![\"\u201cYung](\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/02-Yung-Jake-\u2013-\u201cYung-Jake-inside\u201d-2014-photograph-Copyright-of-Olivia-Crawford.jpeg\")
\u201cYung Jake inside\u201d (2014), photograph; Copyright of Olivia Crawford<\/p>\n \u201cYung Jake inside\u201d (2014), photograph; Copyright of Olivia Crawford<\/p>\n
Yung Jake has been described as \u201cthe art world\u2019s favourite rapper\u201d and his work truly is a messy hybrid of the two media. Infused with heady art world references, his deceptively nerdy rhymes belie his hard rapper persona.<\/p>\n
He only conducts interviews via text message, and his answers are frustratingly pithy. But interviewing him is like watching one of his videos: you reflect on your own relationship to the Internet, to chatting, and to expectations about immediacy and contemplation. The resulting frustration is perhaps his greatest impact: his work, his whole persona, is about not giving you what you want from \u2018good\u2019 art or a \u2018good\u2019 interview.<\/p>\n
<\/b>You are in Berlin for Art Week, visiting from LA. What are you showing and doing while you are here?<\/strong><\/p>\n I am exhibiting at abc, performing at a place on Saturday, and TU’ing.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n <\/b>TU’ing?<\/strong><\/p>\n turning up<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/b>Have you seen anything that blew your mind yet? What did you think of the opening at Akademie der K\u00fcnste?<\/strong><\/p>\n it was mobbed.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n <\/b>Let’s talk about what you are showing at abc. What gallery booth and what piece?<\/strong><\/p>\n Steve turner contemporary<\/p>\n I’m showing like works on metal<\/p>\n and some videos\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n <\/b>How do you feel about this context for your work? Seems like your videos are usually very internet-site-specific. Is it weird to show them in an art fair?<\/strong><\/p>\n yeah well, e.m-bed.de\/d<\/span> couldn’t be shown cause their internet isn’t good<\/p>\n <\/b>You are sort of saying that abc couldn\u2019t handle e.m-bed.de\/d<\/span>!<\/strong><\/p>\n I’m not firing shots I’m just saying<\/p>\n <\/b>You have said you see your work as a kind of joke, as in something you just do for fun rather than to make a statement. Yet, there are some real political points that come out of your work. What is your awareness of these political points when you make these videos?<\/strong><\/p>\n yeah<\/p>\n I don’t think I ever said it wasn’t to make a statement\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n <\/b>Maybe that was my interpretation, but you did say they are “pretty much just jokes”, which seems kind of dismissive of the intention behind what you do. I’m curious: what is the intention?<\/strong><\/p>\n to make a statement<\/p>\n but yeah also it’s probably different for each thing I do<\/p>\n <\/b>Do you see it as a commentary on the art world? On our complacent use of the internet? On rap culture? Give me an example of one piece.<\/strong><\/p>\n ok I guess my intention of Look is to make a good rap song\/video that has mainstream qualities and is entertaining and relatable and enjoyable, maybe it shows that rap videos don’t always have to be the same. maybe it shows that things can be bad (ie shot bad, ugly, non traditional) but also tight. I think it’s dope to let ppl know that things can be tight without it being like everything else.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/b>Yeah, absolutely. I think it is going to be a nice inclusion in abc. What is your live performance like? When we met, you seemed pretty genuine in your performance persona and real-life person. Is it an act?<\/strong><\/p>\n is what an act?<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/b>You. Yung Jake vs. Jake.<\/strong><\/p>\n no<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/b>So what is your live performance like?<\/strong><\/p>\n i guess you’ll see saturday<\/p>\n it’s always different<\/p>\n I usually plug something into a projector<\/p>\n <\/b>Your works obviously fit in the post-internet art (post as in “fully saturated by” not as in OVER IT) category, but it seems less contrived somehow. Like the interview in the Huffington Post said, it seems like you “are the internet” whereas most post-internet artists are trying to critique it. Even these text message interviews\u2013do you ever reflect on how you relate to the media you are most often using?