Curators Curating: Jdotinnacutt
“Treat the rap game like yo pack, I’ma take it”
-Jdotinnacutt on Indigo Child
Last month, Jdotinnacutt released his new album, Indigo Child. When we spoke with him last he was just developing the concept, now it’s a full-fledged project. He sat with us to discuss what’s new.
Just a day prior to our chat, Jdotinnacutt was putting the finishing touches on another music video. This one was for the tracks “Be My Wife” and “Betty Davis Eyes”. They took to an old abandoned theater in Hollywood that kids cutting class go to, giving a different glimpse into the neighborhood he inhabits. He’s excited about his new album, Indigo Child, produced entirely by old collaborator ElGatoThaaKingg. When asked to describe the project, they chose the term “classic”. ElGato had the cassettes and VHS tapes of the 90’s in mind when mixing in static on the track. ElGato says “It’s supposed to have that grittiness like that old school concept of a mixtape”. He adds “ Like putting a mixtape into a Walkman, that was for the aesthetic purpose of that to give the actual feel of a mixtape”.
When asked about the lack of features on the project, Jdot was direct in saying, “for this album, I wanted to go at it from a ‘me’ standpoint”. The lone guest verse comes from a close friend that was recently incarcerated. “I believe in him as an artist” says Jdot, “he’s been dealing with the system for a minute and hasn’t been focused on making music”. More collaborations have taken place, but he made sure that the one he included on Indigo Child fit, with plans for the more experimental tracks to come later.
Everybody been working together but we have some other stuff, but I felt like for that album that’s the only thing that fit it. We did a sort of acoustic song, and it was really different. It was like lo-fi type shit.
He’s outgrown what many other artists do for promotion in flooding timelines with reminders about new content. Instead, he wants to make something that his real listeners can relate to. He discussed having bouts with writer’s block and a desire to make music that “resonates for somebody” like him.
I really took the building deep connections. If this is the music for you and this is what you’re going through and you need something to help you through that time then this is the album for you. It’s not like a forced thing
Those are the words of a genuine artist. He’s not bound by a desire to be liked, but rather to be understood and then appreciated. The crowd he might appeal to is who he refers to as “misfits”. That’s how Jdot refers to the lost youth.
Misfits like us. We vibrate with the misfits. We find them and we make them the indigo children, by letting them know that they’re lost but now they’re found. We bring them out to the shows, and have a place where they can be free.
His live shows are becoming quite the event, and to date he’s performed all across South Florida’s three counties. It’s no surprise that he refers to the stage as his “home”, and he’ll continue making himself at home all throughout 2020 with the help of Indigo Child.
