JC Juice is not the average rapper. He does not have the image many rappers aspire to. In fact, he shuns it.
JC, whose real name is Jean-Claude Faa, is in many respects Texas A&M’s student rapper-in-residence, who frequently makes appearances on campus and at local events such as “Aggies United,” which took place last fall, and was set to perform at the postponed 12th Jam.
“My philosophy as a rapper has always been: I am not a mainstream rapper, I am not the rapper that you listen to on the radio,” Faa said. “I don’t really like that kind of rap.”
Faa, who is a senior mechanical engineering major, performed in Rudder Plaza for the Lunchbox series earlier this month, put on by MSC Townhall.
“What we try to do with the lunchbox concert series is provide a platform for students and other local bands from not only College Station/Bryan, but across the state to perform and introduce them to the music scene on campus,” said Alexandra Tamez, telecommunications senior and co-executive of the Lunchbox series.
All of the songs he performed, which were aided by the neo-soul and punk-infused sensibility of the supporting band, Yee-Ha!, were originals he had written over the past few years. Only the last song of the set, “Dancing in the Rain,” was borrowed from the famous Wu-Tang hook of “Cash Rules Everything Around Me.” Faa said he repurposed it and combined it into what is a notably more mellow beat.
This song, in particular, impressed sociology professor Reuben May, better known as Reginald Stuckey, or the rapping professor, who said he has been following Faa for a while.
“It’s like a mellow, kind of funky flow, but he’s got lyricism, and I really appreciate that,” May said. “I like the theme. He talked about not being a thug.”
Faa said he is inspired by artists such as Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole and Anderson Paak, who produce meaningful rap. His music, Faa said, is also very much inspired by neo-soul and jazz.
Artists such as Tom Misch, Jordan Rakei and FKJ have sounds that inspire him greatly. He said he also loves to combine these styles of music with boom-bap beats, a simplistic beat style.
“It’s very jazzy, it’s very soulful,” Faa said. “I think it marries very well with rap.”
Faa says inspiration comes to him at random times, and when it does, he often has to stop what he’s doing to catch it. In his song “Good Better Baddest,” Faa begins by rapping the lyrics “Pirates and Peacocks,” which randomly came to his mind while he was doing his homework so he entirely stopped to write the lyrics down.
“I just started, and then it was like a boulder that just kept rolling and rolling and rolling,” Faa said.
It’s precisely this wordplay that fascinates him, it’s not just the catchy beat, but the meaning behind it.. Faa said he is a believer in the power of music to affect those who listen, and he hopes his lyrically driven raps show this.
“What I’m hoping to do is make music that people can listen to and relate to,” Faa said. “I’m trying to say something in my rap that’s true in my life and that’s true in other people’s lives.”