<\/strong><\/p>\n all the time<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/b>Any conclusions?<\/strong><\/p>\n I put them in my work<\/p>\n What are you working on these days?<\/strong><\/p>\n I’m recording more. I’m gonna start painting again. and making vids for the songs I’m recording. and making a new online platform for adult swim.<\/p>\n and performances<\/p>\n and a movie<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/b>Tell me about the Adult Swim platform.<\/strong><\/p>\n we’re reaching out to tight internet ppl and paying them to do something tite<\/p>\n and then putting it on our platform<\/p>\n <\/b>I am looking forward to it!<\/strong><\/p>\n me too<\/p>\n <\/b>You know it\u2019s hard to watch most of your videos online here without a proxy because of GEMA restrictions.<\/strong><\/p>\n really? that sucks<\/p>\n should I put them on Vimeo?<\/p>\n ew<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/b>Vimeo is a better option.<\/strong><\/p>\n damn<\/p>\n <\/b>Any thoughts about that generally? Of course your want to disseminate your work, I\u2019m sure \u2013yet GEMA, which aims to “protect” artists, limits access. What’s your take on open access on the internet versus copyright restrictions?<\/strong><\/p>\n yeah I think everything should be accessible, reused and remixed. I feel if you don’t want it ripped or something you shouldn’t put it on the internet<\/p>\n I’m getting sued<\/p>\n cause I bought the domain redbull.vodka<\/p>\n \u00a0Really? That is genius. This is what I am saying: everything is relative on the internet; trying to privatize is obviously useless; yet it is such an issue these days. I think your work comments nicely on that, without being too heavy. What you are you going to do with that URL?<\/strong><\/p>\n idk some art thing<\/p>\n maybe make a song<\/p>\n (End of interview)<\/p>\n It seems that anything goes on the web, and this is the kind of generational phenomenon that Yung Jake reflects (and implicitly critiques). Questions of open access, privatization, artistic integrity are all relativized and revealed online. Yung Jake\u2019s work, by virtue of its sheer nonchalance, implores us to think about our interactions and expectations.<\/p>\n Yung Jake will be performing with Miss M.E. (Meghan Edwards) at Kim Bar Berlin<\/a> as part of Berlin Art Link\u2019s art week wrap-up party<\/a>. Doors open at 9PM; performances start at 10PM; admission is free and this event is open to the public.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Text by Alison Hugill<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cYung Jake inside\u201d (2014), photograph; Copyright of Olivia Crawford Yung Jake has been described as \u201cthe art world\u2019s favourite rapper\u201d and his work truly is a messy hybrid of the two media. Infused with heady art world references, his deceptively nerdy rhymes belie his hard rapper persona. He only conducts interviews via text message, and…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":16404,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1701,1702,1671,13,1473,1035,1703,1704],"class_list":["post-16403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-abc-berlin","tag-berlin-art-link","tag-berlin-art-week","tag-interview","tag-music","tag-post-internet-art","tag-rapper","tag-yung-jake"],"acf":{"main_category":null,"legacy":"1","exclude_from_ads":null,"hero_title":null,"subtitle":null,"hero":null,"teasers":null,"facebook_image":null,"related_articles":null,"next_article":null,"sleek_card_focus":null,"content":null},"yoast_head":"\n![\"\u201cYung](\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/03-Yung-Jake-\u2013-\u201cYung-Jake\u2019s-desk\u201d-2014-photograph-Copyright-of-Olivia-Crawford.jpeg\")
\u201cYung Jake\u2019s desk\u201d (2014), photograph; Copyright of Olivia Crawford<\/p>\n![\"\u201cYung](\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/01-Yung-Jake-\u2013-\u201cYung-Jake-outside\u201d-2014-photograph-Copyright-of-Olivia-Crawford.jpeg\")
\u201cYung Jake outside\u201d (2014), photograph; Copyright of Olivia Crawford<\/p>\n