Create Your Hip-Hop with JoeJas

Words by Matthew Spence:

Thanks for tuning into this year’s C3 The Hip Hop Summit, where we converse more than the shoes and exchange IGs to only send each other one dm before never speaking again. No matter whether you paid for a pass or snuck in on some Rebel shit, take a seat; the more people, the more we look legit.

Kill the noise the mass media headlines conjure up about hip hop stagnation because over here, we set the record straight. Hip-hop has evolved the gaming style from 8-bit to open-world, and now it’s in the 9th generation; it feels like being in a “Build a Hip-Hop.” Scribble over the rules (leave enough to read at least), and dual-wield CDs and playlists. Hip-hop isn’t a monolith anymore, and the artists and fans are living La Vida Loca because of it.

The customization feature is stacked for this era.

Aesthetics and sound are endless with the creative mind, and fans will join along with them if it connects their dots. We’re in the best time for being a hip-hop fan, let alone a music fan. We’re a click away from finding the best thing and our next favorite thing, from artists being who they want to be versus who they feel they have to be. Everyone in class gets a role; it’s not just dope boys or the woke boys. Everyone and anyone in between who has a voice can use it now more than ever to build their own world.

One artist in this class who helps define “transferring your notes to real life” is JoeJas.

JoeJas epitomizes “bringing your doodles to life.” Joe, aka Hairymuffinmam, is a producer, artist, and visionary who explores the idea of “if you want shit done, you gotta get it done yourself.” From hosting his own shows instead of waiting to get booked to swirling sounds of hip-hop, funk, jazz, alternative, and whatever else scratches his musical soul, he’s slowly built his music landscape open to outside reception of what hip-hop can be. FATLLAMA is the name, and spreading the name from nation to nation is the game plan. Not just with music but with whatever you may want to add to his artistic world. With 2025 seeing his most recent release, Left-Handed Bandit, he’s upping the ante this era.

Once an ATL kid in a foreign land, now a settled-in UK man, JoeJas’s artist journey started at 11 with the earliest. Being another colored stone on Pharrell’s legacy chain, the first spark in Joe’s music origin started like many millennials and early Gen Z: stuck in our own syndication of watching a fuck ton of MTV, BET, VH1, and MTVJams, hoping our luck leaves us with musical gold. Catching Pharrell videos in combination with the Internet, he learned that In My Mind wasn’t his start, but just his continuation of everything and anything. Solo & group projects, Ice Cream Skate Team, BBC clothing brand, producing, rapping, and singing. The motto was “You Can Do It Too,” and Joe absorbed every bit of it along with the culture around him.

Combining all of his influences of UK hip-hop & US hip-hop, punk influences, jazz, noise, funk, and tons of subculture, JoeJas would set the tone for himself as an underground hype.

Another class act in the long timeline of alternative hip-hop, from the Hieroglyphics to the Pharcyde to Danny Brown to Kid Cudi to Odd Future to the many artists out there bending sounds and reshaping perception. Producing and rapping in his early teens, his big debut would be in the year of the lord, 2016, with this project, “Planet.”  Over the years, slowly but surely building his musical portfolio with albums collaging hip hop, funk, jazz, and alternative elements, throw a dart at two songs in his catalog, and you might walk away with two opposites on the surface but siblings in spirit.

If Anderson P.aak christens your artistry and potential, that means you’re onto something.

Go ahead and introduce yourself to Sally, the mystery girl who’s got every other artist wrapped around her finger. Sally is the mystery gal that’s been shaking up our favorite artist’s lives like a kid guessing a Christmas present. Run DMC, Oasis, Diamond D, Stone Roses—you name it, but JoeJas reimagining in his world is laid out in a series of tracks.

‘Sally’s Last Dance,’ however, is the one that offers a spirit that grooves and soothes and feels like his homage to hip hop and R&B-fused tracks that we know and love.

Planet the Band

Strip away the bars, and let the rhythm carry. Giving a nice head to those bands that your grandparents and uncles love that you learn to appreciate in the future; The Gap Band, Faze-O, and Mel & Tim [whatcha you know about that youngin?]

Run?

High-octane energy tied in with jazzy elements.

