J. Rawls : Dig, Sample, Chop, Sequence

"Dig, Sample, Chop, Sequence" is the latest instrumental album from veteran producer J Rawls. Known for his signature blend of Hip Hop and jazzy beats, and fresh off recent Javotti releases including "The Confidence of Knowing" with Talib Kweli, "Midnight Angel" with Solene Velvet, and "The Optimist’s Son" with Niko IS, Rawls returns to his roots. While his signature style has put him in a category alongside peers like Fat Jon, Nujabes, and others from the early 2000s underground scene; Rawls is often credited as a forefather of LoFi Hip Hop. This project stands as his ode to the craft of making Hip Hop music. Though many would call these “LoFi beats,” Rawls simply says, “We just call it Hip Hop.”

As a professor of Hip Hop Studies at The Ohio State University, Rawls is deeply engaged in understanding why producers dig in the crates: what sounds they seek, why certain records spark emotion, (or as he describes it, that feeling), and what drives the instinct to sample certain sounds. For him, the art lies in chopping those sounds and sequencing them into something new.

The album is also framed by the final recorded interview of Rawls’ lifelong friend, DJ Buka, who recently passed away. While the conversation tells Buka’s story and love for Hip Hop, it also mirrors Rawls’ own journey. Through interludes built from the interview, the parallels between their lives emerge, two friends who discovered Hip Hop together and shared its joy from childhood to adulthood.