Interview: Jack Rathbone – ‘Go To Hell’

Jack Rathbone is a British rapper, producer and song writer from the outskirts of Manchester, UK.

1. ‘Go To Hell’ seems to be a deeply personal track. If comfortable, can you outline experiences or moments from high school that inspired you to create this song? My experience and events in high school is what drove and inspired me to write my latest song ‘Go To Hell’. The song is a POV of my experience in high school, and how I write my thoughts into a diary. High school was never the greatest for me. I remember feeling as an outcast amongst my peers, I felt as I didn’t quite fit in there and I was far from what you would call a ‘popular kid’. But don’t get it twisted, I still had friends but we were not deemed as the ‘cool kids, if you like. I wasn’t particularly smart (I still ain’t man) and wasn’t amazing at any type of sports even though I tried. In my high school, it seemed if you had a hobby/interest which were a bit out of the norm, you were instantly deemed as ‘weird/a wannabe’ and kids would inevitably make fun of you for it, regardless of your capability. So you can understand when a few kids found out I liked to rap, they weren’t the most supportive. A small portion of this song is where I talk about the older kids ‘beating me’ in the 2nd verse. Here’s a little back story about that: There was a time (in the first or second year of high school, I can’t quite recall) where I was coming out of the school canteen at lunch time and stood outside waiting for me, was a kid who was the same age as me and he had 3 older friends along with him. The kid and I were previously friends, but we had a disagreement at the time over some b*llshit and we went our separate ways. But that day they was stood outside and I knew they were ready to beat my a**. I recall running towards the P.E entrance to get away from these kids, but the door was locked, so I was practically trapped at this point. Being the kid I was at the time (skinny and small) I pleaded with these guys not to fight me, as I had never had a fight in my life at that time, but before i knew it, the older kids had jumped me, threw me to the floor and let the kid lay multiple punches into my stomach to the point I couldn’t breath. Along with that came a crowd of kids who were laughing as they watched me get my a** beat. After he f*cked me up, I finally stood up, looked him in the eye and broke into tears. I think the feeling of embarrassment and the pressure I was feeling at the time is what set me off. I remember thinking to myself, “what the f*ck did I do to deserve that man?”. Luckily a few moments later my older sister came with her friends, who got me out of it. I understand the kid may of been battling his own sh*t at the time, so that’s why it was resolved with fighting. Regardless of what happened back then though, I do wish the best for him and hope he is doing well, this happened a pretty long time ago, and sh*t changes. This is just my story that I’m telling.
2. What was the most challenging aspect of bringing your vision for ‘Go To Hell’ to life?Hmm… that is a good question. I feel the most challenging part of making this song was the instrumental. I wanted something which matched the mood and the topic of the song, I wanted it to sound gloomy and sad, but also wanted it to be uplifting in a way where it sounded bad a**, but didn’t take away the seriousness of the song, if that makes sense! I didn’t want the beat to feel to overwhelming, as I wanted to focus mainly on the story. I feel the main piano melody accompanied with the organ is really what added the gloomy/eerie soundscape to the song, which is what I was going for. And the punchy drums, bridge and the lyrics, to me, is what added the bad ass sound I was aiming for. The line “Go To Hell” just sounds bad a** to me, and it’s basically telling people to f*ck off, so I just knew I had to incorporate that line into a chorus. I later wanted to add a bridge to the song, something that was super impactful, but built up over a certain time. This was a little tedious, but I knew I wanted to have it. So I started off gently with the lines “Why does it feel like the sky is falling on me? All my life I’ve took your sh*t but one day you will see” to me, is what built the tension. Then it drops into this angry, almost ‘sinister’ bridge. I’d like to compare this part to how I felt back then. It was me finally exploding and letting go of my emotions that was bottled up for so long at the time.
3. The feeling of being an outcast in high school is something many can relate to; How did you channel those emotions into the song’s lyrics and overall atmosphere? I just remember how that kid felt back in high school, I referred back to that younger me and started writing about my thoughts from back then, no matter how dark they were. I’m devoted to always share my true life to my listeners and I will always voice my opinion, no matter how controversial it sounds. My whole life I held my tongue, but now I can vent about this sh*t in my music, and it feels great.
4. Rap and songwriting became your outlet during tough times – How did you discover this passion for music, and how did it help you navigate through the challenges you faced? I first discovered my passion for rap music when I first heard Eminem’s album ‘The Marshall Mathers LP’ back when I was 14. I remember the song “The Way I am” standing out to me as the message of the song really stuck with me. I felt I related to it in a way, and I learnt every single line from that song and rapped the lyrics to myself in my bedroom day in, day out. As corny and as stupid as it sounds, it made me feel unstoppable and it felt empowering to finally get the anger of my chest in the form of rapping. I found my love for rap through Eminem, and from that day I started writing my own lyrics and telling my own stories to get things of my chest, and this helped me cope back then, and even to this day. And even though I’ll probably never get to meet Marshall, the guy gave me a purpose, he pretty much saved my life and he doesn’t even know it. I’ll always be grateful for that.
