New Zealand rapper JessB
It started with the single “Set It Off” in 2017. In early 2018, JessB followed up when she premiered “Take It Down” via Complex Australia. Her debut EP ‘Bloom’ dropped shortly after, and is now in heavy rotation on streaming services across Australia and New Zealand.
With the EP doing its thing, Anny Ma links with JessB and Half Queen (aka Shaki, aka Jess’ hype gal & DJ) for a lazy Sunday in Auckland, starting at Jess’ flat in Mt Eden. The homely 7-bedroom villa is filled with character and has been a constant through her musical and personal development.
“I moved in towards the beginning of when I was doing music and gigs, and at the time I kind of didn't feel like I had heaps of friends that were sharing the same journey as me,” Jess says as she reflects on time gone by. “Moving in here, I met all these girls – all brown girls, all creatives – and it's been really helpful in my own kind of creative journey and being confident in being who I am.”
Jess had always liked rap, but in high school she graduated from rapping along with Missy Elliott to writing her own. “I started writing stuff for my mates just for fun, then in the last year of high school and my first year out I actually started writing raps that were my lyrics.”
Jess is a proudly mixed Kenyan and Pākehā woman, and music is her creative outlet to share her experience and journey of self-discovery, while also shaping it.
“Growing up, I had a real struggle with my identity; who I was, and what that meant. It wasn't until after I left school that I started meeting people I could relate to in ways that I hadn't before: coloured women, queer women, or creative people doing music. I think I'd been in a very one-dimensional world until that point.”
Fast forward a couple years, and Jess featured on David Dallas’ 64 Bars project. She was the first woman invited to take part, delivering lines like “oh this girl got bars/now these rappers are shook” with a calm confidence to cement herself as one to watch.
As we continue on our tour, we head out to West Auckland – a rolling expanse of greenery and black sand beaches, popular with tourists and locals alike. For Jess, West Auckland is a place of comfort away from the city; it’s where her mum grew up and her grandparents live.
“I really love nature, and how green it is out here. It’s cute, quaint, and undeveloped,” she says, before we stop by the Titirangi Bakery for breakfast.
As Shaki eats her mince and cheese pie, she announces “a pie and a V is a New Zealand delicacy.”
“I don’t eat pies heaps, I usually get a donut or a custard slice – this is a great donut,” says Jess.
Further West, both girls have fond memories of family outings to the likes of Te Henga, Muriwai, or Piha.
“Being here just takes me back,” Shak says. ”It’s real grounding, and mystical too – like what even would have happened here 200 years ago?”
Jess and Shaki first met through mutual friends, and linked up musically after Shak simply asked "Can I please be your DJ?" Jess was down, but needed a hype girl too – and the Jess B x Half Queen duo was born.
There’s a mutual respect, understanding, shared adoration, and hilarious dynamic between the two. On stage, they have an equally distinct presence with natural ebbs and flows, feeding off and fueling the other’s energy.
It was when Jess opened for the NZ leg of Stormzy's Gang Signs and Prayer tour that Half Queen made her hype girl debut. Since then, they’ve clocked the majority of the New Zealand festival circuit. Rhythm and Vines, Northern Bass, and Auckland City Limits are just a few they had ticked off before the EP was even released.
When asked how she managed it all, Jess laughs, “I don’t know how it happened,” she says, and humbly shrugs it off. It’s clear though, that JessB’s grind, music, and personality is resonating with people. She exudes a level of warmth and confidence that goes well beyond her 24 years.
“The last 3 or 4 years have been quite a rapid time of growth. I wouldn’t say I’m completely confident in who I am, but definitely more so than I ever have been.”
She credits a lot of her growth to the support of those around her, and returns the favour too. One of the themes of Bloom is sisterhood, and while rap has a reputation for female rivalry, that’s not a narrative she plays into. “I hate that female rappers are pitted against each other,” she says of rap’s current climate. “Someone else shining is never going to dim your ability to shine at the same time. The more, the merrier.”
