Jeshi: “Sometimes physically removing yourself from your bubble helps you gain clarity”

The UK rapper swaps east London for leafy Richmond Park for a sampling session.

CC Co. has teamed up with On the Edge for ReRooted – a three-part video series and invitation to tune into nature. We’re following three musicians as they spend the day in one of Britain’s natural landscapes and capture sounds to use in a new track.

Throughout the UK’s history, it has felt like access to green spaces is class-contingent; reserved for those who live in well-off rural areas or can afford tickets to National Trust properties. In reality, Greater London boasts over 3,000 public parks and is estimated to be 47 percent green space. Nonetheless, lower-income residents frequently find themselves displaced from the neighbourhoods they grew up in, priced out by a property market that valorises proximity to green spaces. On a practical level, few measures are taken to ensure the parks in less affluent areas are safe to inhabit. 

How can we reconfigure our relationship with our local natural environments, so that convening with nature feels accessible to everyone? More than this, how can we value green space beyond extracting and commodifying the known health benefits? And in what ways can music serve as the medium through which we forge different connections? 

East London rapper Jeshi has used field recordings in his music before. Its impact comes, in large part, through being grounded in his lived experience growing up amidst the real-world impact of the Tories’ austerity measures. His tracks often thrum with the sounds of the city courtesy of recordings made on his iPhone, serving as the backdrop to his razor-sharp beats and incisive politically-charged lyrics. For ReRooted, he tilted this form of close listening towards a different kind of landscape, Richmond Park. In doing so, he discovered how respite from the urban bustle can offer a sense of clarity and perspective on the city he calls home. 

Jeshi and his producer Dom Valentino collaborated with rose-ringed parakeets, oak trees and greylag geese to create the track ‘Numb’. Here, Jeshi reflects on the process.

This wasn’t your first time field recording, right?

I did a lot of it when I was working on my debut album, Universal Credit. I’d go out in London with a dictaphone or just an iPhone and essentially just record everything: traffic, conversations in pubs, the Tube. Sometimes I’d go out of our way to capture a specific sound, but often I was just being reactive. 

What is it about field recording that attracted you to it in the first place?

I wanted to give it a sense of authenticity, but mainly it’s just a really useful tool in world building. I really wanted to immerse listeners in the album’s time and place. I think it’s a lot easier to connect with music when it’s placed in a real world context. It begins to feel – not just like a file on a streaming device – but a story you’re being told.

How did your experience sampling nature for ReRooted differ from recording city noise? What surprised you about the process?

I’ve always seen my music as being very city-orientated, so I wasn’t sure how sounds of nature would inspire me, you know? I didn’t know if I’d be able to make something that sounded like me. But again, I just had to be reactive, tuning in and seeing what resonated. It showed me what a wide array of sounds you can manipulate, whilst still feeling authentic. At the end of the day, I was still the vessel it flowed through. 

What did the experience bring you?

It gave me such a different perspective on where I live. The physicality of a place like London – all the people and congestion – can make you feel a little crazy. We’re all living on top of each other, and it’s easy to feel pressure, especially if you’re a creative. In some ways, that’s a beautiful thing because it pushes you to make great art. But it’s important to take a time out and utilise the spaces around us. 

We all live in our own little bubble, you know? We can be very insular creatures who only care about things that directly affect us. Sometimes physically removing yourself from your bubble helps you gain clarity and see the bigger picture. It’s noisy in the city, but we have so many green spaces in London. Sometimes taking yourself somewhere with quiet and stillness is good.

Let’s talk about the track you and your producer, Dom Valentino, made. What was the process when you got to the studio the following day?

Well, I’d already gone through the recordings to select the parts that I felt we could work with. So we just started experimenting: turning the birdsong into synths that we could play chords with, and the sound of sticks hitting on the floor into snares. It was really fun to see how far we could push each sound, how much we could transform it whilst still maintaining its original quality. It was essentially a case of pushing and pulling, and seeing where it got us.

What lyrical themes came to you?

Mainly I wanted to capture a sense of contrast: feeling trapped and feeling open, and how you can bounce between the two. I thought Richmond Park was a good example of that, because it’s so close to the inner-city, but feels so far removed.

What would you say to someone who’s never done this before?

Just start recording! You have a recording device in your pocket or hand 24/7, like, a phone is more than good enough. You can literally build a folder of inspiration to drip into whenever you next sit down to make something.

Feel ready to tune into nature? Episode one of ReRooted with Jeshi is out now.

Watch the mini documentary above, and access a free download of the loops and samples Jeshi used on ‘Numb’ here.

Don’t keep your creation to yourself. Tag On the Edge so they can share it with a community of music and nature lovers. On the Edge is a not-for-profit creative studio connecting people with the joy of nature.