Back in June, we caught up with Dreamville signee, artist, rapper, entrepreneur, and all-round good guy Bas and learned of his new project with Jameson to connect with up and coming artists across the world to work on new music. This was all part of the ‘Jameson Connects: The Stay Inn’ campaign. Launched as a response to the COVID-19 crisis the Whiskey brands ‘The Stay Inn’ platform hosted pub quizzes and virtual music gigs to keep the public entertained during the lockdown.
Less than four months ago making tracks over Zoom wasn’t a thing. But real artists adapt, ride the changes and find ways to come out the other side with a new level of creativity. Over the last few weeks, Bas got his head down and began mentoring Irish singer Loah and Atlantan producer Say3. Bas was famously the protege of J.Cole and it appears his tutelage in tutoring paid off. Say3 and Bas remixed one of Bas’s fan favorites’ Jollof Rice (with EARTH GANG)’ and with Loah they created a completely new track.
Followers of Bas, Loah, Say3, and Jameson Connects got to watch the process through weekly episodes and updates on the brands platform that you can re-visit here.
We spoke to Bas, Loah, and Say3 to hear about their experiences during the project and what they have planned for the future.
Bas
Last time we talked we touched a lot on the importance of collaboration. How important was it for you to be able to collaborate musically again?
It was inspiring and invigorating! It was so nice to work in a collaborative environment again as opposed to isolation. When we started this journey a month or so into quarantine, I was missing that collaboration vibe I love most about making music, but this helped me ease into a new way of working effectively with others through all this.
How was working with Loah and Say3?
So much fun! They were both different experiences with outcomes I loved. One was reimagining a previous song I did with EARTHGANG “Jollof Rice”, and was blown away by SAY3’s version and production. With Loah, it was an amazing gift to work with a talent like her and help take a raw project to a complete record.
What’s next for you now?
Before quarantine started I was working on a collaborative album with the London based group The Hics. We’ve collaborated on a lot of my work like “Ricochet”, and have a lot of amazing stuff. However, like I said with them being in the UK, quarantine felt like it was going to make things difficult to finish. Jameson gave me great experience working this way and now we are moving better than ever. So myself and The Hics album coming soon, I’m excited to share this new world with you.
Loah
What was it like creating a track with Bas?
This experience was a dream come true. I’ve been a Dreamville fan so to work with them was next level. Bas is a super-creative – he thinks outside the box within the framework of an art form we’re all so familiar with, so it was amazing to have him mentor this process to create a song that felt like a new venture for me. Ron Gilmore, of course, brought it to such a special actualisation with his incredible sonic production. It was such a joyful and intense process. I can’t wait to work with him again.
What are your plans for the future?
I’m releasing a record with Bantum (Irish producer) this winter (we’ve already released two tracks from it, April Brave and Summer of Love) which is an electronic/songwriter exploration we’ve been working on for the last 2 years. I’m also releasing an EP in December of acoustic songs using poetry from the 1920s to mark this world-changing year of cataclysmic events. Exploring the age-old art form of the simple song that never changes, with poetry from an equally tumultuous period in history, is my attempt at making sense of 2020 and trying to turn that into something beautiful that I can contribute to the canon!
Say3
What was the experience like?
The experience was dope working with Bas. He’s a cool guy which made it easier to get ideas across to him and we’re both from the motherland so it felt like the chemistry was already there. This is Bas from Dreamville so working with him helped fuel the flame so that the remix wouldn’t be trash. I had to deliver.
What you got going on next?
I have a project called “Bushboy” coming out very soon being released thru Club Djembe, a UK based label and collective. As well as that I’m producing an album with an artist by the name of Amy Sade so be on the lookout for that.
Learn more about Jameson Connects, here and listen to the tracks above.