Artist Name: Jakewolf
Genres: Experimental, Indie, Crunkcore, Screamo, Emo, Punk Rock, Lo-Fi, Pop, Acoustic,
Similar Artists: Balance Problems, Never Shout Never, Scenes And Sirens, Nickasaur!, Dot Dot Curve :), Brokencyde, Cute Is What We Aim For, Brand New,
Bio: Before we begin, I feel like I should note that if if vulgar, NSFW lyrics are not your thing, you might find some of (not all, just some) this musician's material offensive and this might not be the the thing for you. Listener's discretion is advised.
Jakewolf is a proudly diabetic musician (seriously, it was on all of his MySpace pages wtf) who's been around online since around 2008, the golden year of Scene. You might recall him as that one emo-scene boy who catfished you on MySpace back then along with Andy Sixx, Alex Evans, and Cameron Ugh. Well today we're talking about the real Jakewolf, or at least the stuff I could find after doing my best to thoroughly research him.
He's been based in Austin, Texas and Providence, Rhode Island, has been in several bands including Gentlemen, Pillar of Autumn, and The Same Last Name. He's been making music since his teens and started getting notoriety for his relationship with Kiki Kannibal (yes, that Kiki Kannibal) and his Crunkcore music similar to the likes of Dot Dot Curve :) and Brokencyde. I couldn't find a whole lot of personal details on him, his relationships (at least anything I could make 100% sense of), etc. so most of what I have to work with here is his discography, all of which can be found on his Bandcamp.
His early crunkcore era, or as I like to call it, "Fuckin' Ballin' days" isn't anything spectacular but not necessarily skip-able either because of scene nostalgia reasons. Jakewolf made his music completely independently, creating beats with the program GarageBand and tended to rap about the typical crunkcore stuff. Sex, women, sex with women, getting CRUNK. Lot of "bitches," lot of screams, the usual formula. Maybe one of the most unique things about Jakewolf's music was his high voice, which many haters noted sounded like a 12 year old boy. Now I personally was reminded of Dib from Invader Zim, which is like 200 Scene Points. Just picture Dib rapping She's Number 72 and you'll have a spectacular image in your head. You're welcome!
My dumb jokes aside, I actually sorta enjoy this old material from a nostalgic perspective. Ballin' and Gangzta Azz Jamz get me in a hell of a scene mood, but Gangzta Azz Jamz actually marks growth for Jakewolf from his first album. The screams felt less generic and gimmicky and more emotive. If you listen to his single, The D-A-D In "Dead" I don't think you'll avoid crying just a little bit when listening to the gut-wrenching heartbroken and angry vocals set to melancholy beats. Some of his covers are also worth checking out, including both The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot by Brand New but also The Curse of Curves by Cute Is What We Aim For, which he does in his own unique format. The next big step for Jakewolf was a major sidestep project, My Heart Is A Harpsichord.
My Heart Is A Harpsichord is an emotional, expressive masterpiece without bravado, without ego, but full of heart. Originally a side-project separate from "JakewolfCrunk," it was also Jakewolf's first album that was a major deviation in style. There's no hyperlust-lyrics set to poppy GarageBand beats in this. It's just his guitar, softly spoken word, agonizingly desperate sounding clean vocals and occasionally screamed vocals.It's one of the finest indie releases I've ever heard and a major step forward for Jakewolf. That Dirty Album is pretty much a return to his usual crunkcore style but it wouldn't be long before he'd start experimenting with a more experimental and stripped down sound again.
After That Dirty Album came Apple, which was another gorgeously raw and emotive release akin to My Heart Is A Harpsichord. If you're only going to listen to one song from this album, please let it be Most Statues Have Beards, This One Just Has A Gnarly Stache. This album is blessed and that song especially is. Next was Punk, which was rather... well, Punk! True to his roots as a punk rock kid for the first half, the other half is more of a mix of lo-fi hip hop and alternative indie music. The album is deceivingly eclectic because of this. It's a truly fascinating record to listen to.
After that, All I Do Is $cream About Money comes out and is true to his name. It's highly inaccurate to call this another return to crunkcore, because it's a lot less formulaic, party-like and generic and favors a more experimental approach. It's aggressive rather than poppy, chaotic and nauseating in the best possible way.
Sunflower feels unabashedly angry, hateful, and violent. It's eerie and horror inspired (not in a super corny Horrorcore way) and a vast departure from anything else Jakwolf made, recounting violence, murder, expressing racism and sexism, it's clearly from a very villainous character's perspective and was genuinely uncomfortable to listen to, it might not be for everyone. Here's Your New Album is another lo-fi acoustic release with many eclectic influences and experimentation. You might've noticed I've been using that word a lot but there really isn't a better phrase to describe Jakewolf's music. Finally, there is Homes Like Hollow Bones. No sucked dry of marrow, this is the funeral record for Jakewolf's persona, putting the name to rest. This album is eerie, melancholy, and altogether relaxing in only the most unsettling ways possible. The final death throes of Jakewolf are something to hear. Often sensitive and echoey, this album truly feels like an ending, and an ending so far away from where Jakewolf began.
I love progression and experimentation. Jakewolf's music has always been interesting to me because of where he started and where he went. This isn't actually the end of his music career though. He's still making music under ""Jacob", the name" on Bandcamp. He makes alternative/acoustic/indie rock with influences of blues and jazz. If you wanna check him out, definitely do. Whether it's his oldest or his latest efforts, I'm sure he'd be happy to know somebody's listening and enjoying.
Discography:
BALLIN' (Bandcamp)
Gangzta Azz Jamz 4 Rhul Azz Nigguhz (Bandcamp)
The D-A-D In "DEAD" (Bandcamp)
My Heart Is A Harpsichord (Bandcamp)
I Like Blondes (Bandcamp)
Caricature (Bandcamp)
THAT DIRTY ALBUM (Bandcamp)
Apple. (Bandcamp)
Sunshine (Bandcamp)
Punk (Bandcamp)
All I Do Is $cream About Money (Bandcamp)
Sunflower (Bandcamp)
Here's Your New Album (Bandcamp)
Heroin(e) (Bandcamp)
Homes Like Hollow Bones (Bandcamp)
Favorite Lyrics: "He said my heart melts into a puddle when I look at you. And I never knew, I never knew a love like this exists, it's true. I'm lovin you, I'm lovin you. You make me the happiest guy around the town. And all the places that we walk around, it's true, you do, you do. He says I want you wrapped around my heart." (Ben's Song)
Recommended Songs:
No, I Think I'll Walk From Here (x)
Ben's Song (x)
Caricature: (x)
The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot (Brand New Cover): (x)
If I Had the Resources, I Would Sample Gunshots Into All Of My Songs: (x)
LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION!: (x)
Curse Of Curves (Cute Is What We Aim For Cover): (x)
Most Statues Have Beards, This One Has a Gnarly Stache: (x)
The Goblin King Is A Scene Girl [NSFW]: (x)
The D-A-D in DEAD: (x)
Coincidental: (x)
She's Number 72 [NSFW]: (x)
This Is Untitled...: (x)
There's A Sale On Purple Suits At JCPenny [NSFW]: (x)
