Jazz Cartier: Representing The Other Side Of Toronto [Certified Fresh]

Often times, when an artist of Drake’s stature is their city’s main representation, the public’s views of said location can be skewed. Not to say that the superstar’s views from the 6 are faulty, but a range in perspective is always appreciated, and ultimately increases the city’s visibility in the marketplace.

That said, in comes Jazz Cartier, a 22-year-old rising rapper representing downtown Toronto, while Drake and bubbling rap upstarts like P Reign represent the west and east side, respectively.

While speaking with the newcomer, his demeanor is what first caught my attention. Calm, cool, and collected, Cartier in-person wasn’t the ball of energy the caught my ear on trap-influenced single “New Religion” (his admittedly wild activities the night before may have been a contributing factor). But his answers to questions ranging from the state of Toronto to his upcoming mixtape, Marauding In Paradise (due to release April 15), to his thoughts on Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly infer that the wheels of his mind are consistently turning and fine-tuning his creative process.

Who: Jazz Cartier hails from Toronto, but has spent plenty of time stateside (a key factor in his growing perspective and understanding of what moves the people). Inspired to come back home after seeing Drake’s success, the rapper would go on to inspire his city’s downtown scene alongside his Get Home Safe collective, which he’s no longer a part of.

He’s versatile in that he can effectively pen songs like the aforementioned jam, “Count On Me,” which features a laid back vibe, and more.

Credentials: Cartier hasn’t received any major co-signs like other artists in his position, but that’s fine. He’s amassed a fan base that includes some of the more progressive years in music journalism and fellow up-and-coming artists making noise with their respective movements.

He also has the hunger, because as he describes it “In Toronto, there’s a mentality where it was pre-Drake, everyone wanted to be the first to blow. Now it’s post-Drake, and everyone wants to be the first to blow up after him.”

Fun Fact: Jazz Cartier’s other moniker is Jacuzzi La Fleur. He also went to 13 different schools.

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Photo: Instagram

Hip Hop Wired: Marauding In Paradise has been in the works since 2013. What halted its release?

Jazz Cartier: I really think it was music, man. For a while I was just the wild boy. On the road, drugs on me, I don’t give a f*ck. Consistently the most wasted in the club, getting dragged out by security. Just being very ridiculous. Then I kind of took a step back once I started putting out music again.

It’s cool to have that wild boy image, but at the end of the day, I need to get work done. Work’s not going to get done by going out every night, waking up hung over, and not doing anything during my day. For the past 6 or 7 months, I saw something face me and told myself “You have to stop, and be in the studio day in, day out.” That’s what I’ve been doing. The vast majority of this project came in the past 6 or 7 months. It’s just me going back and taking old skeletons, and revamping them.

HHW: Wait. So over that time, did you take songs that were previously recorded or did you record all new stuff?

Jazz Cartier: All new stuff. I would go back and here something, and that would inspire something new. I would hear something in that old song and make it into an entirely new track.

HHW: How drastic has your music changed since you made that epic life change?

Jazz Cartier: It was drastic. I was making music just to hear it at parties and in clubs. I was that dude. I’m listening back to the old stuff, and I’m like “thank God I didn’t put this sh*t out, because if I did, that sh*t would get so swept under the rug.” Now, I’m taking my time and making music not for anyone in particular, but for myself.

HHW: The title of the project Marauding In Paradise reads simple, but it’s very nuanced. From your definition, how do you break it down?

Jazz Cartier: That’s Toronto right there. That’s my paradise. Going out at night, if you don’t have a plan in general, you’re going out to find some trouble. When I first came up with [the title], that was my idea of how I am in the city. Then I moved back, started selling drugs, and everything kind of connected and made sense. [Toronto] comes alive in the nighttime because it’s nothing to do, especially in the winter. We all get together in a warm place, and just f*cking drink and go crazy until hours in the morning. That’s why the music is so moody up there. That’s paradise. The marauding aspect is what we all do unconsciously.

HHW: How do represent Toronto as opposed to an artist like Daniel Caesar, P. Reign, or even Drake?

Jazz Cartier: A kid like Danny…. Danny is probably one of the most talented kids I’ve ever been around in my life. That’s my dog right there. Seeing him work is next level. He’s from a town called Pickering, which is the outskirts of the city. Even just that, that’s a big part of who he is, because he’s very low key and to himself.

