» New album ‘On’ from Jon Clark
Having recently strayed into the public consciousness, rhyming on the ‘Dream Farm’ 7 inch alongside Dr Syntax, Jon Clark was previously known for smashing Brighton open mics in full biker uniform whilst on pizza delivery.
Jon’s cinematic storytelling and playful vernacular come wrapped in his ‘mongrel mixture of an accent’, having grown up in Brazil, Bolivia, and West Country England.
After 7 years in the making, Jon Clarks debut album ‘On’ is a synopsis of Brighton Hip Hop Culture over the past decade. Local behemoths such as Rup, Dr Syntax and HP lend their fire to the ‘incendiary theme’ woven through the entire project.
The album shapeshifts its way through a wardrobe of concepts and writing styles: ‘Odd Jobs’ where you accompany Jon from one unusual occupation to the next, behind the scenes in the service industry, ’Reason To Stay’, a call to keep our childhood fascination alive, ‘Lawnmower’, the story of a clockwork mechanoid hunting its father and ‘Sniff Test’ finds Jon Clark and Dr Syntax swapping bars about our underrated sense of smell when it comes to ovulating girls or checking which pants are clean enough to wear again.
Musicwise ‘On’ has a strong ‘hardware’ ethic as suggested on Jon’s myspace blog
"I made most of the beats on a SU10 sampler hooked to a YM20 drum machine then ran the terrible sounds through a digital 8-track to compress the life out of them. Also got lobbed some instrumentals by such noise monsters as The Evil Sun, Naim, Mr. Cooper and Req 1"
The artwork, spraypainted by old school graffiti legend Req 1, depicts some of the key scenes described in the songs. The track titles, credits etc. on the back cover are made from Swan matches blu-tacked to the four foot painting.
"Jon Clark makes music that demands to be heard, felt and understood, while possessing the kind of technical skill most rappers can only wet-dream about. A genius producer , consummate songwriter and possibly the rawest, most honest voice in Hip Hop today"
Dizraeli ( Radio 4 Slam Poetry Champion)
Listen to ‘Sniff Test’
The album ‘On’ is available online at jonclarkmusic.com, rarekindrecords.co.uk or from myspace.com/jonsept
