Since bursting on the scene in 2017 as the first female emcee on Red Bull 64 Bars, JESSB (Jess Bourke) has taken her unique style and sound to the global stage, spending time with creatives in London, Amsterdam, LA and New York, before performing at Venice Biennale, Splendour in the Grass, Red Bull Music Festival and most recently, Laneway Festival.
In just a few short years, JessB has released two acclaimed EPs, New Views and Bloom, taken home 2019’s MTV Europe Music Award for Best New Zealand Act, as well as a feature on Baker Boy ’s fiery dance track ‘Meditjin’ which landed in 2019’s triple j Hottest 100 countdown.
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CHECK OUT OUR LITTLE CATCH-UP WITH JESSB BELOW:
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1. Happy NZ Music Month! How did you initially get into creating music?
Thank you! I initially started rapping in high school at the parties I used to go to. I went from there to using “type beats” and instrumentals from existing songs and putting up demos on soundcloud. P Money found me on soundcloud a few years back and being able to link and work with him was my first real step into the industry.
2. Tell us about your inspirations & motivations?
I am motivated and inspired by the people around me and the people who I see myself in. Music is such a beautiful way to express who you are, so I am inspired to create things that people can relate to, in the same way that I relate to music and artists myself.
3. What have you been up to in this lockdown and how has it affected you?
I have been trying not to feel too much pressure in terms of creating something great. I’ve been more focussed on being creative when I am inspired (not forcing anything) and trying my hand in some some other creative lanes that I don’t normally have the time for.
I guess like most artists we have been affected mostly by way of live gigs or shows. I had some pretty cool shows lined up in Australia that won’t be happening any time soon, but hopefully once things get up and running the demand for gigs and live entertainment will be there so we will get straight back to it.
4. What do you think of the NZ music scene?
I really like where the scene is headed at the moment. I am genuinely into and excited about lots of music coming out at the moment, and excited about artists that are my peers . There are also some artists making big waves at the moment overseas, which is really cool for NZ on the global scale. When anyone wins on a big scale from NZ, people start looking and more and more opportunities come. We are a small scene which is cool because everyone is cool with each other and it really feels like a community, but I guess at the same time there is always room for growth and more involvement especially since we are such a small country.
5. Goal board time – where would you like to see yourself in a years time?
I would love to be even more established than I am now, particularly internationally I have been spending more and more time in Australia this last year, and connecting with their music scene. I would love to be able to do a headline tour and play on some of the big festivals in Aus in a year, and continue to spread even further globally.
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JESSB HAS JUST RELEASED HER NEW SINGLE ’PON IT‘ FROM HER UPCOMING MIXTAPE!
The release arrives as a self-assured flex to her artistic abilities, featuring sass-fuelled rhymes, slick production and thumping basslines, to cement her status as one the most exciting acts emerging out of New Zealand. The single marks the first to be taken from a soon to be announced mixtape, arriving on July 31.
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