First time I met Jake Oh was at a party, playing a pop quiz. My team needed a helping hand when he came to rescue by singing the songs which names we searched our minds for. Unfortunatly we still lost that evening, but for the next week or so Jake Oh and his voice was all me and my friends could think of.

Jake Oh is something as rare as a really talented Swedish rnb-artist. This year he has released two singles, ‘Up in The Blue’ and ‘Reason to Live’. Both have been praised by critics.

When I met up with Jake this time it’s between his busy hours of rehearsal and gigs. He’s back in Stockholm for a couple of days, for the ongoing tour with Afasi & Filthy. He looks a bit stressed, carrying a laptopbag and talking about rehearsal.

When did you start making music?

- I’ve always made music. I come from a family where everyone is musically talented. Since the age of eight I’ve played classical piano, some years later I started to write my own songs.

Growing up both as a musician and a teenager in Västerås, constantly listening to neosoul like D’Angelo, Jake-Oh started to share his work on myspace. He got good response, and one of the listeners was the publisher Mil-Tickit.

- He was basically sending me a mail, asking if he could be my manager. I was fascinated by America and we had a pretty close contact. Then I decided to go visit him in Chicago.

That must have felt pretty weird, just going to US with a myspace friend as the only person you know?

- Actually it didn’t feel weird at all. Mil-Tickit and I where pretty alike, and I was really willing to go to the US, take that chance. Also I’ve always wanted to visit America, maybe cause the music I make feels more natural there.

Tell us more about the three months you spent in Chicago. Did you go on a branch-tour?

- I guess you can call it that. I was 19 years when I came there and didn’t know what to expect. But the second night we were at this small free gig, one of those outside concerts. It was nice, underground artists doing their thing on stage. All of a sudden both Common and Kanye West turned up behind me. That was weird. Mil-Tickit was born in Chicago so he has this really good network of friends and contacts. Ludacris for example, he and Mil-Ticit worked together, so I got to meet him too. He looked at me when we were introduced saying “Hey man, I really like your shit.” That was big for me, being a big fan of Ludacris and all.

One year later Jake-Oh was in New York for a showcase and met many A&Rs who were interested in him as an artist. Unfortunately he didn’t have that much songs ready as today.

- I’m going back to Chicago next week, and now I have much more material to present to people, and they already know me. That’s a good thing.

You sound very focused on US. But at the same time you have been touring since May with the Swedish hiphop act Afasi & Filthy.

- It’s really fun to perform and getting known here, I just always considered the Swedish market to be uninterested in the kind of music I do - that’s why I thought US was a really good place to start. At some point I definitely want to tour in Europe, so of course Sweden is important too. But then again, I think there’s been a change going on the last couple of years. Just a few years back you never heard rnb at regular clubs, that’s not the reality of today. The tolerance of bringing in influence from other music genres in rnb has grown much bigger, and perhaps that’s why the genre is getting more popular here. I mean, if you hear Rihanna and that type of rnb today, it’s like popmusic.

I really think that’s true, what you’re saying about the music. Genre doesn’t really matter anymore. I have thought a great del about it, how everyone is affected by the fact that we don’t walk into record stores, buying the new CD with the band we always liked at the genre sorted shelf. Internet allows us to mix everything up.

- Yes, that’s true! And that obviously had an effect on America to. All the uptempo tracks of today, they’re all influenced by European dance music. And different trends move through really fast too.

Do you try to keep up with all the trends, like for example Kanye?

- Hmmm, yes, I think I have to keep up, because music is what I do. But I also think its important to always keep your mind clear. My music is always from my heart and soul, even if I want it to sound modern. I didn’t really like the new Kanye West-album when he used all that autotune. Singing is not really his thing.

How did you get to know Afasi & Filthy?

- When they played at Clap to This in Uppsala almost a year ago, we started talking about music. They gave me a call a few days later and asked if I wanted to join them on the tour, they needed a band member to play synthesizer. I instantly said yes and we became good friends. Me and Magnus [Filthy] see earch other almost every day now, and write and produce music together under the name Drop Boys. At the moment we’re having a huge hit with the song ‘Can’t Get Back’ that we’ve done for the japanese band W-inds. It’s at second place on their single list.

Isn’t it hard to write songs together with someone?

- I thought so at first! I’ve always been a person that wants to do everything myself- write, play, sing, even release my own singles. But Magnus and I work really well together. We borrow my family’s house in Sörmland, turn our cellphones off and focus on the music. It was really lucky that we met. Now I will try to get finished with writing my own album and get it out in 2009. And this time, I hopefully don’t have to do it all by myself.

Jake-Oh’s debut album is planned to be finished and released next year. For now he’ll be touring with Afasi & Filthy and writing more hits for himself and others.

 

Jake Oh - Up In The Blue (prod. by Jake Oh) [buy it from iTunes or CDON]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Jake Oh - Reason to Live (prod. by Jake Oh) [buy it from iTunes or CDON]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Jake Oh at Myspace

W-inds - ‘Can’t Get Back’ (prod. & written by Drop Boys) [Youtube]