5. ‘Go To Hell’ presents a vivid POV of your time at school. How did you approach blending your personal experiences with creative storytelling in the song? In ‘Go To Hell’ I censored nothing and I wanted to tell the world exactly how I felt back then. This song may come across as dark, but it needed to be done for my own sake and mentality. I knew I had to share my experience for the sake of the younger me, but I still wanted to keep my rhyme style and shock factor. I wanted to sub merge my audience into my world, and make them understand my POV. I wanted to paint them a story, where they could picture it for themselves. I felt like my choice of lyrics and melodies painted a dark atmosphere, but also brought the audience into my universe.
6. The song has a motivational undertone; what message or advice do you hope listeners, especially those going through tough times, take away from ‘Go To Hell’? I hope people listen to ‘Go To Hell’ and feel motivated and uplifted. I wrote this song telling my own story, and I hope kids who are going through a similar experience that I went through, can relate to this song and think to themselves “wow, this guy is just like me and he went through the same sh*t that I’m going through”. I hope they take away the fact that things will get better, and that they can be anything they want to be in life regardless of circumstances. And if people doubt them, I want them to chase their dream, and show them that they can. (And the best revenge, is success)
7. Were there any specific artists or musical influences that played a role in shaping the sound and style? One of my earliest influences was Eminems early work. I loved his whole vibe and how he didn’t give a sh*t about what people thought of him. I also loved the fact that he expressed his opinion through his music. I just remember being sat in my room listening to the MMLP album and thinking “this guy is f*cking bad a**” and thinking he was a cool motherf*cker. His lyrical style and multi syllable rhyme schemes is what really stuck out to me. One of my other early influences is a rapper named ‘Hopsin’ who shares a similar vibe to Eminem. Hopsin is the rapper who actually inspired me to make my own instrumentals, and moulded my overall dark style and sound. I loved how raw and rugged his sh*t sounded, and I wanted to lean towards that style for my own music. I’m also influenced by rappers such as ‘Nas, Pharoahe Monch, Rakim, Kendrick Lamar, DMX, and NF’ just to name a few.
8. Reflecting on your journey from being doubted to sharing your music with the world, what was the turning point that made you realise you could indeed pursue a career in music? I realised I could pursue a career in music as soon as I discovered people enjoyed listening to my music and felt that they could relate to my lyrics. For years I did it to cope, I was doubted and never taken seriously from my peers, which made me inevitably doubt myself which I do still struggle with at times. So when I discovered that people actually enjoyed listening to my music, I was like “what? People enjoy my sh*t?that’s crazy” I just knew I had to continue down this path, I want to inspire people, plus it’s one of my favourite things to do, so it’s a win-win. I was also featured on BBC introducing and “Go To Hell” was played on the radio. (The censored version of course!) So this further inspired me and made me think “sh*t, if it got on the radio, I must have something at least”.
9. Songwriting often involves vulnerability. Was there a particular line or verse in ‘Go To Hell’ that was especially difficult to share, yet essential to the song’s authenticity? Well yeah to be honest, there is a couple of lines in “Go to Hell” where I thought to myself “Damn, do I say this line or not?”. One of the lines is “Completely oblivious to the fact that rap is how I cope, and if it weren’t for rap, I’d be dangling off this damn rope” I’ve battled with depression for most of my life but I’ve never wanted to worry anyone, so I’ve dealt with this on the low and kept it to myself, that’s until I released this song. (I’ve realised this was a bad mindset to have, and no matter what, you should always seek help as it will get better) One of the things that helped me cope with depression, was music. At the time, with the depression I had, combined with high school, I felt as I didn’t want to be here anymore. But I kept pushing and told myself “It won’t be like this forever, and it will get better one day”. I feel like if I hadn’t of had my music back then, I may even not be here anymore, as dark and as crazy as it sounds. The second line is “I really wanna get revenge with a loaded gat”. If you take this line at face value, people may think “Wtf! That’s a messed up thing to say, this motherf*cker is talking about shooting up a school” but I felt like this was the only way to explain how angry I felt at the world back then. Of course I was never planning anything as serious as that, that’s stupid, it’s just at the time I was so angry and I just wanted my peers to leave me alone and let me, do me. I was so sick of feeling like the outcast and feeling judged. I do not condone to any violence, and I hope people understand where I was coming from with that line.
10. As you continue to evolve as an artist, how does the track fit into the larger narrative of your musical identity? What can we expect next from Jack Rathbone? I believe ‘Go To Hell’ fits into my style really well. I felt like I got my story across, whilst keeping some of my dark backdrop. My whole style leans more towards the darker style, I’m a sucker for dark melodies and horror themed things, so I incorporate that into my own music, whilst telling my own story and writing my own songs. I will continue to make music and I’m currently working on an album at the moment. I want to dive deeper into my craft, pushing myself further and I do eventually want to enter more of a cinematic universe, whilst keeping my style, which is what I’m currently working on! I do also have a few singles in the pipeline which showcases more lyrical ability, and they will be out shortly!