First of all I’d like to say that I don’t think J.R can rap, well he can rap but he’s not really good at it. I think of him as a musician more than a rapper, but that’s the best possible classification we can fit him in. More than a musician, JR is a hitmaker, and that’s what he does best. He takes advantage of the trends before anyone else even sees them, he works with trending artists to indirectly increase his fanbase, he’s a strategist and well on his way to joining the likes of Tumi, HHP, Proverb and Pro-Kid.
The reason I think he’ll outlast his current peers is that he thinks of hip-hop differently than his competitors. Everyone else is too focused on trying to be the best that they forget that this is a career they have to maintain to avoid being bums like Mapaputsi and many other S.A entertainers. To J.R this is a business, I do not think he works on his rhymes and actually believe he doesn’t care what he says. As long as the chorus is hot and the singles are potential hits he’s happy. Never-the-less he likes music and likes working with other people to produce his music.
Kgata Lena, Make The Circle Beega, The Tequila Song and his new song with Jack Parrow are all good examples of this articles point. And aslong as J.R still makes his hits he’ll continue to be relevant and I don’t see that stopping. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had business interests outside music, it would fit his persona. And that’s what every “legend” in S.A hip-hop has done. Pro-kid with his Clothing Label, HHP with a deodorant, Proverb with multiple jobs in and outside of the industry and Tumi with his record company. It might be too soon to presume but let’s welcome J.R into the hip-hop legends.
The Tiger Himself @TTigersstory