Meet the latest addition to the VMP Rising family, New Jersey artist Topaz Jones.
After his 2016 debut, Arcade, Jones was putting intense pressure on himself to do something monumental. Instead of “forcing the Great American Rap Album to pour out of [him],” Jones turned inward, focusing on his childhood in Montclair, New Jersey, as the source of the themes that would become his sophomore album, Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Momma.
“A lot of the original genesis of the album came from the times I would eavesdrop on conversations between my parents, uncles, aunts and cousins just talking and shit; to get your first taste of adult Black life from ear hustling,” Jones said in an interview with VMP. “I felt like I needed to blow up more before I was able to tell my story like this — and I didn’t even tell all of it — but I thought to myself that I should write this like I was writing a movie. If I was gonna write a movie about my life and upbringing, what could that mean for people who are coming from a similar background?”
The answer is a funk- and soul-infused record — accompanied by an award-winning, acclaimed short film of the same name — which speaks to Jones’ memories and family, preserving history and grappling with the bittersweet experiences of Black American life.