INTERVIEW: John River w/ TheComeUpShow.com
Get to know the youngin’ John River. Knowing that OTA Live helped influence a dude like this really makes all the work we put in to that show worth it. Salute homie. The Calm is coming soon…
It’s not often you find young rappers that are wise beyond their years, but 18 year-old John River fits the description precisely. Having soaked up knowledge from the likes of JD Era and ANTHM, the Mississauga up-and-comer is well-learned, well-grounded, and has a clear vision for himself. Aside from being a student of hip-hop and possessing raw talent as an emcee, John River possesses a distinct sense of responsibility within his community – not only did he tackle the issue of gun violence in Toronto with “I Don’t Want To Be”, but he originally left behind a potential future in soccer in Europe, realizing that there were people back home that he could help out by kick-starting his rap career. Now, John River looks to make his mixtape debut with The Calm, a project he acknowledges will change his life “for better or for worse.” The Come Up Show caught up with John River to talk about The Calm, as well as paying dues and what he learned from JD Era and ANTHM, among other things. Read the full interview below.
M-Bomb: Welcome to The Come Up Show, it’s really good to have you!
John River: Thank you, thank you.
M-Bomb: Before we get to talking about your upcoming project, The Calm, I’d like to get some background information. How did you first get into hip-hop?
John River: I kind of always grew up around it. Growing up, I used to listen to OTA Live! with my brother. They played late on Flow [93.5FM], Ty Harper with Rez Digital. Michael Jackson was playing in my house 24/7… and then I don’t really know, Flow 93.5 I guess was really instrumental, just because it was really what we listened to 24/7, [along with watching] 106 & Park. It was a cultural thing, you know what I mean? I used to beatbox, too, but that was when I was like eight [laughs].
M-Bomb: When did you start rapping?
John River: I used to do public speaking. I was in French Immersion, so I did French public speaking, and English public speaking. I wasn’t really a good student… [laughs], I was a bad student, but I think beatboxing, mixed with the public speaking, came into one. I remember I always used to rap – freestyle, of course, always freestyling. But I was like eight, nine years old. There’s actually a video of me rapping when I was eight, like, “for all my n****s dying in the streets,” it’s hilarious. As time went on, it kind of just developed. I went to Clarkson Secondary School, when freestyling really started coming to the forefront, and I remember I was out one time and some guy had just gotten out of jail. And everybody was rapping, and I was like “yo, I rap! Blah, blah,” but I was in grade nine, and I was like four feet tall. And that’s when I really started to get my shine, rapping-wise, freestyling-wise. Everything was freestyling. I got into a studio for the first time [just] last summer. But we used to have freestyle Fridays at our school; we’d have like two hundred kids come out, and we’d freestyle for money. Proud to say [I went] undefeated [laughs]. But yeah, it was hella dope. It’s just part of the culture, you know?
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