Brandy McDonnell|Oklahoman
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J French had a breakthrough with "Breakfast."
But it took a lot more effort than just breaking a few eggs for the Oklahoma-Texas rapper to whip up the right vibe for the opening track of his new album. He spent months in "monk mode" to create the kind of "Good Karma" he wanted to hear and share.
"This album is so special because I had to reach so much higher to find it. ... I did 40 songs. Then, through therapy and just watching great things that were good for my mental diet, I found this album instead," French said.
"I found a way to get rid of my trust issues and really let the creativity flow. So, the 41st song, here we go: 'Breakfast.'I had made the beat with a Florida Mass Choir sample ... and then the next day, I woke up and had this very inspiring morning."
Titled "Good Karma," his new album, which French released independently in January, has been labeled "explicit" on some digital storefronts. But the rapper, producer and multi-instrumentalist, who hails from Oklahoma City and is now based in Dallas, opted to make his fourth full-length album his first without profanity.
"It's crazy. I was like, 'Why did that put that in there like that? This is not explicit.' That's what they do, I guess, if you've got one drop in there. ... But it's all good," French said wryly.
"I used to curse on purpose on records just to try to be more relatable to people. That's not even the way I talk in real life. So, this is probably the most me I've ever been with a record."
'Good Karma' comes out of dark days
Jaguar French — or J French for short — began rapping when he was 12 years old. Along with composing rhymes, he plays the cornet, piano and drums.
The son of Grammy-winning percussionist and vocalist Brother Num, who died Feb. 17, French received formal percussion training early on from his father. The OKC native also is a cousin to rap superstar Ye (aka Kanye West)and regards neo-soul legend Erykah Badu as a big sister.
Although their relationship was fraught, French tapped his father for his last album, 2020's "JAGG (Just Another Gift from God)," with Brother Num contributing vocals on the combustible song "BOOM," which samples The Gap Band's iconic hit "You Dropped a Bomb on Me."
"The influence he may have had on this particular album is he kind of made it to where I didn't want to curse on it," French said, adding that his father encouraged him to leave the n-word out of his rhymes. "At first, I was like, 'Man, quit hating.' But later on, I understood why he said it: It's a bigger audience that you reach when you don't do that same particular rap slang that people use all the time. And you carve your own lane out."
Although his new album is titled "Good Karma," French said it originated from a dark place. The lingering COVID-19 pandemichas been especially tough on the live entertainment business — "Do I miss performing live? Do you understand? Oh my God, I miss it so much," he said —and he encountered behind-the-scenes drama with release of "JAGG," which debuted in August 2020 on Ropeadope Records.
"I'm not really holding on to that as much as I'm holding on to ... thewhole lesson of the whole situation: Don't let things bother you; don't let boils build up. Lance it," he said. "It was dark for me. I heard it coming out in my music ... and I had to find forgiveness."
'I was like a monk' while making new album, rapper J Frenchsays
Feeling drained and dejected, the rapper said he struggled to get creative when he set out to make the follow-up to "JAGG." So, he started seeing a therapist weekly.
"I was like a monk for the entire first seven months of 2021. I was fasting; I got real skinny. ... I was speaking clean and speaking just nothing but optimism for a good seven months straight. It was amazing. It was the most amazing time of my life," French said.
"Then when the album was done, I started eating at 3 in the morning, just to be rebellious. 'Let me change this. Let me be different. ... Let me just do something else. Let me curse a little more. Let me scratch this. Let me shake the ... Etch A Sketch and let's draw something else.'"
For his "Good Karma," the Grammy voter also tapped musicians he had never worked with before, including pianist Martin Morgan, bassist Anthony Cappeto, saxophonist and singer Danny Phillips and vocalists Kyee and Bree Parker.
"I didn't want any rap features. I wanted this to be so much more musical than that ... so I had singers come in," he said."I freestyled every single track on this album, too, and it was ridiculous how it came and everything was in the moment."
But his "Breakfast" opener does close with a shortinspirational speech by comedian and character actor Mark Christopher Lawrence ("Terminator 2: Judgment Day," NBC's "Chuck").
"Nothing's impossible to do. If you're still breathing every day, you can do anything you want to do," French said.
"I came up with every single word on this album. ... Everything I was talking about on this album was just me getting through that day. This is what was on my heart and mind that day, so I had to think in a healing way and heal myself. And if I'm healing me, then it's probably working for somebody else."
