Michigan’s Jahshua Smith Releases New Album, ‘But I Do’
Detroit native and Lansing resident Jahshua Smith speaks with Audio Ink Radio about his fourth studio album, “But I Do.” – Author: Anne Erickson, Image via Jahshua Smith
Michigan is known for its great hip-hop, rap and soul music. It’s not just the great talent out of Detroit, either. Great, individualized music flourishes throughout the entire state. Now, Detroit native and Lansing resident Jahshua Smith is releasing his fourth studio album, “But I Do,” on Friday, December 20, and it’s another fantastic statement in hip-hop and modern rap.
Smith caught up with Audio Ink Radio and the Local Music Beat column to discuss the new album and what makes it so special. Find Smith online on Facebook and Spotify.
Audio Ink Radio: Congratulations on your fourth studio album, “But I Do.” How did doing this album differ from albums you’ve done in the past?
Jahshua Smith: There were some new approaches to this album that I hadn’t done before, namely working with an executive producer, DeMarnio “TheyCallMeHeat” Stanley, who engineers and creates his own instrumentals. The first layer was to decide what we wanted to do sonically, even taking older productions and fitting them with newer sounds. I feel like it gives the album a vintage sound that still fits today’s modern hip-hop and rap. It was also the first time that I wrote the hooks and choruses for every song on my album. Although every vocalist helped with that arrangements they’re featured on, it was really crazy to see people follow my lead with what and, at times, how exactly to sing certain parts.
It was very different from (my previous album) “The Final Season,” where everyone in my collective was left to their devices. But, I think both are great approaches to art. If anything, I’m glad my friends and contemporaries trust me to lead them. I attribute a lot of that to my time in church over the last couple of years, learning how to arrange but also when to play the background and be more of a producer than merely a rapper.
The album art for “But I Do” is really cool and shows your standing by the Lansing skyline. What inspired this cover?
The last album, “They Don’t Love You Like That,” featured Lansing’s Three Stacks, as well, and at the time, I used that as a love letter to Lansing. Being a Detroit guy but being accepted by the community for so long, it felt right to pay homage to my second home. This album’s artwork plays off the theme of “TDLYLT,” where the skyline was gray and the only thing in color is a red, black and green necklace. The thought there was to make an album about self-love and use that contrast as a way of saying even when the world sees you one way, your own perception may be true and strong.
This time around I showed the skyline in color. It represents that once you feel more sure about yourself, you can be kind and share your light with those around you and watch them come to life alongside you.
Take us inside one song on this album, from start to finish, and explain how you can up with the idea and brought it to fruition.
This is a cool question. The first single off the album is called “Strong Friends,” and features my good friend Miles Young and a student of mine at All of the Above Hip-Hop Academy, Jaylon Ford. During quarantine, when I was struggling to write something new after the last album, this was the first song I was able to complete. The song examines two approaches to being a “strong friend,” one who represents the more archetypal concept by holding their vulnerability close, and another who is very vocal about their internal struggle. Those two friends are James Gardin, the legendary Lansing rapper, and Sean Mack , my long time graphic artist.
Once I wrote the song, I tweaked it a few times, and for the first time in years, I set out to produce my own song. I took a skeleton of the instrumental to TheyCallMeHeat, who did the drums, and my music director and good friend Tyler Jensen laid the bassline. The finishing touch in writing the song was to actually sample one of James’ old songs, “Wake Up Sleepyhead,” and create an interpolation of that chorus for a call and response segment of the chorus. So, the “yeah” response to the question/call of “are you my strong friend” is directly influenced by my strong friend. I also love that I was able to get five different voices on that song, who all add different elements to it, and even though it hasn’t been the most popular song leading up to the album online, it has served as the closing song in my set ever since we released it.
What guest musicians do you have on “But I Do,” and how did they help you to shape the album?
Tyler, as aforementioned on the bass, as well as Hezekiah Trevino on the guitar on the first song, “Black Noise,” really helped the album come to life. Sometimes, I dream big, in my head, about how a song should sound and find it hard to pull of in reality. That was the song where I felt we were cooking something special and a great reminder of the talent you can find in Lansing. TheyCallMeHeat had a hand in nearly every song on the album as a producer, so even in working with some of my long time collaborators on the boards – StewRAT, KuroiOto and Hir-O – that helped craft a consistent sound throughout the album.
