“The voice of the record is addressing truth; in its raw blatant pure form void of the disposition of wrong or right. It’s my voice…along with the voice of anyone who has ever felt stereotyped. It may seem at times cynical, sarcastic, provocative and uncomfortable, but the anguish is palpable by intention. It’s a voice unique, but one that anyone can understand. It’s the voice of undiplomatic gritty intelligence, relatable to all cultures, transcending pop cultural vernacular and ‘waves’. It’s the voice of powerful women made to feel powerless. It’s the voice of black kings made to feel less than human. It’s the voice of sexual freedom in the face of misogynistic false standards for women. It’s the voice of a young Jamaican woman who’s seen the world and its parallel stereotype universes in all cultures. It’s the edgy voice of Jamaica, a rebel beauty queen, a fallen preacher’s child, the only sister among three brothers, four years in art school and a bachelor of fine arts. That’s me, I’m that voice. I’m Racquel Jones. I create music that’s conceptual, but not too esoteric; intelligent but dope, relatable yet deep, revolutionary and soulful, thoughtful in its words, learned in its language, but totally accessible. That’s me and I’m baring my soul for the world to see and hear.”- Racquel Jones
With her new album IgnoRANT out, we asked Racquel a few questions to get the inside scoop on this brilliant new artist.
1. How has your cultural identity influenced your music?
Cultural identity has influenced my music in every way. I come from a place where our music is the single most important reflection of our cultural identity.
Culture is killing my people in Jamaica through the damages of stereotype and the social constructs built on these stereotype. Nobody really likes to talk about that, but just play into the narrative of these same stereotypes. This album “ignoRANT” explores a lot of that.
2. Tell us about your new album IgnoRant, what were the inspirations behind it?
The inspiration and idea behind ignorant is to start a conversation about stereotype through the lens of a first person’s perspective, that affects marginalized groups; predominantly black people and women. It explores topics such as sexism, colorism, misogyny, classism, racism, social injustice and religion.
3. How do you mix your background in poetry, modeling, and visual art into your music?
Lyrics to my songs are still poetry, my visual arts is incorporated in my music videos for, and also the exhibition pieces I’ve created for this album, which are the visual half of the album, and the modeling side is when I get to play dress up for photo shoots, music videos and stage.
4. What track off the album do you hold closest to your heart?
Manic, that song started writing itself way before I had to do an album or even knew it was a song. Manic explores the dual side of my brain, where it’s deep, creative and beautiful, then it’s filled with panic, anxiety, racing thoughts, chaos and madness. And all of this still manages to culminate into almost philosophical epiphanic thoughts and magical art/music.
Music videos from IgnoRANT:
Listen to IgnoRANT Here: Spotify / Apple Music / Itunes Store / Deezer / Amazon Music / Pandora