Visionary for 20/20 creation, Joe isn’t done just yet; the plot will thicken with each release in the project. If you wanna see the plot, check out his web series involving the left-handed bandit himself. The main star/character of the album is stretching its own way into reality in a web series. Now the curious writer gets to ask Joe some questions. Tragically, due to time zone differences, I never got to chat with him directly, but sent emails instead. However, watching interviews, it’s unfortunate on my part because with my research of watching interviews, he seems engaged and funny in convos, to the point where I thought, “Where was this nigga when I needed him in high school?” Oh well.

Dropping the interview needle right about… now… Oh wait, wrong groove… Hold up… Okay, now.

Q1. What affects you more: creative burnout or imposter syndrome?

I don’t really get creative burnout cause I create when I feel like it and never force myself to make things. For stuff like promotion, I have set times in a day to do that and then leave it, even with mixing! I think doing small bits over a longer period of time is the way for me. It means you’re always getting things done but not overworking yourself. I also don’t follow algorithm trends and stuff cause that will just fry your brain, haha. I do understand why people do; trying to get people to take you seriously with so much music out there is tough, especially when we aren’t all starting from an even point.

I don’t get imposter syndrome. I know my goals, and I know where they will lead me. I think building my own community and world kind of helps that. I don’t feel the need to fit in places. If I feel unwanted somewhere, I’ll figure it out and make it my way. Then those places that make you feel small will be asking you for that spark. SELF-BELIEF! IF YOU ARE READING THIS, DON’T LET PEOPLE MAKE YA FEEL SMALL! CHASE THOSE IDEAS. DON’T PUT OTHER PEOPLE DOWN!

Q2. Describe your sound in 3 words.

FUN, SYNTHS & WEIRD

Q3. For someone that’s creating his own movement and being tapped in with so many talented people [shout-out to Retropxssy btw!], all over the place making moves, how good of an emergency contact are you?

I think I’m an ok one LOL. Sometimes my phone bugs out, though. Just won’t take calls, so maybe not the best. If people need advice on stuff, I’m always there to help if I got knowledge on a situation. Gatekeeping is super lame; share resources with ya homies!

Q4. Going through your catalog, what would you say is your anthem for you and the fans? [For instance, Kid Cudi has “Man on the Moon” or “Mr. Rager,” Pharrell has “You Can Do It Too,” Tyler, the Creator has “Radicals,” etc.]

I’d say so far it’s probably ‘Escape!’ Hearing people say ‘To the freaks, the geeks, and the losers, keep going in the way that you cruising, if you still trying to find you’re own path, you welcome with the Gaps & Nomads.’ When I’m performing, or people are hearing it for the first time, there’s like a look in people’s eyes. Like damn, that’s me haha. I think that’s gotta be the one for all my weirdo outcasted people. I see you, gang!

Q5. How do you balance DIY and reaching out for help?

I don’t know if it’s a balance I think about. If I need help with something, I’ll just ask. Normally, I try to see how to figure something out first; I think that’s just me naturally. I’d rather know how to do something. I don’t think there’s any shame in asking for help, though, if you can’t figure something out.

Q6. Has the idea of YOLO ever gotten you in trouble?

Nah! It’s only gotten me further in life, haha! Every time I’ve been scared to do something, I just think, “Well, I’m gonna die one day, so I’d rather know that I tried. Also, I always think everyone that you know and that’s on the earth has a time they’re going to die, so why give so much of a fuck what they think? Just enjoy yourself!

Q7. Being such an imaginative person and someone trying to build their world around it, how do you handle reality checks when they come your way?

I’m always in reality. My imagination is just reality warped in an over-the-top way. So I’m constantly dealing with reality checks. It’s a big thing in what I write in my songs. Balancing reality with wonder and imagination, I think that’s the real secret of getting older that people look over. Some people are so stuck in reality and can’t dream and wonder, and it’s a depressing cycle cause were told it’s childish. That’s lame; life is about balancing stuff where you can. I think that’s an important one.

Q8. Do you overthink ideas? How do you flesh them out? Considering your music and artist isn’t a straight one-way street.

Not really an overthinker. If I have an idea, I’ll do it. Then, if it ends up not working, I’ll see how to make it work. Either I pivot or restart. Overthinking things sometimes gets you stuck. I hate feeling stuck.

Q9. Future plans/what’s next?

I’m continuing the story of the Left-Handed Bandit with the episodes. So the story of the bandit is far from over. More music videos and some cool shows planned for next year. 😉 For now, the last 108 Ride just dropped, so y’all enjoy that! Was a lot of fun to make!