CONCRETE ROSE MAGAZINE Volume 1. Spring 2014 | Page 4

What Keeping it Real Really Means
In today’s world of overly commercialized music and pop styled hip-hop, Jake Palumbo’s fresh independent style and masterfully smooth production techniques make him a rare find. Palumbo’s work,
at Spacelab Recordings, produces albums that demonstrate an authentic love of music and candid self
expression. His style interweaves a sharp witty intelligence with the spirit of goofy antics. While being one of the few sources of truly original hip-hip, Palumbo’s reinterpretations of classic beats gives
his music a subtly retro feel that colors even his quirkiest moments with sophistication. Palumbo’s
work builds a new home for genuine independent hip-hop with strong comedic merit and revitalizes
a lost era of the genre. However, that home-grown hip-hop vibe does not come easy. Maintaining that
unique sound means constantly overcoming practical hurdles with fewer resources.

In his recent interview with Concrete Rose magazine Palumbo explained the challenges that one faces starting a production
company and working
harder to stay independent.
“Somebody that’s signed to
a major label, they have a
parent company, they have
a budget… When you’re
independent you have to
come up with that on your
own.” But Palumbo is up
for the challenge; “I was
taught very much by my
parents, you can’t let not
having any money be an
obstacle that stops you.”
His independent career is
successful because he has
managed to maintain many
odd jobs within his company. He does everything
from sound engineering,
producing, selling beats,
consulting for new artists
trying to get established
independently, selling records, etc.
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Most of all, he is passionate about keeping cliché from creeping into a tradition of music he respects
for its intense expressivity. His view speaks to a different understanding of hip-hop, one that stays
true to its original spirit of representing a
form of real self expression. “Rap just isn’t
fun anymore the way it used to be…You
know there was a time, back in the golden
age of hip-hop, when you could be yourself and people would accept it.” From his
perceptive focused on performing fun and
honest music for dedicated fans, the world
of corporate celebrity rap is seen for its
ridiculous nature.
Palumbo and his crew at Space Lab
have a satirical and ironic relationship with the
image of the rapper as a
hardened, one dimensional, and unjustifiably angry person.
Palumbo’s artistic
themes are loaded
with cultural references and affirmations of the everyday struggles
of life. Simply
put, they
are just not
afraid of being themselves.