ExoticDancer Magazine Interviews Jae Mansa about their new track, “Blessings”
Quick history lesson: who was the richest person ever?
OK, that’s arbitrary. In the modern sense of “rich,” the answer would probably be John D. Rockefeller, the 19th-century American oil tycoon.
But even Rockefeller’s black gold would have had a tough time stacking up against all the actual gold of Mansa Musa, a past king of Timbuktu, whose West African kingdom was one of the preeminent producers of gold in the world—at a time when gold was invaluable.
That indescribable wealth is one of the reasons hip-hop duo Jae Mansa turned to the deceased ruler for inspiration.
“My manager who was my father, he brought King Mansa Musa to our attention,” says Daron “Jae” Johnson, one half of Jae Mansa. “We went with ‘Jae Mansa’ as a group because ‘Jae’ is my middle name then we went with Mansa and became Mansa Musa. My cousin ‘B’ (Brandon “B” Boone) came down afterward, we made it a group. We wanted everybody to think it was one person, like Travis Porter, but the name comes from kings and queens. Us being black kings and queens like our people. That’s why our album is called Kings, that’s why we have the picture of the black kid with the crown over his head.”
ED Magazine spoke with Jae Mansa about their politically charged music, “making it” and their newest single, “Blessings.”
ED: How has being cousins helped or popped up in the creative process for you guys?
B: It’s definitely helped in the creative process because there’s more than one brain. The producer might be feeling one way today, I might be feeling one way the next day and he might be feeling one way the next day.
ED: You guys have politically charged music, was there a moment where you guys had to tread cautiously to succeed commercially?
JAE: I remember when we dropped F Trump mixtape, we got a lot of backlash off that. Of course, we watch what we say, but at the end of the day, we’re going to say and do what we want. We ain’t going to say the wrong thing, we’re just going to give you facts. If it’s right, it’s right.
ED: Brandon, you said in an interview your inspiration is providing for yourself and your fam and “being able to say I made it.” Have you guys made it? If so, what about your lifestyle told you that? If not, what’s missing?
JAE: We ain’t made it yet. We got a lot more to do. Even when you do make it, you still gotta do the same things you do when you’re trying to get to the top to keep yourself relevant. This game is all about relationships.
B: I think I made it when a lot of kids listen to our music and start to look up to us and start to heed what we’re saying.
ED: How much easier was it to make “Relationships & Money” from a production standpoint compared to your previous work? (Basically, how much easier is the behind-the-scenes stuff the second, third time around)
B: It was hard trying to get this at first. We had to spend a lot of money just to find the right people, trial and error. We jumped out there not knowing what’s going on, trying to figure out how it works. Now once we got our blueprint put together and we drop a song, we know what to do. Make mistakes and learn from them.
ED: StripJoints services DJs at gentlemen’s clubs nationwide, so why would Jae Mansa’s New Track Blessings be a good choice to play at a gentlemen’s club?
JAE: It got the bounce to it. Blessings, anybody blessed to be in the position they in, I feel like everybody can connect with that song.
B: You gotta think about the dancers, you’re blessing them when you’re throwing your money. They working hard. It’s a blessing for me to throw this money, it’s a blessing for you to get it.
Listen to Jae Mansa’s New Track Blessings
