Pacific Northwest-based rapper/singer Jango presents Alone By Choice, Jango’s new mixtape produced by Jimmy Hill of Amplified Wax, the production house responsible for a platinum record for Matthew Koma, as well as collaborations with Myles Kennedy and Eva Simons. Born in Connecticut, Jango’s first mixtape was The Pursuit, and he has toured with Crooked I and Eazy E3. Jango describes his new mixtape as “a statement. I wanted my fans and friends to understand that it’s okay to be alone. So many people find depression and helplessness in being alone when in fact they should be able to find some happiness by appreciating and loving themselves. The project was inspired after the passing of my best friend Cam, who last year chose suicide to end his life. I hated that he had made that decision but I understood why. He was alone and couldn’t find happiness by himself. My goal and point to this project is to save everyone else from this mindset. No one can love you better then yourselves, and nobody should ever be able to tear you down. It’s your life, it’s your choices, and ultimately your happiness.”
What have the reactions been to your EP so far?
Everyone has been extremely supportive of this project. I had fans and supporters before but after this drop, my fan base and listeners tripled. I’ve gotten love not only from fans but other artists and people apart of the industry have taken time to speak on what they liked about my music as well. Overall everything’s been more than positive and I couldn’t have asked for better results.
Your music explores depression. Is depression something a lot of young people around you are dealing with? How are you seeing them deal with it?
Depression, like in any city is definitely a real and evident thing in the area. I think it’s more common in my area because of other factors like seasonal depression “it rains here in the pnw a lot.” Typically people don’t speak on their depression and I think because of that they suffer much more than they should. I spoke on it heavily in my project because I knew this was becoming a bigger problem in my region and I wanted to give my people and anyone else who may suffer from depression a platform so they’d feel more comfortable speaking on their issues. I want to help people accept their depression so they can focus more on conquering it.
Who’s your favorite rapper ever and why?
I personally don’t really compare the rappers of the old schools genre to today’s rappers. I just feel like the styles have evolved so much from now it’s not right to put them all in the same category.
My favorite rapper from back in the 90s is Biggie. I grew up listening to him, and I remember always thinking how he made everything sound so flawless and simple. Biggie made rap seem easy.
In today’s rap game? J.Cole hands down, with Kendrick being a close 2nd. Cole might even be my all time favorite rapper one day. Every song, every project he does has me hooked, I’ve been rocking with his music since Friday night lights and haven’t been disappointed since.
Do you think there’s a noticeable difference in rap style between the Northwest and the rest of the country? Can you describe it?
Just like how Atlanta, New York, and California all have their our own distinct sound we do as well. You got artist like Macklemore, Raz Simone, and Porter Ray who’re heavy story tellers. Our music isn’t extremely gang related out here, I mean don’t get me wrong a few artists come from the streets and rep that hard, but its not the core of the region by any means. A lot of us are extremely versatile in our art forms so you’ll see a lot of live instrumentation included in our music and sets.
What do you think it will take for you to blow in the industry?
I’m more interested in a long term career rather than just blowing up from a hit single or any kind of situation like that. For me to get recognition through the nation I just gotta stay consistent with my moves and music. I believe in the process and believe everything will come when it’s time.
Alone By Choice promo video
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