James and Yellokake, who are features on two songs, had the distinction of being the only two guest verses on the album which was really fitting given our longstanding friendship, and they came to a lot of my sessions and gave advice that people will hear during the album. Then all the vocalists: Miles and Jaylon, Tchongtee, Chell, Jenna Camille, Jurell and Shayla Brock. It felt like we were doing some “Hip-Hop Songs in the Key of Life” type of music at points in the album blending all those voices and having them lift me up with their vocals, making my music sound better.
Lastly, two of my favorite parts of the album were having my wife do an interlude to a song I wrote for her, which was joyous, and then Khadejah “KeKe” Andrews’ poem to end the album, which was very somber. They both illustrate the range of emotions I’ve felt in the time since the last album. It’s all about living and sharing that in the booth.
What do you like about releasing an album verses doing singles, like many artists do today?
To be fair, I did release three singles leading up to this album, so I believe in both. Ultimately, I’m an album kind of guy. My struggle with perfectionism, in music only, would be hard to reconcile with a yearly release schedule, even if I pledge to do something new in 2025 not too long after. My friend Chris Orrick said that “you gotta do some living” in order to make great music, and the only silver lining of releasing music so sporadically is taking a look at each album and seeing the different points in my life, when I released that music, and seeing a footprint of my life at each step. Seeing all the EPs I released with my old stage name, where life was at in my mid-20s when I decided to use my real name. The East Coast excursion that helped me grow up, and deciding to come home from Brooklyn and learn to love myself. And now an album on the other side of a global pandemic, the highs and joys of marriage, as well as grief and loss peppered all in between. You don’t get that from singles alone, but a good album will take the stand out songs, put them in the full context, and then they sound either better because you see the story that ties everything together. If given a second chance, I’d probably still opt to be that kind of artist. But with more money.
You’ve played some great shows this year. Give us some highlights and favorite live performances from the year.
This year has been a blast. I can’t believe I’ve been performing on stages for 17 years, and am just now having some of my favorite shows ever. The first residency at the Robin Theatre (Growth) in April and the homecoming show I did in Detroit in September will probably make my Mt. Rushmore of live performances when it’s all said and done. The former because most artists want that definitive show where the community gives them their flowers and I got them that night. The latter because it was my first headline show in my hometown, after all these years, and the energy from friends, family and fans was way too electric to translate. Those two shows really inspired me.
Both shows really drive home what format works best for me, and those are intentionally smaller and intimate performances where I can engage with the crowd directly. They have the longest lasting impact on me to let someone know that I love them just for valuing what I do, and is cumulative proof of the greatest advice another rapper, One Be Lo, has ever given me: Don’t chase the biggest crowds, choose the best ones that further your career. And while I have some really fun memories of the shows where I’ve performed for hundred or thousands of people, they stand right along the performances this year, with no more than 100 of my strong friends, sharing this space of emotional camaraderie and giving as much as I take on stage.
What are your thoughts on the Michigan music scene today?
I love that a lot of it is for the kids. All these eyes on the Michigan rap scene, primarily Detroit and Flint, and this new “Detroit style,” because my city stays breaking ground in all genres. Usually, I try to shout out at least one artist when someone asks me about the scene, and I have to give a special shoutout to the homie KWAJ. I admire his combination of lyricism, hustle and personality. It’s hard to walk away from a performance of his, or a conversation with him, and not feel like you gained something. We played the Detroit homecoming show together, and watching him chat with my mom and her telling him how good he is and getting hype to his music is another example of what has made my “Year of the Headliner” that much more special. It’s not just that I’m a headliner, it’s that I continue to work with some of the greatest talents this state has to offer and give people an experience.
Thank you so much, Jahshua, and feel free to add anything else.
Honestly, thank you, Anne, for all the years of support. Even if this doesn’t make it into the article, I just wanted to share my gratitude for your help in making this journey as an artist feel special.
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