An Urbanian Exclusive: James Wade
From the playbook to the rhymebook, James Wade, out of Stone Mountain, Ga., possesses all the talents to execute all the right plays in the hip-hop game.
Wade was first drawn to writing in his honors English class in high school by writing poetry and short stories. In 2003, he turned his writing towards rap music.
Wade honed his writing skills by making albums that have a common theme, such as his album, ‘The Great Society,’ based off Lyndon Johnson’s domestic programs to help blacks during his presidency.
When it came time for college, he enrolled at the University of Dayton, where he also played on the football team. He continued to make albums, ‘The Human Condition’ and ‘Age of Reason,’ which both individually contained a unified theme.
Now that he is aimed at taking music more seriously, he has hooked up with DJ Beatz, who has also worked with the Ying Yang Twins, Lil’ Jon, and Mike Posner. He released a mixtape, ‘Awkward Silence’ in April, and is now working on his 7th album, ‘Common Ground.’
The Urbanian was lucky enough to get the chance to interview the young aspiring emcee.
The Urbanian: How would you describe your sound/style?
James Wade: My style is a combination of hip hop and R&B. the hip hop component I primarily focus on is the lyricism,I am a true lyricist. Word play, delivery, tone, conveying certain emotions that can go along with the theme of the song, sort of like a scene in a movie, and create several emotions and topics in one verse.
The R&B part I focus on is more of the actual song writing. I use alot of R&B singers and themes, beats with soul samples, catchy choruses, bridges, and repetative lines that people can sing along to. My topics are relative to the overall human experience, and situations that any person of any age, race, background can relate to, so that maximum number of fans can enjoy the music.
TU: What’s your song-writing process like?
JW: I let the beat guide me. Each beat gives me in a different place, and once I listen to the beat long enough it puts me in a certain mood. I also keep in mind my image, my perspective and the overall vibe that must showcase in order to seperate me from other artists. I make sure to execute that on every verse/song . I try to create a concept right off the bat. If not, once my verses are doneI work on the chorus that can tie all my verses together. Writing the verses is an experience that’s hard to put into words. When I listen to the beat certain words pop into my head and I just write them all down on a piece of paper. Then I connect them together using punchlines, melody and word play, or metaphors. Once I get that first line down for my verse the rest of my lines come easy. It’s that first line that’s the hardest!
TU: You said you changed your style in 2004 because of Kanye West. What exactly about West inspired you to change your style?
JW: Humor. I remember before I heard Kanye West on mixtapes and on the ‘College Dropout,’ I never thought of making punchlines that made people laugh, or that had shock value. I wasn’t used to using punchlines back then, I was more concerned with just overall delivery and word play. But I would hear him say lines that were just clever and made you laugh and I realize that was the great equalizer. It’s what can bring the most people in. If you can get ya boys on the block and the rich college kids to laugh at the same line AND… all of them UNDERSTAND the line – you’ve got ‘em!
TU: When it comes to your albums, you put themes to them. How do you decide upon a theme to go with?
JW: I pray about it. The theme usually just comes to me after that. I think about past projects and I never knew in what direction I would want to go, then a particular idea would come to me. It’s truly humbling. It’s honestly much bigger than me because I feel that I sincerely go into each project wanting to convey a specific message and I carry it out to the best of my ability.
TU: Your 7th album, “The Common Ground,” which comes out in July, is that a theme album also? If so, what is it?
JW: Yes, common ground is a term used to describe communication techniques people use to reach a unique understanding of one another. The theme behind “The Common Ground” is reaching a common ground with my fans. I feel with this project me and my fans are on the same page as far as content. In past projects I would make records that I wanted to make with no regard for what my fans wanted. On other projects I would make records that they wanted to hear and held back my own personal feelings that I wanted to convey. With this project I have finally found a way to say what I want to say and also give the fans the music that they want without compromising either side. Now me and my fans are on a common ground.
TU: Your fifth album, “The Human Condition” is about the idea that to be human is to suffer. Care to go into more detail behind this?
JW: Peep one of my lines from the title track - “Maybe I’ll rise above it / like, f*ck it - you can do this / cause I feel like I suffer / but thats The Human Condition”
Yes, the idea came to me while in religion class studyin’ the human condition. It was a simple question and answer that made me take the project. What makes us all human? What brings us together? What’s the connection between my people on the block and the people in the boardrooms? We all suffer, we all are affected by death, relationships, and money. We all share that connection. My music is about bringing people together, so it just hit me as soon as I learned it. At the beginning of the album I say, “The Human Condition is to suffer, so that means in order to be human, you must suffer”
TU: When you hooked up with DJ Beats, what did he do to help guide you more when it came to your music?
JW: He showed me how to be more business minded, how to stop thinking so much like a musician and more like a man in the business of making music. I use to just put featured artists on every song because as a musican I just loved to collaborate. He taught me in order to establish my brand I must push myself more to the forefront, that my fans wanted to hear me and not necessarily me and 15 other people. I also used to have artist come to me and say “I want to go before you because your verse is better” and I would say “ok.” As an artist that made sense, Beats would say – “Hell no, you go first!, it’s your song!, people need to know that, and he would say and don’t have more than one person on a song, what’s the problem James? You got a problem with writing two verses!?” I remember when I came to him to give me advice on how my album sounded and what improvements I should make: He listens to the first two tracks and then turns them off. In anger he turns around and looks at me and says, “What the f*ck are you still doin’ makin’ records in Dayton, Ohio?! – Other people would die to have your talent to make it big and you’re making these type of records for fun!?, Let’s get paid!”