While the US rap media continued to push the Cardi-Nicki beef, at home in NZ, Jess partnered with Spotify to throw The JessB Block Party. The party emphasised sisterhood through a line-up featuring Ladi6, Silva MC, JessB herself, and Half Queen’s DJ debut. Tickets were free with registration, but it was a full house with 800 people registered and dozens on the waitlist.
“The Block Party was about creating a space for women and women of color to come, have a good time, showcase their talents, and have a safe space to have fun and dance. I don't think it could've gone any better, to be honest”, says Jess. “It won't be for a while, but I'd love to do another one.”
The Block Party was held at Galatos, a venue just behind the iconic Karangahape Road. Home to the eclectic, radical, and unique, K Road is another place that Jess, Shak, and the creatives of Auckland hang out.
“I've made a lot of friends and met a lot of musicians here,” says Jess about the district. “K Road just kind of seems to be a creative hub in the central city. Obviously its history with resistance is pretty cool. I had my first ever gig at [live music venue] Neck of the Woods, so it's special.”
“It’s like a macrocosm for the weird, alty people of Auckland,” adds Shak. “Lots of communities intersect [here], but it’s all very accepted, supported, and celebrated to be yourself here. Dress how you want, and do what you want.”
The theme of activism is strong on both K Road and Bloom. On the EP’s Phodiso collab “Pushing The Space”, JessB raps “I see my kin on his knees, and they won't let him rise.” The track has become one of Bloom’s most streamed tracks, and is an example of Jess’ message.
“Not everyone has the ability to be in a space where it's all brown people, or all women, or whatever, so it's about being confident in who you are and doing your mahi [work] in whatever way, shape or form that is for you,” she says. ”We’re pushing the stale, male, pale space.”
The track isn’t an outlier. Jess’ sophomore single “Set It Off” is a dance floor filler that also acts as a call to arms to stand up and do something. Shak and her fellow film school grad Paloma Schneiderman co-directed the video, which is set to drop shortly.
“We came up with a treatment and showed it to Jess,” explains Shak. “She was like ‘fuck yeah,’ and we made it, with the help of so many amazing people we know. It's cool to do shit with your friends.”
The themes of sisterhood and friendship are a constant in not only our conversation, but also on Bloom. They are central to who Jess is. “The people that you choose to surround yourself with is key,” she explains. “Making sure that you’re pushing and uplifting each other, because the only thing that can come from that is good.”
In a perfect visualisation of this, Jess recently released the video for “Take It Down”, where she and her friends are kicking back on a summer afternoon. The song is a summer anthem, and closes the EP by reminding listeners that they can – and should – still have a good time, despite the heaviness of the world.
The video was an ode to summer, with Jess being a self-described “summertime gal for sure.”
A staple on her summer schedule is music festivals, and as a self-proclaimed festival fan, if she had her own one, who would play? Her headliner is her dream collaborator Missy Elliott, followed by Lil Kim, Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, Ben Harper, Azealia Banks, Chance the Rapper, Kendrick Lamar, Tyler the Creator, Kehlani, and SZA. 50 Cent would feature too, but only to perform tracks from Get Rich or Die Tryin’.
“Oh, and there'd be a whole dancehall stage with Spice, and we'd get Vybz Kartel out of jail too,” she adds.
Since clocking the New Zealand festival game, Jess’ next goal is to get billed for an international one. Afropunk would be her ultimate booking, closely followed by Glastonbury.
In the meantime as she awaits their call-ups – which are likely not far off – we can expect new tunes and collaborations.
“It’s an exciting time for New Zealand music and female hip hop in general. It's cool to be a part of it in some way.”
“I'm always working on new music, that doesn't really stop. I'm going to try and do as much as I can with [Bloom] then hopefully release some new music later in the year. I'm also really into the idea of building something here, like a cohesive community-type thing where lots of people can be involved and collaborate.”
We finish our day where we started, back at home, but in May you’ll find her on her first Australian tour to launch Bloom, which she’s really excited about as she sees parallels between New Zealand and Australia’s music scenes too.
“There's a similar thing happening over there and a lot more coloured people – like Sampha the Great, Jess War, Ziggy Ramo, Tkay Maidza, Ms Blanks – getting shine, which is awesome.”
Bloom is available on iTunes or Spotify, and her Australian show dates are available here.
