Solomon “Jumbo” David is getting ready to hit the stage at The Fox Theatre in Boulder, Colorado. Along with his tour partners, Blackalicious and Latyrx’s Lateef the Truthspeaker, the Portland-based emcee’s explosive performance perfectly encapsulates the passion his has for his craft and hip-hop culture. As a member of the Lifesavas, he’s built a reputable career of his own and is grateful for every day he gets to get on a mic, which as of late, is quite frequently.
Currently overseas continuing his run with the Quannum Projects family, Jumbo is witnessing the upheaval in the United Kingdom since the country announced its succession from the European Union (EU). While it’s frustrating and scary, and could have a profound effect on the entire world, maybe he’ll write a song about it.
In Part I of the Jumbo interview, he talks about growing up in the ‘70s and ‘80s and why he gravitated towards hip-hop. In Part II, he’ll discuss the situation in the U.K., how he initially connected with Blackalicious and what’s on his plate this year.
RAPstation (Kyle Eustice): First things first—where did you grow up?
Jumbo: I’m a ‘70s baby for real. My youth was spent experimenting with music in Northeast Portland, Oregon in the early ‘80s, when Northeast neighborhoods were owned predominately by African-Americans. Woodlawn Park area, Dekum Courts, and 17th Liberty were my stomping grounds. I'm so Northeast Portland, ask about me.
What about your household? Was it a musical one?
My mother used to play Stevie Wonder "I Wish" a lot when I was a youngster, rocking the oversized sunglasses, grey hoody and my “King of the Jungle” slippers. Yo, that song was my childhood anthem and changed my life growing up. My grandmother saw me singing along and tried to teach me how to play piano early on. I really wasn't interested though until she took my hands and showed me some crazy jazz chords. Those chords spoke to my soul. Pops—Rest In Power—played guitar. Long after he and my mother split, he used to send me cassettes of his songs. He had a silky, smooth voice. Moms sang soprano in stiff white church choirs, and made me take trumpet and clarinet lessons. Thank God for my Uncle Chuck. He was my first experience with records. I spent a good amount of time over at my aunt and uncle’s house, where my uncle had a nice record collection in the basement and told me not to mess with his collection. One day, I got caught looking for that Stevie Wonder song and playing his soul records. I didn’t get in trouble; he taught me the value of vinyl, how to care for the records, and what drum solos [breaks] were about.
Why do you think you gravitated towards hip-hop?
I am hip-hop. I was born to do this. Way back, when I loved playing basketball, I had NBA dreams, but realized early I was better at music, especially hip-hop. So I found a kindred spirit in my childhood friend Mixmaster KD. He schooled me on how to mix records and liked my scratching skills. We practiced by making hip-hop blend tapes and started making money DJing house parties. It was on from there. I recorded with my mans Big Red—Rest In Power—out of Bosko basement, met Vursatyl [then called Chill Master Irv] and his group called the Crew. We talked about hooking up and recording and what not. My mans Big Red got killed and the homies were saying, ‘Solomon, you are the chosen one fam, you the music man, you gotta make it outta this bullshit.’ I wasn’t no gangster, but I was repping my hood and my city when LA cats moved into the city and tried to bang on our hood. All the original cats from Woodlawn know what I’m talking about. I had a choice—it was get gangster, get revenge for my fallen friend or create music and live another day to tell the story. After that, I was finding my way with different groups. KD and I used to dance like Scoob-n-Scrap [Big Daddy Kane’s dancers] with the fly steps for this Portland group called Krowd Kontrol, until one night we got to perform our solo song called “Tasty” at Portland’s Mayor’s Ball. I think Bud Clark was the mayor at that time. We looped up “Remote Control” by Loose Ends and the hook was KD cutting “Mmmmm Tasty” by Big Daddy Kane. The crowd went nuts and I was ready for the stage. I linked up with Vursatyl, started smashing local shows, added our DJ Rev. Shines, and created the group now known as Lifesavas. We became Portland’s hip-hop ambassadors touring worldwide and making history by putting Portland hip-hop on the map. God gave me music and saved my life.