TU: Your first mixtape, “Awkward Silence,” why should people listen to it?
JW: People should listen to it because it is simply well put together music, the lyrics are crazy and the songs hit on so many different levels. I offer a great balance to the game and this mixtape displays that. I use intelligent concepts, I have something to say, I talk about real life issues outside of the stereotypical shyt. Everyone’s not from the block and everyone from the block don’t wanna stay there. I represent everyone, that college kid, that d-boy, that weed head, the good, the bad, and the ugly. I represent it all because I’ve been in all those situations and I am sensitive to them all. I don’t glorify, I convey the ideas from each perspective. Plus I make music that stays relevant. There are 3 or 4 songs on the mixtape I wrote 6 years ago, but you couldn’t pick ‘em out on the mixtape. Everything flows perfectly.
TU: What is the most important thing to happen to you so far for your career?
JW: I think it was getting really into performing. It’s different when you’re just in the studio making records and puttin’ em out. You can never tell what hits people, but when you go perform especially in front of large crowds, if your music doesn’t hit, it shows. But if you can keep people engaged and you don’t have to do covers and all that you begin to see that maybe you have a formula that works. You learn what’s catchy and what’s not. But I want to say I think the most important thing to happen in my career hasn’t happened yet.
TU: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
JW: I see myself still doing music, only on a larger scale. Major distribution, being able to work with artists and producers I admire, being able to do music videos with a larger budget, and having the entertainment industry recognize my talent. I’m here for a reason
TU: Not only did you work on music during college, but you also played football for the University of Dayton. Did you play all four years? What position did you play? What’s your best memory from playing collegiate football?
JW: Yeah I actually played 5 years. I played running back and slot back. My best memory was the first time I made the travel team. I went in the locker room and saw the travel bag hangin’ up in my locker, and at that point I felt like all the hard work had paid off
TU: Finally, anything you’d like to add?
JW: Yes, check out my mixtape ‘Awkward Silence’, my album, ‘The Common Ground’ coming soon. I know you all will like it, the product speaks for itself, I promise that!Shouts out to DJ Beats, Dofat, TV’s Devon Wade, Bravo, B. Hughes, Keyaira, Ced Natti, and all of TH3RD S.E.T.
Here is the Urbanian’s favorite track off ‘Awkward Silence,’ ‘Man in My City.’
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20 Responses to “An Urbanian Exclusive: James Wade”
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there’s potential here. good interview
I saw James Wade perform in Daytona Beach, FL and this dude rocks a show like i’ve never seen a rapper do. Everyone saw him on stage and nobody was really paying attention and by the end of the show everyone was wavin their hands in the air singin with him! Man in my city is just ok, his other shit is waaaaaayyyy better!!
I have heard this guys mixtape, WHY IS HE NOT SIGNED YET!!! Great interview, its not to see someone paying attention to people with actual talent!
Pretty good interview hes got a good head on his shoulders dudes got potential to be big where can i get the album?
I’ma Fan!!! been one since Iambic…go James Wade!!! Come to ISU!!!
Needs to be with a label pronto….dude is sick
i am still rocking his early stuff from Bloomington IL. cee cee kelokaneece and the foster kids. best track: the beatoff song.
My brother told me about this kid hes sick!!! hes a cutie too
go J. Wade!!!!
This been my nigga since we was kids….always had it in ya…B.Murray
interesting interview. You came along way sinse our ciphers on the back of the bus, but even then you stood out with unique twists in your punch lines. Keep doing the damn thing
Congratulations on one hell of an interview! To know the man behind the lyrics is to love and appreciate his music even more!
Good thing the world is paying attention — listen to all the areas he drives his music from and how he puts it all together! clearly natural genuis!
No one song can define this man’s musical talent and perspective — listen to it all and begin to understand the depth and breadth of his talent to look at the world and feed it back to you lyrically!
7 Albums and a mixtape — thats a lot of good music for fans to get up on! — He’s making it big so GET HIM WHILE HE’S YOUNG!
james is not only an amazing musician and performer, but also an amazing person. love you james and wish you the best
RYDICKALOUS! SOMEBODY SIGN DIS NIKKA! WEATHERMAN IS MY SHYT!
James is by far the most tallented rapper I have ever worked with. I do Christian Rap and asked him to get on thus track called destination divine… He came up with this incredible verse and recorded it in the second take! His rhyme schemes and patterns are unbelievable! It was an honor to work with him… Everyone get ready James Wade is coming! “Destination Divine” will be featured on my mixtape droppin this fall at RosaryRap.com
Not only is James a great rapper, he’s a great person as well. Glad to I’ve got an upcoming track with him on my album, and I’ll be working more with him in the near future…and if u haven’t downloaded Awkward Silence COP THAT SHIT http://tinyurl.com/AwkwardSilence
i always knew james was good. hes my cousin what do you expect. i knew there was something there ever since he was OBSESSED with bone thugs n harmony…love you kiddo….
keep doing big things and dont forget me when youre on top!!!
So sexy, so intelligent, his music is amazing, I love that I know him!!! good luck james
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James i just listened to your records and they are great. I wish you much luck and all your family in Arkansas is 100% behind you.Calling all record labels, to put you on. Love your cousin Tammy.
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