@jodybigfoot – instagram
Since being forced to launch the biggest project of his life, “Duszt”, online due to lockdown, Jody Bigfoot hasn’t quite been feeling himself, and there has been a bit of a hiatus in release frequency. Whilst Duszt was being mixed and mastered he moved back to England to focus on gigging and developing more of a career in music but was met with a pandemic and the prolonged closure of venues internationally. The drive and passion that enabled him to create such a thorough collection of music and videos took a big hit and his great momentum was lost. Though slowed, he did not stop and has been chipping away at various new projects since the start of 2020. Now out of the slumber, reinvigorated by a daily swimming practice and knocking ganja on the head, he is ready to release the multi-genre bottleneck of EPs onto the world in 2023.
The first of these, is a three track collaboration with John Dole, who has been cutting his teeth in hip-hop and electronic scenes all over the north east, touted by BBC introducing NE as one to watch, a sonic force to be reckoned with, all within a unique style, built on intricate sound design and razor sharp wordplay.
Brush Strokes, the opening and title track is a poetic journey through what it means to make art, put marks on a page and be woven by, of, and through culture and soul all over an incredibly psychedelic and heavy instrumental custom-crafted by John Dole to bring alive Bigfoot’s unique style and voice. Jody uses wordplay to openly touch on the scars left by artistic friends who met an untimely end, such as Mark Reed – “Make a mark and read em patiently”, or a tribute to the late Lee Halpin who went under the MC name EazyLee – “Eazy lead me to my freedom these distractions be deceiving”. In the same verse he touches on how ADHD and trauma have led him to using art and ganja as a distraction, and even when you think you have processed these traumas through creativity or meditation, dreams can still trigger PTSD. He closes the songs encouraging all forms of art, especially that of a radical nature to move forward with power because “They’ll erase the history if we don’t enforce facts”.
The next song, Brkn is a forlorn acknowledgement of wherever someone stands in the political or cultural landscape, they have their own scars, traumas and dysfunctions. A track inspired by the finger pointing and fighting that has grown over recent years as mass media and dogma divides the populace. Jody Bigfoot opens with one of his trademark information dense and rhythmically intense verses that reminds us we are all in a heavily broken world, tormented by pollution and propaganda whilst our own problems and egos can blind us from the true familial connection all humans share. Then John Dole swings into a catchy sung hook that rolls over the experimental and fittingly disconcerting instrumental. In verse two, Bigfoot asks more questions than statements made, hoping to encourage people to ponder on the potential to perceive the connections and troubles we all share existing in this fractured society. Finally we get blessed with a full verse from John Dole to carry us into the final track.
And finally, after starting a pedigree in UK battle rap that has only been cut short by more opponents cancelling than showing up, Jody Bigfoot, for the first time does a diss track. In a tongue in cheek fashion, harnessing ego as a weapon himself, Bigfoot cuts through the inflated ego of some of the north east scene, reminding people that if you aren’t gigging, or being listened to outside of this small area, you don’t have much to brag about because realistically that is the sign of success for a small town MC. He takes us through a bit of his long pedigree, touring the French Alps, playing boomtown, or DJing for Skepta way back in 2008 to make sure he has a leg to stand on in this statement. Normally in a track like this the MC will declare themselves the best but pragmatically and honestly, Bigfoot crowns Stig of the Dump the king of geordie rap as Stig has had the most out of town success over the years our of anyone from Newcastle. John Dole again crafts a custom beat inspired by Jody Bigfoot’s early work within Trinity Lo Fi and using 8-bit sounds to do so, puts together a beat that complements the subject matter and individual talents that Bigfoot brings to the wordplay within.