Producer/rapper Jackson Whalan spent this past harvest season working in Northern California, many hours a day on the hill, steadily honing his craft, and immersing himself and his headphones in all things Adam Deitch. When Lettuce dropped their future-funk and hip-hop drenched Mt. Crushmore EP in November, the b-boy inside Whalan was engulfed in the titanic sonic offering. The essence of a new boom-bap was alive and kickin’; and Whalan heard the call to arms- loud as hell and clear as day.
The result is the fantastic “#KeepKrushing”, a mixtape-type track where Whalan goes absolutely ham over Lettuce’s “Lude Pt. 6.” A producer/rapper, Whalan loops up the track, which the Lett krewe assembled with snippets and outtakes from the band’s psychedelic Dilla-dipped masterpiece “Phyllis”; the emcee then proceeds to destroy countless bars for nearly two minutes straight, barely coming up for air as he comes both conscious and correct. It is, in a word, flames.
When asked about what prompted this song/idea/project, Whalan was reflective and inspired.
“Lettuce, Deitch and those guys are making great art. The spirit of hip hop is alive and well in their music, and I wanted to honor the tradition of hip hop, and Dilla, and just jump on their track with bars. The intention here was to honor not just Lettuce, but all cats from the culture who have laid the foundation for me to create this music and connect with people. I hope that people can feel that in my music. This track is a prime example of that.”
The burgeoning emcee/producer hails from Western Mass, but Jackson Whalan’s roots to the Lettuce krewe trace back to New York City, when both Deitch and Whalan lived in Brooklyn and the younger cat was trying to link with frequent Break Science emcee CX. Since that time, Whalan has released a few albums and most recently toured the West Coast with Brooklyn’s Moon Hooch, his college-era pals from The New School. Whalan had somewhat of a modest underground hit with his video-single “S.N.A.G. (Sensitive New Age Guy).”
