Bakersteez pushes winning mindset on new single
Published:Monday | March 28, 2022 | 12:07 AMSade Gardner/Staff Reporter
Jamaican rapper Bakersteez is encouraging a winning mindset in his latest release, Neva Gon Lose. The track, which features Spanish Town artiste Roshawny BadG, stays true to his rap and hip-hop signature, with grimy lyrics about the fast life and his “neva gon lose” mantra.
“It’s a hustler’s anthem,” Bakersteez told The Gleaner. “It’s for anyone who can relate to it, anyone who’s out there trying to win, who needs to tell themselves that losing isn’t an option – I know people can relate to that. I actually recorded the demo at an Air bnb up in MoBay in one night with my engineer, Franc White. After we recorded it, I realised I needed to get a unique dancehall artiste on it to add that extra dimension, so I sent it to BadG and he killed it.”
The two previously collaborated on Size Up, which debuted in September.
A standout on their new drop is the beat change for Roshawny BadG’s verse, which feels like a black hole into Bakersteez’s sonic.
“I love that part,” he said. “The song was produced by Sam, who runs the BigWave label with Tahir; they’re between Kingston and LA. Sam has done a bunch of stuff for Burna Boy and Kanye, among others.”
The visuals, which debuted on Friday, also hold their own as a nod to Spanish Town. Director Rocket Vision captured Bakersteez going through the city while standing on the roof of a coaster bus with immersive drone shots, and viewers experience life in and around Bobby Lane, where Roshawny BadG is from. Bakersteez, who has shaken things up in visual storytelling since making his music debut in 2016, admitted that it may be his favourite music video to date.
As for his hopes for the project, “I hope people hear it and connect to it, and they can follow the Bakersteez story. It’s got a crazy beat flip and a crazy video; I hope people will see that and respect it.”
Given name Daniel Simpson, Bakersteez is cited as one of the names pushing Jamaican rap forward. His affinity for hip-hop and rap started when he was a child glued to the music playlists of MTV, and grew when he migrated to the United States at age 11, where he studied in Miami and later Hollywood. He retuned to his homeland as an adult and immersed himself in the creative sector, working with brands like RD Studios and befriending entertainers like Popcaan, Konshens and Chromatic Live. Among his notable tracks are Imagine (Remix) with Konshens; Blessings, featuring Popcaan; Relay;and Plastic Smile, featuring Sizzla.
Though fusion in reggae and dancehall has been around for decades, Bakersteez doesn’t regard his style as fusion.
“For me, it’s just the music that makes sense to me, it’s my reality. I think Jamaica is just open to hearing good music, whatever genre it is.”
His intentions for the year are to “keep doing what I’ve been doing, putting out quality music as often as possible, keep reaching the fans, getting better at what I’m doing”. He added, “Hopefully, we’ll do some live shows later in the year, too.”