As part of the group Infinite Faction which also includes J-Bird Jones, C-Gates, and Shaun Gottie, Jup has gained a reputation of consistency over the years. Now working on his solo album, Jup is making efforts to break into the game through networking, traveling, and side ventures like a clothing line. Talk about your album Jupbox. What can people expect from it? I put a lot of meaning into my music. It’s gonna be a sound that a lot of people haven’t heard. I’m doing old soul music; I got new sounding stuff. It’s like when you go to a jukebox; you put money in and get a variety of music. That’s why I named it Jupbox. Your music is very seasoned. Were you naturally gifted or did it take some time to get to the level where you’re at? Well, I’ve been at this for a while, for about 12 or 13 years. I guess that’s what 12 or 13 years of hard work without making it into the game sounds like. I’m just hungry. You have some dope production. Where does it come from? Right now I’m working with a production team called Track Boyz out of Lexington. The main guy is Frank Mabson and he’s worked with numerous guys in the industry. Back in the day he used to work with Jamie Foxx and some other people. The kind of sound I’m looking for is what they do. They got a seasoned sound. They got soul beats. It’s like they’re in the pocket with me. I work with them a lot. I work with a lot of cats in Lexington but with the Jupbox album I’ve mainly been working with Track Boyz. Everybody in the game talks about being real, but you seem to have a knack for actually bringing up some real subjects. What are some topics you like to touch on when you write your lyrics? I just talk about being a young cat from the ghetto, not forgetting where I come from. I talk about real topics. I’ve been around friends who’ve fell off in the streets to smoke crack and went to jail for life. I speak about that. I speak about Hurricane Katrina and the loss of people in our country. I speak about everything. It ain’t nothing I don’t really touch on. I’m the type of cat that if I wanna say something I’ma say it. If you don’t like it, so what? Don’t buy my record. Are you originally from Lexington?
I was born in Richmond, Kentucky and I moved here when I was five years old. I’ve been here ever since. Have you had a chance to travel and take your music to other markets? Yeah, I’ve been back and forth to Atlanta. I got a lot of plugs in Atlanta. I’ve been trying to get my foot in the door. My partner KY’s Finest is an engineer at Hot Beats Studio. He’s worked with Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, a whole bunch of guys. I’ve been hooking up with him trying to better my sound and see what we can do. What makes your city different from other places you’ve been to? We have our own everything in Lexington. We got our own sound, the way we talk, the way we do everything is different down here. Do you feel like there’s enough resources in your city to make it as a rapper? Or do you need to go outside of the city to get where you want to be? There’s definitely not enough resources. We’ve had people make it out of Kentucky and be lightweight successful. Like Rob Jackson kinda got there but he didn’t make it all the way. But a lot of people really haven’t reached back and brought the good resources back home. It’s not enough. You gotta get out and travel and let it be known what you’re doing in your hometown. After that, if you’re the type of person to bring it home then it could be a little better here. But now it’s not a lot here. Everybody’s on their grind trying to do what they gotta do. A lot of cats are leaving town just to make moves. So what is Jup like outside of rapping? I’m a 24/7 entrepreneur. My group Infinite Faction and me have been out in the scene in Lexington and traveling for a while. We’re constantly doing shows and recording. We starting our own clothing line. We’re all the time hustling and trying to find ways to better ourselves. I’m thinking about getting back into college and everything. It’s really no limit for me. I’m trying to be the best Jup I can be. We just shot a video last summer for one of the songs I have called “I Get Cash.” We’re looking to submit it to BET. We’re trying our best to grind our way to the top. // Website: myspace.com/kyjup Words: Ms. Rivercity
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