Sound check
Ju Preach is one of IshDARR’s favorite rappers
First, a bit of bad news. BoodahDARR, chosen by local hiphop breakout IshDARR to perform at the Journal Sentinel’s “Milwaukee Rappers on the Rise” showcase Saturday, has dropped out of the show due to a scheduling conflict.
Fortunately, IshDARR has selected a replacement equally worthy of the “Rappers on the Rise” description: Ju Preach, who along with IshDARR and BoodahDARR, is a member of the local hip-hop collective Cream City Motion.
“His drive and freaking dedication and his freaking effort … is next level, and is going to take him very far,” IshDARR told the Journal Sentinel.
Don’t just take IshDARR’s word for it. The 20-year-old Ju Preach (real name Julian Barnes) received an impressive 284,000 SoundCloud streams for last year’s debut EP “Preach4Ever.” His follow-up project is scheduled to come out before year’s end.
You can see Ju Preach’s potential firsthand at the Journal Sentinel’s free “Milwaukee Rappers on the Rise” concert, beginning at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Radio Milwaukee Studios, 220 E. Pittsburgh Ave.
The lineup — curated by local rap star WebsterX; Milwaukee hip-hop bloggers DJ Bizzon and Jank; and Journal Sentinel music writer Piet Levy — includes up-and-comers Kane, D.J. The Jenius, Denny Lanez and Taj Raiden.
“Rappers on the Rise” is the latest installment of the Journal Sentinel’s “Bands to Watch” series, in partnership with Summerfest.
Getting started: “My dad had a lot of stuff like DMX, and when I was older and listened to it on my own, I saw the type of energy and pain and past experiences those artists put in those songs. Spoken word has always been kind of interesting to me, too; even though I’m not that vocal of a person, I have a million thoughts. When I was in dark places some of the time, (music) was a good way to release some of that tension.”
Falling in with Cream City Motion:
“I was in fourth grade with IshDARR, and we crossed paths again the freshman year of college. We were kind of like brothers on campus at UWM. And as a member of CCM, we’re more than just artists, we’re a brotherhood. Being a part of CCM, you’ve got to be productive, because CCM keeps it moving.”
Stage-name backstory: “The first song I ever recorded was called ‘Preach,’ and my engineer Mag said I might as well go as Ju Preach, because I was thinking of just being Ju but that was kind of dry. I ran with that because I feel like I’m preaching.”
Favorite song so far: “It’s not the biggest song on (’Preach4Ever’), but the song that means the most to me is ‘Honor Roll.’ There’s a lot of pain and emotion, it’s almost a reflection song. It’s almost about growing up and going through the motions of life and not being accepted by the people you love the most. You can’t really please everyone; although you love those people and you will do everything for those people, you can’t please them all the time. What makes you happy is the way you want to live your life.”