Rapper JuJu Rogers, born to an American G.I. from New Orleans and a German mother with Austrian roots, grew up in between two worlds in the working class city of Schweinfurt, Germany. Back then more than 10,000 American soldiers were stationed on the U.S. Army Base of his hometown, forming the cultural identity of the city and young JuJu. Listening to his father’s collection of Jazz and Soul records and playing the trumpet from an early age on JuJu Rogers developed a deep understanding of music and the various cultures behind it. But only as a teenager he fell for hip-hop starting to write his own songs. Ever since he has developed outstanding skills in lyricism and continuously proves his versatility as a rapper, having toured all over Europe and now being about to release his second solo album “40 Acres N Sum Mula”.

JuJu’s latest album will be released through Jakarta Records in September 2019 and features Australian-Zambian rapper Sampa The Great as well as productions of Like (Kendrick Lamar, Anderson .Paak), Farhot (Isaiah Rashad, Nneka) and Crada (Drake, Kid Cudi). The making of this record was shaped over the last few years and heavily influenced by JuJu Rogers’ studies and life in Berlin as a growing Western European metropolis and his exploration of his heritage as a black man. In 2018 he traveled to Sudan and Morocco which shaped his perception of today’s postcolonial world even further. On “40 Acres N Sum Mula” he’s dealing with questions of identity, spirituality and political ideas taking a radical stand against the capitalist, imperialist status quo, incorporating his very personal concept of Afrofuturism.

Both lyrically and sonically the new record marks a huge step towards a new level of musicality. “40 Acres N Sum Mula” was produced and recorded in Berlin together with young producer and drummer Dhanya Langer, who is part of jazz and hip-hop duo Modha. Together, JuJu and Dhanya worked on the song sketches with numerous musicians including two time Grammy nominee and jazz pianist Joel Holmes from Baltimore, U.S.A., saxophonist/multi instrumentalist Regis Molina from Havana, Cuba, and percussionist Biano Lima from Recife,Brasil. The sound of the album is heavily influenced by various eras of black music, both contemporary and classic, sculpturing the soundtrack for JuJu to tell his stories in a way he hasn’t been enabled to ever before.

Back in 2015 JuJu Rogers released his critically acclaimed solo debut with well known indie Jakarta Records, who are renowned for their early releases of Anderson .Paak, Kaytranada and Mura Masa. On “From The Life Of Good-For-Nothing” he tells his very personal coming-of-age story after moving to the German capital of Berlin. After the release of the album, he played the support act for Oddisee, who was also featured on the project, on his European tour. Only one year later his joint project “LIT – Lost In Translation” with producer Bluestaeb was released. After his dreamy debut, the lyricism of “LIT” is highly explicit and political, shaped by the dawn of anti-heroes such as Donald Trump and a radical statement against the Zeitgeist of open racism, nationalism and oppression.

Top Song