I think with me, there hasn’t been a kid from downtown Toronto to put on for that area. Drake’s from uptown. Every rapper from Toronto comes downtown for a party or to be seen, etc. It’s weird because Toronto is kind of like New York, where someone will travel from her to my city and say, “Hey, I’m from New York,” but they’re really from Poughkeepsie. I don’t want to call anybody out. But there’s a lot of regional difference. I’m just trying to encompass downtown Toronto. The moodiness, the chaos…. just my version of it.

HHW: I remember speaking to P. Reign, whose criminal record won’t allow him in the states (that’s changed in recent weeks), but you have plenty of stateside experience. What did that American experience do for your artist development?

Jazz Cartier: Just being here, in school, and seeing the whole Drake thing happen, I knew that it was the perfect time for me to go back to my city. Everyone was trying to ride that wave, but I knew their was such a gap in the music], especially in downtown Toronto. Nothing was happening.

Within the past two years, I’ve done a lot, where I’m doing parties and making connections, and putting people on to certain people. Now, even though I’ve stepped back from the party scene, my doing is still happening. I needed to come back, but it’s very important for an artist from Toronto to leave and experience life across the border. But not a lot of them do that, which is a problem. Granted, some people can’t because we get caught up in some bullsh*t.

HHW: I’m not sure if you’re a big reader, but it sounds like you’re a “connector” (someone who bridges the gap between people) based on Malcolm Gladwell’s definition in The Tipping Point. Would you say that’s true?

Jazz Cartier: It’s kind of selfish to think about it like this, but I think about if I never came back to the city, how different it would be. I started a group called Get Home Safe–I’m not in it anymore because of artistic differences. Just the way I operated it, I knew Toronto needed a rambunctious group of kids. We were that. We had the party house called “The Palace.” We were so reckless. Just living in the moment. Drugs in the house, door wide open, anybody can walk in. We didn’t give a f*ck.

Times get different. You get older and realize you can’t be that reckless, but for what it was, that inspired a new wave of kids in Toronto. I see new kids coming up; they have their own crews, they have their own crib where they party at, they take photos, one of them raps, another one DJs. That’s the sh*t that I did. Now they’re doing at, and I’m like “My job here is done.”

I’ve been telling kids that Toronto is in such a renaissance era that we have high school kids that are following us [on social media] that we have no idea about. Those kids can grow up in the next 2-3 years, and do what we did, but better because they have the resources.

HHW: “New Religion” has an anthemic feel. Are songs like that how you plan to impact stateside?

Jazz Cartier: That was the crossover for me. Lantz does all the beats. He’s a white kid from Scarborough who did EDM. We’ve been working for six years. He hates this new trap sh*t going on. But I told him “we have to do this. This is the way I’m feeling right now.”

I produced the record in my head and explained how I wanted it to sound, and he created it perfectly. I did it in one take, and I’m not the kind of rapper to do a song in one take. I just freestyled it. I wanted to do a hook in the verses; that’s how the whole “finesse and I juug” line came about. I sent it to my bro Ro Ransom, a rapper in New York, and he told me it was a hit.

HHW: Random. You strike me as the type to appreciate a range of music. What are your thoughts on Kendrick Lamar’s new LP?

Jazz Cartier: You have to be a music fan to digest that album. That just shows you how f*cked up the times are. Ni**as can throw out some “blah-blah,” and it’s seen as crack. But Kendrick put out a masterpiece and people don’t know how to take it.

Don’t get me wrong, it took me time to understand it. I listened to it once and though he was preaching too much. But then, the second time, I realized that he was telling the truth. The third time, it was crazy. I think Kendrick is bringing back the Luther Vandross, Marvin Gaye days, where as a parents in 10 years or so, you’re gonna put your kids on to this music.

HHW: Some artists see the bigger picture and importance of cultivating their brand and aesthetic. How are you trying to differentiate yourself from the flock?

Jazz Cartier: I just want to let people know that it’s 2015, and it’s ok to have different styles. I have a full-blown indie pop record on my tape right now. I have “Rose Quartz/Like, Crazy” and then I have the chaotic sh*t like a track called “Dead or Alive,” where I get more crazy with my voice.

I’ve lived all over the world and went to like 13 schools, so it’s inevitable for me to be influenced by so many people. That’s one thing that plagues a lot of rappers: they’re so comfortable in this box. Y0u can’t do that forever, there’s no longevity in that. Once I put out this project and I keep progressing in my career, it won’t be left field for me to do crazy sh*t.

Essentials:

“New Religion”

“Switch/The Downtown Cliché”

“Count On Me”

“Rose Quartz/Like, Crazy”