An Awakening: Jermaine From The South
Even before he released his album, Jermaine from the South gathered a large audience while he teased us with little clips. Born in Lake Charles, after turning 8 years old his family moved to the Capital City where he was going to live for the rest of his school life. In Baton Rouge, a center for the Blues in the state, Jermaine developed an appreciation for all musical genres. He said, “when I was little, I used to listen to a lot of Rock music…but I entered 9th grade, I started to listen to a lot of hip-hop such as Madlib and J Dilla, and music from different countries.”
Yet, when he was asked about his musical inspiration, he affirmed it was not just music that inspired him. For Jermaine, inspiration is everywhere “in books, old films, and poems”, and conversations with his friends. Something he said “you’ll find” if you really listen to his music. Jermaine also recognized an influence found outside of the borders of Louisiana. “Nowadays, I am listening to a lot of Creole music from Martinique, Guadeloupe, Haiti, and other countries like Malavoi, Robert Loyson, Mizik Mizik, Ti-Émile and all that.” Like what happened in the past, Jermaine is connecting with a creoleness that is more than just Louisiana. It’s very clear, when he sampled “Ti Milo” a song by Eugène Mona in his first song of the album “Bal Tanmbou.”
It’s not just musical influence that helps him connect with this pan-creoleness, it is also how he is able to relate our situation in Louisiana with the situation that exists in the Antilles. June 7th, he posted a clip on his Instagram in front of a chemical plant in the middle of a sugarcane field while he sung “Djiyamon.” Where he sings," But it’s not just us with their boot on our neck…They poisoned Martinique and Guadeloupe.” A verse that is intrinsically political, but for the singer even singing in Creole is political. According to Jermaine, “everything that is not ‘American’, is political. And really, I see Creole culture as opposite of American culture, they don’t walk on the same path.” An idea that he shares with Debbie Clifton, author and Creole poet, who he cites in his first song, “But I’m tired of sittin’ here, we got to let them know we don’t like them, block their roads, give ‘em hell, throw of their ways of being ugly Americans.”
Yet, for him it’s not just politics. He is making music to make people “move their derrieres” in order to forget their life issues. But the most important thing for the artist is that Louisianans recognize that they are able to use the language as a tool to express themselves, make art, and even more. He declared, “I want people to see the richesse of our language because it is a true treasure that we possess…We need to protect it, spread it, and build it for the next generations and I believe we are doing a good job!”
Fortunately, we will not have to wait too long for something else. “Soon soon! Maybe I’ll have new music in August, but I want to do a lot more things in Creole before that.” For Jermaine, it is only the beginning!
