Artist Spotlight: Jim Legxacy
Shot by @aritrussme
An avant garde and peerless figure has emerged from the overflowing UK rap scene. Jim Legxacy transcends, even transgresses, sonic and narrative conformity, standing out from the masses with his striking lyrical ability and profound ideological musings.
The South East London producer, rapper and singer has been raising eyebrows since his 2019 ‘Dynasty Project’ EP, garnering acclaim for his expressive delivery, sagacious lyricism and dynamic sonic palettes. His new EP ‘CITADEL’ is perhaps his most impressive body of work to date, as Jim expands his genre-bending sound to new heights, tackling difficult lyrical themes and concepts in a refreshingly honest and introspective manner.
I caught up with the upcoming rapper to discuss his eclectic new EP, his unique writing style, and ambitions of becoming the next pop superstar.
Who are you listening to at the moment?
JPEGMAFIA’s new album! It’s very good. I also like some of the Baby Keem songs. The middle section of Range Brothers is really cool. Also my friends demos are really cool, Zino Vinci, JSANC, glasshousetennat - them man gotta drop though!
I love your writing style and your ability to articulate your ideologies in such a condensed way. When did you begin writing and what made you fall in love with it?
Appreciate it! I hated English my entire life, school was so stupid to me. I was never really good at any kind of academic literature, but started writing my own raps at like 18, and have just been going hard at it ever since. I’ve kind of picked up techniques from my favourite artists like Bon Iver & Frank Ocean. They are just incredible at narratives and conveying themes. Michael Jackson was incredible at making you remember hooks and lines with catchy melodies, and JPEG writes these really abrasive and overt bars that are so striking. I kind of compartmentalise it all in to skills that I access based on what I’m making. It’s lots of fun.
Where does your inspiration stem from?
It kind of always starts from real life… but things like films, games, and graphic novels always help me visualise things so when I paint the picture it’s a creative response to the most raw & expanded ideas as possible.
As a writer, you are often very socially conscious and forthright in your criticisms of masculinity, systemic racism and more. Why do you choose to challenge injustice in this way? How important is it to you to use your platform to express your opinions?
You know what’s so crazy to me, initially when I started making music I used to be so passionate about saying things that I felt were important but as I’ve gotten older I’m kinda just responding to my life, it’s less critiquing of these things and more of like, well this is how it is and I’m getting on with it. I’m not attempting to be some prophet or like conscious rapper you know, we already have them and I don’t want to live my life carrying those kinda burdens but I do happen to have trauma that relates to these things so when I talk on em it kinda comes across like me challenging it… but its more so acknowledging their presence and me being aware of them.
As a rapper, you are difficult to box within a specific sub-genre. How do you orchestrate your sound to combine the different styles into a coherent project?
Haha good question! In my head it’s kind of like do then carry over… like if you listen to each track there’s something on there that a different track also has. There are so many genres, but each genre has certain consistencies that make you know it’s a song by me, whether it be the drums, vocal chop or my vocal delivery, it’s all about having consistencies that kind of stay regardless of genre I’m making.
Where do you see your sound progressing?
More pop music, I want to be a pop star like Ed Sheeran, I like that, need dat.
Absolutely loved Andromeda! Talk me through the themes and ideas behind the song?
I rapped a lot about my life. Honestly I don’t have much to say on it, I’d rather leave it for people to take in but there’s a lot talking on my experiences being lower class and stuff, definitely one of the more heavier tracks… but I think it is still a lot of fun to take in.
How did you go about making the ideas a reality with the video director fidel?
It kind of starts off with me coming up with a bunch of raw ideas that fidel kind of processes and tells me whether it’s possible or not, its mass amounts of fun really!
How do you feel about the releasee of your new EP ‘Citadel’?
Feels great, I put in so much work – I’m excited to see what people say and where it’ll take me you know?
What can we expect from the project?
It is just me on 10 songs talking about my life, I haven’t much to say on it but I think it’s a good project
Who would you love to work with in the future?
Ed Sheeran, JPEGMAFIA, Headie One, Skepta & Leith Ross at the moment
If you were introducing yourself to a new listener who had never heard your music, what tune would you put on?
I’d play ‘I don’t like how star wars treated john boyega’ and I’d also play ‘corpses’
What’s next for you after the EP?
Man, very good question, I’m literally kind of just going to head back to the studio, maybe do another show at some point next year I think that’d be lots of fun!