John the Author Discusses latest release 30+

John the Author’s latest album, set to release this month, shows his evolution as a rapper. Photos provided by Luciana Matteson
John the Author’s latest album, set to release this month, shows his evolution as a rapper. Photos provided by Luciana Matteson

John the Author Discusses latest release 30+

By Tia Carol Jones

John Baker, known as John the Author, participated in his first talent show when he was in the fourth grade, singing Dwayne Wiggins, “What’s Really Going On (Strange Fruit).” Now he is set to release his fourth full length album, tentatively titled, “30+.”

He remembers the audience being kind and him having a good time with it. Looking back, he realizes how bad a performance it was. As a teen, he started writing lyrics and experimenting with beats. Throughout his high school years, John the Author was known as “the rapper.” He could be found at the bus stop, freestyling and pounding out a beat on the wall. He distinguished himself as being the best among his peers.

While he was accepted to both Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and Predominantly White Institutions, John the Author chose Columbia College Chicago because he wanted to be an artist. He was so devoted to his music he knew that was the place for him.

John the Author described Columbia College Chicago as not a typical campus, with downtown Chicago being the campus. It was a culture shock for him, and he did his best. He was there for two years, which he said was motivating and inspiring. While there, he created music – albums, singles and collaborations.

John the Author’s music has grown with him. He has always been the type of artist whose music set his time. With his first album, “Young and Restless,” he was 21-years old, in college and devoted to making something happen. With “The Rapper Who Sat by the Door,” he was going through his activism phase, inspired by Sam Greenlee’s book, “The Spook Who Sat by the Door.” “Burn the Books” is him slowly growing out of his activism phase to the next step of unlearning everything he thought he knew.

What he wants to get across with the title “30+” comes from seeing older artists seek to fit in with younger crowds. “That’s problematic for me because I feel like there’s no way, no matter how hard you try, for you to reverse time. There’s no way that a 35-year old can turn his watch back and be 25. But, that 25-year-old will a be 35-year-old one day,” he said.

It’s not a bad thing for someone to be comfortable where they are and to embrace where they are in their life. John the Author believes a 35-year-old has more profound things to say than a 25-year-old. The 30+ project is about leaning into that and to attack those ideas about age and being too old to do what you love.

“I got a rap line where I’m like, ‘I’m 31 now, no rap music after sundown.’ I’m a rapper but I don’t listen to rap when the sun goes down. I like to listen to a little bit of R&B, I like to listen to a little something smooth, it calms me down,” he said.

John the Author wants it to be a reflection of the way he is gracefully maturing without feeling like he’s too old and not cool anymore. “It’s cool to get old, because where I come from, I can name a bunch of people who didn’t make it out of their 20s, that I grew up with, coming from the Southside,” he said. “I’m happy I made it to my 30s and I hope I make it to my 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s. I want to keep going. I don’t want to be 40 wishing I was 25.”

John the Author counts Che “Rhymefest” Smith as his big brother, mentor and family. He also is John’s spiritual guide. “The conversations we have on a daily basis drives me and keeps me going. Not just to be the best artist I can be, but the best man I can be,” he said.

For more information about John the Author, visit www.johntheauthor.com.

Latest Stories

Latest Podcast

STARR Community Services International, Inc.