Jabee celebrates his first major-label album with hometown OKC show

When Jabee Williams was introduced into Northwest Classen High School Hall of Famehe spotted a famous fellow graduate in his alma mater’s list of past laureates.

“I looked at the wall and Skip Bayless is there, so he is in Hall of fame, too. … So this is one of the increases. And then, you have other things that are disadvantages, like need near Eastside Pizza and restructure everything and, “What am I going to do with this next?” Or, losing friends and family members and heartbreak and all that stuff, those are the downsides, right?” Jabee said The Oklahoman.

“Being able to pitch LiveFree OKC, the success of Scrambledthere’s so much great stuff going on, but it’s also balanced with the stuff that’s not as fun and it’s not as enjoyable.”

The good times, the bad times and even his Skip Bayless the connection are all chronicled on The rapper from Oklahoma City new the debut of a major label album, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

The community activist, event organizing and restorer announced earlier this year that he had signed with Mello Music Groupan internationally renowned record label based in Tucson, Arizona. Jabee’s eight-track debut album label features production by conductor Williams, Apollo Brown, Marv Won, M. Stacks and Evidence.

When is Jabee playing a hometown launch show for his new album?

Jabeewho began his recording career in 2008 and has largely made a name for himself as an indie artist, will celebrate the release of his new album in a hometown setting. meet and greet and vinyl signing at 5 pm Friday, November 1st at Guestroom Records OKC.

The three-time Emmy Award winner will play an all-ages OKC launch show at 8pm on Saturday, November 2 at Beer City Music Hall. The range will also include Toofat TroubSantray Long (aka Excursion G), Bella Burns and more.

“Whatever I do, I want to start here and share it with the community here because they helped me get to where I am. I wouldn’t be who I am or where I am without Oklahoma City.” Jabee he said, adding that he plans to tour in support of his new album in 2025.

“I’m definitely blessed. And I’m just excited to perform and excited for people to hear the album — and to do all the things.”

Ahead of his OKC album release show, Jabee spoke with The Oklahoman about the making of the new album, his recent appearance with rap legend Chuck D, his hopes for the future and more:

Q: What was it like making your first major-label album?

It was fun. I think the best part was that it was the first time I could just rap and not have to focus on all the other stuff. So that was good, and also meaningful, I think, to work with these great producers that I’ve always wanted to work with. That was probably one of the biggest things I was most excited about.

Q: With everything you have going on, has it helped improve the music to be able to focus on just that aspect when doing this project?

Yes, (there was) a lot more clarity and then also a lot more room to be creative.

It’s not the usual hustle and bustle of what it takes to put out an album. It takes a lot. So not having to stress about those things and then being able to stress about the work I do in the community as opposed to stressing about an album was good.

So yeah, it really was just a blessing. I think all around, everything fits and fits like a piece of a puzzle. When it comes to music, when it comes to community, when it comes to work, when it comes to business, it just balanced out. It was really cool to see how it all fit together.

If I hadn’t had the opportunity to make the album and sign with them, I don’t know that I would have been able to devote as much time as I have to one or the other. I would have tried to choose which is more important.

Q: You worked with some big names on this album with Conductor Williams and Apollo Brown. how was that

Everyone I worked with on this was us except Conductor. … Just the sound I was looking for, I knew he had it. And I knew it was only getting bigger, so I wanted to be able to do that before it got too big while still taking my calls. (chuckles)… Then Apollo was just the legend I always wanted to work with. I remember seeing him probably five, six years ago at a festival and going up to him and saying, “Hey, I want to work with you one day.” He was like, “Okay, man,” and so to finally have that happen was huge. It was just a dream come true.

(Working) with him and having a characteristic from what chris they are people I have listened to for years. You never feel like you’re part of that club, of the industry, and for me, it made me feel like I could be part of that club or like in those conversations. I’m in those rooms and on those songs, with that caliber of artist, where they see me as a legitimate artist, so it was really awesome.

Q: What sound did you want to bring to your first major-label album?

The main thing was that I knew I was going to introduce myself to a wider audience and to people who hadn’t heard of me. Before I started branching out and doing other new things and new sounds, I wanted to stamp my identity and just continue the lane I was on that really made me who I am.

As I continue to grow as an artist, I want to try things, but I wanted this to just be the essence of who I am as an artist – and really let people hearing me for the first time know what I’ve got.” m about.

Q: What made you want to use this biblical phrase as the title of the album?

Really, with a lot of what I was going through, that’s how I felt. I wanted a way to illustrate this point just through the title. You know how much I love long titles anyway. (chuckles)

I also wanted it to be something that stood out, that people could relate to. So what I was going through at the time, how I was feeling, where my mind was at, all of those things wrapped up into one thing is really what made me go in that direction. And then, most of my ideas start with faith. Most of me everything starts like this.

Q: What is the status of your Eastside Pizza House concept now that you have closed the restaurant? What will it take to make Northeast OKC a place where such businesses can thrive?

We will maintain the brand and then just do some restructuring. But we’ll have catering in the next month or so, and then we’ll have pop-ups right behind it.

I think we’re still about five years away from where I’d like it to be, where it’s just flourishing. … We’re in a growth phase and we’re still trying to figure it out. There are so many new and young businesses, entrepreneurs and developers and homeowners who are really trying to make something out of nothing, whenever you think about what the community has been missing for so long. You have all these people, all this creative energy, who just want to now be a part of making it flourish. And so, it’s in that growth phase, so it’s going to come with some difficulties, of course.

But I really feel like it’s really, really good and I’m just excited to see what happens over the next couple of years.

Q: How is LiveFree OKC? You helped start this program last year and recently hosted its first “Needs for Peace” conference with Chuck D. Do you think it’s making a difference?

Yes, I think so. LiveFree OKC is a pilot for Ward 7 on the east side, and in the year we’ve been active, we’ve seen a significantly reducing gun violence. So now we’re working on expanding and having the ability to be all over the city and not just the east side.

Then just with the conference itself, I think we have a really good energy behind the idea of this kind of thing – community violence intervention programs “So, yeah, it was great.” Just to really see lives changed and to really see people’s lives being saved, it was really good.