Rapper /
Beatmaker / Instrumentalist.
Kruger James is a concert violinist that makes rap music. That means he's a beatmaker / rapper / instrumentalist. His last release from 2018, "Emptybars Vol. 3", was a mammoth 41 track double album of rap instrumentals where he played every instrument. He's known as a beatmaker that works with some of Perth's best vocal talent; Mathas, Marksman, Beckon, Silvertongue, Skyuka, and Queency all have tracks featuring Kruger James's production. This next year sees even more in the pipeline of Perth artists releasing music produced by Kruger James.
In terms of his own catalogue, he's rapped on Mixtapes (Empty - The Mixtape, 2011), with a live band and string section (The Empty Cup - Sojourn, 2013), and released his first full length first solo rap album (Slouching Toward Nirvana, 2017), AND produced a series of instrumental albums called "Emptybars" (2012 - 2018). Emptybars Vol. 4 being currently in the works. He's won PDMAs and WAMIs, played violin and viola for London Grammar and the Hilltop Hoods, written music for short films and so much more. Lastly, and this could stand on it's own as a landmark achievement, he runs "Colab", the 10 year running freestyle night at The Moon Cafe with a live band that features a roster of over 60 artists, and is on every two weeks without fail. His skills as a freestyle rapper are revered.
This year sees Kruger James turning all his attention to rapping over strictly his own production for the first time, with his upcoming Album, "Lucky I'm Already Down". His first single, "Motivate", features crisp trap drums, a syrupy bass line, and airy, thick, lo-fi analogue synth work. It crosses a tone of celebration with lyrics that regale defeat. He raps and sings his way through the RnB-trap-banger offering truths and anecdotes rather than answers and explanations. He doesn't preach, he tells stories. And this story of conviction is coming from an artist that has poured everything into their music for the last 16 years. An artist that has managed to survive and flourish in relative anonymity.
Next month Kruger James drops another single. In fact, there will be one a month until he releases the complete 11 track album, "Lucky I'm Already Down".
Photographer: Courtner McAllister, Mac1Photography