Description
2023, 12″ LP, New Funk Academy.
New Jersey-based rapper Topaz Jones presents a high-octane sophomore LP, Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Momma, adding to the vogue of hip-hop albums channelling a nostalgic, family-reminiscent, coming-of-age aesthetic. In contrast to his 2016 debut Arcade, this album is crisper in production, spans a wider stylistic gamut, and hears the rapper tap into his upbringing in Montclair, NJ, with its lyrics building off a screenplay for an audiovisual project about his childhood. Funk is its backbone; its instrumentals gleaning everything from muted synth to clipping future-funk; this is/was the sound of Jones’ formative years, and we tag along for the ride, hearing him make sense of it all retroactively. – Juno
Topaz Jones is a rapper, producer, and filmmaker from Montclair, NJ. Rooted in an independent ethic, Jones’ oeuvre moves to document and preserve the intimacy and intricacies of Black life. His music builds from a deep investment in community, concerning itself with all measures of time at once; his vantage effortlessly weaves through the (sur)real with generous detail and the sensitivity of one who’s lived many times before. It’s hip-hop for now, as informed by the depths of tradition – funk, soul, jazz – and a grand imagination for what’s to come. To experience Topaz Jones is to be greeted with unseen flavors of a collective familiar performer both decorated and versatile, Topaz Jones is a trailblazer across medium and genre. He shapeshifts with ease, rendering no stage or space unfit for his presence. He’s shared stages with Future, David Bryne, The Roots, and Moses Sumney, and been featured at Bonnaroo, Wireless Festival, and Rolling Loud. Jones’ music has amassed over 50 million streams, earning features in the likes of Vogue, Rolling Stone, The New York Times, Pitchfork, The FADER, and Okayplayer. In 2021, Jones released his critically- acclaimed second album Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Momma. The album’s accompanying short film, a collaboration with directorial duo rubberband., received a Short Film Jury Award at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, and was acquired by The New York Times Op-Docs.