Truth Barings With JWalt
Rapper JWalt details who he is as an artist, along with the person behind the pen responsible for creating his organic Oakland native flow.
By Aniliyah RichardsonAug. 7 2025, Updated 5:16 p.m. ET
Poetic rapper JWalt bares himself as an individual who grew up with the musically inclined world we all know today as hip hop. Growing up, the Oakland, California, native found his love for the overflowing genre as a safe space to express himself personally and lyrically. Having been introduced to a wide range of lyricists, such as Lauryn Hill, Too Short, and Nipsey Hussle, JWalt’s current album, Every Version of Me, depicts certain strands of who he wants to introduce to the world in his own influential way. Keeping the things he cherishes most tucked away as a reminder to remain humble and grateful, JWalt remains steady while breaking barriers to surpass the passion he found at his sixth-grade talent show to become the artist we see today.
How would you describe your love for music as an artist?
My love for music is everything, right? It's like, it's the reason why, you know, I wouldn't be in it if I didn't love it. I love being able to tell my story. I love being able to tell the story that other people resonate with. For me, when I make music, when I write raps, [it’s] like putting together a puzzle, which is super special and super fun. So, yeah, my love for music is everything. I grew up listening to a lot of different types of music. I had different genres and eras of music that I loved, and I just love good music. So, yeah, music. Music plays a big factor in my life and, as always, played a big role.
Tell us about your formal introduction into the music industry.
I remember I was in eight—no, I was in the sixth grade. I was in middle school, and my homie, he was in eighth grade, and I seen him performing. He performed a rap song at, I think, it was like a school talent show. At the time, I was just doing poetry.
I saw him; I was like, I want to get into this. I was already listening to hip hop and rap because my parents would play it in the car all the time. But after seeing him rap and perform, that was when I was like, okay, yeah, I want to do this myself. So that was the first time.
What about the genre itself made you decide that it would benefit the artistry you were trying to project along with those in the same field?
It's so authentic. I feel like the root of it is always authentic because it stemmed from you just telling your story; that's the root of it. Being able to tell your truth, your story. And that's what I think hip hop is all about. So that's why I love it. I love being able to come up with different flows, different styles of it; it doesn't limit you into one box.
And there's so many different genres that you can do with hip hop. So, yeah, that's what gravitated me towards it.
What made you determined to pursue music?
I mean, I just know I loved it. You know, it's like, you really have to. You really have to love it. Sometimes people say, hey, I'm going to do music, just do it, but don't really love it, right?
But, like, I really love what I do, right? This is really a passion. So that was something. And then, you know, I think about, if you go to sleep and you're like, man, what?
If you can't think about, like, what you would be doing without music, then, like, that's a sign too. Because I can't, you know, I can't even see my life without music. I can't see myself doing anything else but music. So that was a sign. And also, it's fun.
I have fun making music. You know, like, I have fun when I create. So, all those things I think, like, oh, yeah, this is what I'm supposed to be doing. And I just kept on getting better.
You know, I've always been a person to be able to see progress. And in music, you see that you can see progress each time, you know, you get better. See, those are why I've always, you know, stood with it.
Tell me about the process of your latest album Every Version of Me.
Every version of me is my most recent body of work. I spent a lot of time working on this one. I spent a lot of time working on it in different places from New York. A lot of it was made in New York. Some songs were made in Berlin, Germany, some songs were made in L.A, and some songs were made in the bay in Oakland. I traveled a lot making the music, which inspired a lot of the creations on the project and inspired where I was within that moment of creating the music and stuff. It was a journey.
I always like to go into the studio, usually with a producer. I don't really like this whole setting of I’m gonna send you a beat, then write to it. I prefer being in the studio with the producer. So usually when we do that, we kind of just have a conversation at first. We catch the vibe on what we are feeling and what we want to do next. That's how that goes usually, and that's how a lot of the songs kind of happen. It’s the most organic way, being in a studio right there in the moment. And that's a lot how a lot of the songs was made.
During your intro, you are introducing yourself to the world while speaking on combinations of other artists in the industry (Nipsey Hussle, Lauryn Hill, Too Short, etc.), artists who all have played a deep role in the world of hip hop during different eras. Would you say that each lyricist that you have identified has given you a life lesson that helped you grow into the artist we see now?
Yeah. One hundred percent. To name a few, like Lauryn Hill, that's one of my favorite artists of all time. And something that I love about Lauryn Hill is just her, her authenticity. And I love just how genre bending she is. She taps into different genres within, obviously, hip hop and neo soul. But she's very versatile, and that's something that I love in her pen game and [her] writing is just phenomenal. So that's what I love about Lauryn; then, Nipsey Hussle, just the storytelling, the poetic, the lyricism. I love how righteous he is. I think Too Short, just being from the Bay, being from Oakland, just kind of that player; it's just like he rolled on the beat, instead, he flowed over beats, and a player resonating with the Bay Area's essence is something that I always respected. Yeah, it was all different types of artists, but they all kind of made up who JWalt is as an artist.
What story about yourself were you trying to tell within this project as a whole?
I wanted to mix it up by having some more hip hop. Whether it was like the sample intro as I'm rapping on, or more. Because I grew up real hip hop, I wanted some club music like one move or something because I like the tempo of stuff as well.
Or make it somewhat more poetic; these are all aspects of me. So, I just really wanted to show the world everything that I tap into and everything that I love. That's what really what it was; I just wanted people to hear every aspect of me.
What can we expect moving forward from the Oakland native?
Definitely expect some more music, some more merch. We got a couple shows lined up that we got going on, which I'm excited about. So, stay tuned for that. For sure.
Being as though you have shared a version of yourself to the world, what are some pieces of you that you would always consider holding onto for yourself?
I lean on family; that keeps me going. And I lean on prayer. I'm spiritual. I'll meditate as well; other than that, just being able to have fun. I like going around, going outside, playing basketball, or playing video games, watching TV, like, movies. I like doing calm stuff like that as well just to keep me regulated.
