations for sure.
1000WORD$: That "Child Of The Ghetto" album was serious, man. It was a real, real, real, real good album. It's unfortunate what happened to that brother, man. I see that you posted that you got a million streams so far, right now, in like just the weekend, right?
Jae Skeese: Yeah, man. We teeing it up.
1000WORD$: Congratulations, bro.
Jae Skeese: Thank you, bro.
1000WORD$: Congratulations. Cause like two years ago, I remember you dropped me off somewhere, cause I was in Conway crib, and you was like, "Yo, man, things are looking good man. Conway a good dude." And look at you now, bro. Look at you, man.
Jae Skeese: Yeah, it's crazy to be in this position, man. And it came with a lot of sacrifice and a lot of just being patient, you know what I'm saying? Every situation is imperfect and tough times don't last but tough people do. So I feel like with everything that I had to endure during this process, losing my best friend, losing other people, family and shit, not being in the best financial situations, and just trying to figure it out, it just really prepared me for this moment. Cause if it was just given to me off top, I wouldn't [know what to do].
1000WORD$: Do you plan on touring the album, going to do a couple of shows for it?
Jae Skeese: Yeah, for sure. Actually, me and my team, we're in the middle of trying to get it together as far as all the different shows that we want to try and do. We're looking at where we're streaming best at, so we can pull up. That's definitely the plan, and then I got some other stuff planned for the rest of the year too. But I definitely want to hit the road like immediately. That's where I'm at with it right now. So I can come out and see people that really fuck with me.
1000WORD$: Did you watch wrestling growing up?
Jae Skeese: Yeah, I did watch it growing up. I wasn't super into it. I was more so into video games and being outside playing football and all that, but I did. I used to peek at WWE and WWF at the time.
1000WORD$: I was gonna ask you, who was your favorite wrestler growing up?
Jae Skeese: I would probably say Jeff Hardy. Yeah, Hardy Boys. Them boys used to be out there flipping off the turnbuckle going crazy. The Hardy Boys was fire. I used to like Chris Jericho too. The Walls of Jericho, his finishing move was crazy.
1000WORD$: What are the three sneakers you could live with forever? Like if you had to pick three sneakers, what would be the sneakers you pick that you could wear for the rest of your life?
Jae Skeese: Aqua 8s, 5s, Infrared 6s
1000WORD$: You said Grey 5s?
Jae Skeese: Nah Metallic 5s. And then Infrared 6s.
1000WORD$: Fire. That's a fire lineup right there. All right, this was dope man. This was a dope conversation with you, Jae Skeese, man. Like I said, for the people that do they research and shit, I know you've been putting in your work for a minute, bro. And to see you here, you know what I'm saying? It's really dope, man. I woke up and saw that you posted you got a million streams. Let's make it to like 2 million, 3 million, you know what I mean? Congratulations on your journey, bro, and continue to succeed, brother.
Jae Skeese: 100% man. Salute. I appreciate you tapping in.
1000WORD$: I appreciate you, my brother. Thank you.