Underground hip-hop artist Ja’king the Divine hops his way onto the smoke-filled stage at Sounds of Brazil. “How’s everyone fucking feeling tonight,” he yells into the mic while the DJ slowly turns up the beat. Ja’king starts off bold; he is aware that he has to make the most of his 15 minutes, as SOB’s is his most prominent gig to date of his career.
SOB’s exterior nearly blends in with the corporate, post-industrialist architecture of Hudson Square. A mural on the side of the music hall provides a splash of color in an otherwise soulless neighborhood, an anomaly for New York City. Setting foot in the venue is reminiscent of entering a cave. The low ceilings and darkness in the entrance corridor make for a cramped feeling; the smell of stale beer quickly takes over, similar to a dive bar. After the corridor lies the concert space, which would be pitch black if not for the blinding spotlights fixed on the stage.
Ja’king always knew that he wanted to pursue a career in music, having been surrounded by it since a young age. Born in Brooklyn, he spent most of his childhood in the nearby suburb of Uniondale on Long Island, growing up with jazz and New York City rap throughout his household. “I grew up in a family where everybody listened to hip-hop, but in different eras,” he said. “My grandfather would listen to Eric B and Rakim, my godfather stuck to 90s underground rap, and my father liked conscious hip-hop, like Nas at that time.” Simultaneously, his music teacher introduced him to the music of jazz musician Dizzy Gillepsie, which still plays an influence on his music now, with the majority of his songs including jazz elements.
Although fans of his music know him as Ja’king, he is known to his family as Christopher Goodwin, Ja’king is simply his middle name. “My father was a member of the Five-Percent Nation and wanted to name me Ja’king as a reference to that,” he said. “My mom refused, saying that I would never be able to get a job with a name like that.”
Standing at nearly 6 feet 4 inches tall, Ja’king basically towers over the rest of the audience. Growing up, he was a basketball player first, with music taking a backseat. After receiving college offers from Boston University and Bucknell University, he ultimately decided to play basketball at Bloomfield College in New Jersey on a full scholarship. “When I was younger, my family would tell me that rapping was a hobby, not something you could really do,” he said. “They told me that basketball was a way to get college paid for.” Eventually, Ja’king lost his passion for basketball and quit playing at Bloomfield shortly before his freshman season, with his true love for music ultimately taking over.
After experimenting with an unreleased record, Ja’king released Growing Pains in October 2019, which features eight tracks and a surprising amount of maturity from a debut album. He credits his initial success to being humble, asking people with more experience for help, and lots of trial and error. “I wrote song after song until I had, what I would call at the time, a perfect album,” he said. “Early on, I could hear that I had an ear for putting sounds together.”
Ja’king barely mentions his second album Paint Chips which was released in April 2021. He states that his growth as an artist came during his two following albums, DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR and 手术: BLACK SUN TZU, with the latter being his personal favorite. “I became a better writer during that time,” he explains. “I’ve stripped it down and just told the message that I’m trying to convey.” 手术: BLACK SUN TZU was the first record completely produced by Ja’king himself, giving him more creative power compared to his previous albums. From the unconventional beats, to the cartoon skits in between tracks, the LP is a representation of organized chaos, something that Ja’king proudly admits while thoroughly listening to the other artists at SOB’s. While the audience is huddled towards the stage, Ja’king stays in the back, slowly pacing back and forth.
Shortly after the initial group of concertgoers fill into the venue, a DJ hops on stage and curates some popular rap and R&B music. People nod their heads to Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” but it is clear that they are just waiting for the artists themselves to perform. Rodney Washington sits up at the bar counter away from the stage, flipping between looking at his phone and chatting with the bartender. Washington simply came across SOB’s after visiting some family in the city, as he himself lives in Kearny, New Jersey. “I had some free time before I had to leave Manhattan so I popped in here real quick,” he said while sipping his Miller Lite. “I just wanted to hear some good music.” Washington is not familiar with any of the artists tonight, but decides to keep an open mind.
The title for tonight’s show is Echoes of the Soul, which showcases eight up-and-coming hip-hop and R&B artists. Each is challenged to pick a select few songs from their discography, and perform for just fifteen minutes. This is a task especially tough for Ja’king, who has produced seven albums over the past five years.
New York City native Isa Reyes opens up the show, performing some of their latest R&B songs, along with unreleased tracks. They create an intimate feel, asking for the crowd to huddle together close to the stage. Baltimore-based artist Makindé follows, shocking the crowd with his seemingly limitless vocal range. Rapper TuNe B gives an unimpressive performance according to the crowd, with most of them disengaged during his fifteen minutes. On the other hand, hip-hop artist Dennis Valentin makes his quarter-hour feel like an eternity, captivating the audience with his energetic music, capped with him smoking a joint on stage. Ja’king remains at the back of the stage floor, waiting for his name to eventually be called by the DJ.
Ja’king takes the stage at 8:45, and the crowd is initially confused by his loud energy compared to the other artists. Rapper and fellow Long Island native Javi Darko, who was not included in the official set list, follows on stage behind him. Ja’king and Javi have history working alongside each other, with the pair collaborating together on the thirteen-track album Fear & Loathing on Long Island, which was released in 2023. Ja’king believes this album was a turning point in his career. “For me, a lot changed when me and Javi produced that album,” he said. “I think that is where you start to see the change in my direction of how I write and everything like that.”
The pair successfully grabs the audience’s attention quickly by yelling some ad-libs into their respective microphones. “Y’all wanna hear some good music?” Ja’king and Javi both ask. The crowd hesitates for a moment, then responds with a loud “yes”, which echoes off the walls of the small venue. A few fans wearing red and blue “Ja’king” hats rush towards the front of the stage, with Ethan Jones leading the small group. Similar to Ja’king, Jones grew up on Long Island, in the town of Wyandanch. He has been a fan of Ja’king for a few years now, and has briefly met him in person before. “I just love his vibes man, both with his music and with him as a person,” he said. “For me the music is unique compared to what else is out there.”
Rather than going through full songs like the other artists, the two decide to perform a mashup of songs from their joint album to save time. They first performed their song “Sunshine Acid”, which was their most popular song off of their 2023 record according to YouTube view count. The pair trade verses, and then come together to sing the song’s chorus. Both rap with a similar cadence and flow, but Ja’king’s low-pitched tone matches nicely with the more higher pitches coming from Javi. The crowd gets into this song, with the majority of them swaying back and forth during the track’s chorus, “Oh well, goodbye/Fuck yall, I’m too high.”
Then, Ja'king starts to take over the set with his own music, with Javi taking more of a back seat. The audience gets to hear some of his newest album Children of the Scorned, which was released in August. Ja’king believes that this album was yet another evolution for him. “My approach for this album was a lot different,” he said. “Instead of overthinking and being so wrapped up in the process, I just put my knife out there and did it.” Unlike the previous two hip-hop artists who took the stage, Ja’king commands the microphone, and captivates the crowd. After performing a few songs from his latest record, Javi walks back to the stagefront, and the two perform their final song, a titleless, unreleased track. The crowd roars with a loud applause as the pair walk off stage after their 15 minutes is up.
Ja’king and Javi immediately head towards the crowd to talk and shake hands with fans. Their foreheads are lined with beads of sweat from their performance. Javi, who is nearly out of breath by this point, leads the two across the stage floor. “I’m happy to have done this tonight,” he says. “Both of us have worked so hard to get here and we made it happen.” Javi stays with the crowd, and Ja’king rushes to the bar to grab a drink. He practically disappears for the remainder of the night, sitting in the back corner of the venue, away from everyone else.