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rk Tha Jerk’s music is laden with a smoothness and sophistication, whether expressing a loving urgency on “Right Here” or starring in his own edgy action-adventure mini-movie in his video for “Plane in the Air,” the latter featuring Too $hort. The rapper/producer hails from Richmond, one of the most violent cities in all of California, and while he was influenced by the greatest rhymers to hit those streets, Erk’s musical view is widescreen enough for international appeal. Erk first drew significant attention in the Bay Area last year when a mixtape track called “I’m So Dumb” started getting airplay on KMEL, an urban radio station that’s been criticized for its relative lack of spins for local music in recent years. The song, which takes swipes at the over-reliance of gimmickry in the discarded hyphy scene (“You see where all that dumb shit gets you, back on the block before you know what hit you”), instantly got people talking. Not too loudly, though. “I got good reactions from people who would come up to me after shows and they’d whisper, ‘I’m so glad you did that song,’ and walk off real quick,” he remembers. “I think a lot of rappers felt like I wasn’t talking to them, so they didn’t really say nothing. The song obviously started some controversy and I did it to get some things off my chest, but it was really just a joke. It was never supposed to be released as a radio song.” With hyphy, the door that was cracked open to the curiosity of the rest of the world may now be closed. Erk, however, doesn’t feel like that’s a negative. “I feel like it wasn’t something that should have been taken advantage of in the first place,” he asserts. “Our region wasn’t really known for making that kind of music so when it changed and everybody did try to take advantage of it, it kind of backfired. There was a point in time when everybody was on the radio at the same time, everybody was hyphy, everything was ‘go dumb’ this, ‘scraper’ that, and people were taking advantage of it. They were having shows and making money and I just don’t think it worked because it turned into a gimmick that couldn’t have lasted. Real things don’t fade off, only gimmicks come and go. You can’t plan to rob a bank and then be upset when something goes wrong and you get caught. They set up to ride the bandwagon and people who weren’t necessarily hyphy started making hyphy music and everything started going astray. And when it didn’t work people started pointing their fingers at each other. What do you expect? You kinda did it to yourself.” Ultimately, that movement’s implosion is giving Bay Area Hip Hop a chance to return to authenticity, and as Erk shops his debut album Nerd’s Eye View to labels in the West and the South, his excitement at having a shot as an individual is palpable. “For young artists and artists that grew up in it, it gives everybody a fresh start. I’m happy because everybody has their season and it wasn’t my season three or four years ago. I didn’t have a place there. So hopefully now I can create a space for myself. We can all do it the way it was supposed to be intended, making your kind of music.” Words by Tamara Palmer Photo by D-Ray
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Patiently Waiting