Boldy James
Born: 1982
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Genre: Hip Hop, Gangster Rap, Drumless
Years Active: 2009 -
Real Name: James Clay Jones
Meaning of the Name: Boldy was the name of a real life friend. James is his first name.
Way of Working: Raps over a producers beats
Associated: The Alchemist, Sterling Toles
Essential Releases
The Price of
Tea in China (2020)
Super-slick collaboration with Alchemist.
Manger on
McNichols (2020)
More artistic.
Boldy James released two critically acclaimed albums in 2020. The first, The Price of Tea in China, came out in February while Manger on McNichols dropped four months later. Before 2020, the then 38-year-old Boldy James had only released one album, despite rapping seriously since 2009, and in the next five years he would release 15, working at an average rate of three per year. His full-length collaboration with The Alchemist changed his life, thanks in no small part to the working relationship between the two, which became infamous for descending into fistfights.
This intense dynamic with producers stemmed from Boldy's long-standing relationship with the beatmaker Sterling Toles, who offered words of encouragement when he first considered quitting rapping. They initially met in 2000, when Boldy was 17 and unsure about a career in music. Ultimately, acting on advice from Toles, he decided to persist, even to express himself only as a form of therapy. Toles later produced Manger on McNichols in its entirety.
Boldy James makes dark, street music that sounds like cruising in a car after midnight. It's haunting and ethereal, as if the ghosts of drug dealers past linger on the corners. This is their world and the music invites you in. It's a place of drugs, smoke, guns, absent fathers, and brushes with the law.
It's quiet before it inevitably pops off and the culprits disappear into the night, as if they're enveloped by the darkness itself. Only the dead remain. Some of the shooters are never seen again, victims of long-held grudges or short tempers blown over nothing.
It's important to remember that a primitive measure of justice is handed out, because the streets rule themselves, despite the naysaying sirens that punctuate the quiet. It's a strange and unusual world upstanding citizens avoid. Boldy James' music offers the listener a tantalising glimpse of forbidden things best left unseen, and therein lies the appeal.
Skills
*This is a work in progress. Values are subjective.Emotional Impact
60
Mental Impact
85
Originality
50
Artistry
55
Authenticity
85
Live
60
Production
90
Musicianship
60
Rapping
80
Songwriting
75
Danceability
25
Fun
35
Consistency
40
Range
55
Cool
85
Charisma
55
Commercial & Critical Success
Awards
Certifications
Charts
Critics >>>
- Complex - The Price of Tea in China - Best Albums of 2020: #24
- Consequence - Bo Jackson - Best Albums of 2021: #18
- Stereogum - The Price of Tea in China - Best Albums of 2020: #35
CRITICISM
- Amanda Seales, star of HBO's Insecure, said she lent Boldy money for probation expenses he never paid back. Not related to music.
