- A house music tribute to a boxing hero.
- The memory of Jack Johnson, the first Black heavyweight champion, remains strong in American culture. As a prominent Black celebrity at the height of the Jim Crow era, he wasn't only an athlete but an activist and a beacon of hope, by virtue of his existence and his defiant success. Johnson was an enemy of segregation, and was even sent to prison over racially motivated charges because of his relationships with white women. He remains a hero to many, and several musicians have paid tribute to him over the years, most notably Miles Davis. Paris-based, French-Canadian producer Jaymie Silk is the latest to take up the subject.
At its core, The Legend Of Jack Johnson is a house EP, but its tracks don't move like regular house music. Each is loaded with quotes and samples. "Knock You Down" and "Jack Johnson" are almost like condensed history lessons, containing samples from Muhammad Ali as well as contemporary radio broadcasts. The focus is often on melody over groove, like the melancholy piano riff that makes up the backbone of the latter track.
Silk rarely stays in one place for very long. "Illegal Love" slips into a breakbeat reverie, while "Knock You Down" has a brief explosion of Think breaks. Byron The Aquarius's version of "Jack Johnson" latches the mournful saxophone and keyboard to a straight kick drum, though Silk's bittersweet piano melody still weighs it down.
The EP is unusual for dance music in how directly it addresses aspects of Johnson's life, including his defiant attitude and the relationships that got him into trouble ("Illegal Love"). The way Silk approaches the subject matter is heartfelt, particularly on the closer, "Unforgivable Blackness," where Silk simply repeats, "I deserve to live." Johnson has made it his goal to underline the Black history of dance music: "Let's keep reminding [them]," he said in a recent interview. The Legend Of Jack Johnson is just one part of this mission, reminding us not only of Black struggle in the Jim Crow era, but how painfully relevant it remains today.
TracklistA1 Knock You Down
A2 Jack Johnson
A3 Jack Johnson (Byron The Aquarius Dub)
B1 Illegal Love
B2 Unforgivable Blackness