The music industry is a grown man business, but they use baby faces to stack big faces. Jibbs is the new face from St. Louis that’s supposed to go places. Signed to Geffen/ Interscope, besides Nelly, Jibbs is the one with of Top 40 hopes. His musical background reaches back to his childhood because everyone in the family does it. His single “Chain Hang Low” is sure to be an anthem in a lot of hoods and influence the people that this kid is good.

Speaking about how good the kid is, he was actually nice as a kid. At the age of 11, Jibbs was killing 25 year-old MC’s with razor sharp lyricism. That’s not a typo, as the 25 year-old MC’s about his flow.

Jibbs is on the scene and aside from having a flow that’s mean; he shows the versatility to do big things. He can’t help it; he was raised to be competitive. His father had him boxing before he could reach the bag, but its Hip-Hop that gave Jibbs his swag.

JayRich: What up?

Jibbs: “I’m on the road pushing this single; you heard it?

JayRich: Yeah, it’s kinda catchy and similar to a lot of music from the STL. Speaking of, what’s it like recording with kids in the studio. (Jibbs’ single, “Chain Hang Low” has kids singing on the chorus.)

Jibbs: “It was a natural thing because it was my sister and my brother. My little brother rap, dance, sing and everything; so it was just natural.”

JayRich: The sound of your single, don’t you feel it’s a little too close to Nelly or a lot of other STL rappers?

Jibbs: “Actually not; if you listen to my album you’ll probably think different about it. I got more than one style that I do. That’s just one of em.”

JayRich: I heard some on your myspace page.

Jibbs: “Yeah, those three are like, showing you the different types of styles and sounds I got.”

JayRich: Do you think it may be hard for the audience to adjust to someone who has so many sounds or come off a little too different?

Jibbs: “I don’t think that’s it’s hard for them because everything is going to sound brand new.”

JayRich: For instance, the audience that “Chain Hang Low” brings won’t relate or feel the vibe when you switch up to a more introspective song.

Jibbs: “I know what you mean. But, the response has been pretty good on the road. I’ve been in other cities and I’ll switch up on em real quick and they still rock wit me.”

JayRich: How long did it take you to find your voice behind the mic?

Jibbs: “It took doing a few songs back to back and hearing my voice. You’ll learn as you go once you get used to it. It probably took like a year for me to know my voice. I went through stages from sounding like a baby to where my voice started changing to what it is now.”

JayRich: I read that you battled 25 and 26 year-olds when you were like 11 or 12, how did that go down?

Jibbs: “Yeah, my older brother, he a producer, and growing up he had a studio; all the rappers would come over and break-off into a freestyle battle that’s when I would jump in there and start killing cats. That’s when I was real big on freestyling, like I ain’t no battle rapper, but, it helped me bring my A-Game. Sometimes these older cats would get mad and wanna fight and I’m only like 11 or 12.”

JayRich: Did you stop a lot of guys from rapping?

Jibbs: “Nah, but, a few did stop.”

JayRich: Your sound switches up so much; do you dumb down on some records and get more heavy on the punchlines on another on purpose?

Jibbs: “It all depends on the vibe.”

JayRich: Your brother is your producer, what type of sound does he usually give you?

Jibbs: “He already know what I want. He knows my style so he makes a lot of different sounds.”

JayRich: You had something rare growing up, both parents; what was your homelife like?

Jibbs: “We was always a close family; grew up in the hood, we supported each other. My household, everyone is real competative; not in a bad way, we just make people better.”

JayRich: What was the greatest advantage of having both parents in the same household?

Jibbs: “A lot my friends in school only had one parent and some had none. So it was really a blessing.”

JayRich: What are some qualities they tried to put in you?

Jibbs: “They support me and just want me to do well. Wanted me to go to college, just the normal things parents want for their kids.”

JayRich: What about your boxing career?

Jibbs: “My dad was a boxer so that’s how I got into it. We started at a early age; I was boxing before I could reach the bag. Besides that, everybody was into music. I watched my brother produce guys and seen the shows. I love music, I like boxing.”

JayRich: What do you get from freestyling that you don’t get from making songs?

Jibbs: “The metaphors, they’re crazy. I love saying something that makes everybody in the room be like, “What.” They have to think about it and have the, “Oh, that was hot.” I don’t use that in my songs cuz I didn’t wanna be labeled as a battle rapper. Most people that battle can’t write a song and I didn’t wanna get caught up into that.”

JayRich: Growing up, what did you study to get a vocabulary?

Jibbs: “In school I read books, I was always big on vocabulary. I just go off what I see.”

JayRich: What do you do outside of music?

Jibbs: “I write music… and I talk on the phone sometime. I do what teenagers do.”

JayRich: How old are you by the way?

Jibbs: “I’m a teenager.”

JayRich: I know that, how old are you?

Jibbs: “(laughs) I’m a teenager.”

JayRich: You trying to keep yo age under wraps. You got the Michael Jackson thing going on, what’s up wit that?

Jibbs: “Yeah…You know, I just ain’t allowed to put my age out there.”

JayRich: Is that from your label or your manager?

Jibbs: “Everywhere.”

JayRich: What, you don’t want the girls to know you jailbait or something?

Jibbs: “It’s a reason behind it; I’ll you later. I’ll let you know about it, but you know right now I’m a teenager.”

JayRich: Aight man. Thanks for the info that you did give me.

Jibbs: “Yeah.”

–By Joseph “JayRich” Robinson

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