RESPECT. Interview: Adam22 and the ‘No Jumper’ Series Becomes a Major Platform for New-Age Hip-Hop

Adam Grandmaison, also known as Adam22, has been emerging on the new age music scene with the success of his No Jumper podcast series. As a key platform exposing viewers and listeners to the next wave of music acts in hip-hop, No Jumper has expanded to not only traditional interviews – but also a range of visual content, vlogs, and newly record label.

With much heightened involvement in underground talent, Adam has interviewed most new age acts before a lot of mainstream platforms caught on. He’s been described by Rolling Stones as “underground hip-hop’s major tastemaker.” His roster includes artists like Lil Yachty, Lil Pump, Ugly God, Smokepurrpp, 6ix9ine, XXXTentacion, and many more.

No Jumper plays a major role in today’s hip-hop culture by giving new emerging talent a platform to voice their experiences, personal opinions, and overall journey working to promote and solidify their music careers. Find out more about Adam22 and No Jumper in his exclusive interview below!

Q: How Would You Describe Your Role In Today’s Hip-Hop Music Realm?

A: “I feel like No Jumper as a brand is known for recognizing and covering talent early on and I love that. We’re just a very organic, passionate media company full of like minded people who want to document the culture and put people on.”

Q: What Would You Say Were The Things That Inspired You To Have Created The Platform, “No Jumper”?

A: “About 4 or 5 years ago I was listening to a lot of Joe Rogan’s podcast and then also listening to Juan Epstein and Combat Jack. I really wanted to start having long form conversations on camera and I figured that if Joe was doing 3 hours interviews with biologists and comedians, and dudes like Combat and Rosenberg were doing interviews with Tribe and De La Soul, I could maybe do something similar with underground artists and just anyone I found interesting. I didn’t really plan on it becoming so hip-hop focused but that just ended up being what I gravitated towards. I didn’t have that much confidence that I could run a hip hop podcast at first but I just kinda’ found myself going in that direction.”

Q: How Do You Feel About Today’s Current Music Industry And The Abundance Of New Artists On The Internet?

A: “It’s saturated as fuck but at the same time the good stuff finds a way to rise to the top usually. You can’t just come out doing a Lil Pump impersonation and think that’s going to win, you’ve gotta bring something new or different to the table. There’s so many copycats but the music industry doesn’t usually reward that. It’s harder and harder to stand out now but I also feel like the competition is forcing everyone to step their shit up and the number of amazing albums that came out this year is honestly insane. So I definitely haven’t reached the point of being completely jaded and burnt out yet.”

Q: As A Platform That Breaks New Artists – What Do You Particularly Look For In Finding The Next “Big Act” For Your Major Interviews?

A: “The music has to be really good but it also just has to be different. Competence is cool but if you aren’t bringing new ideas to the table, you probably aren’t going to stand out regardless of how much designer you buy. There’s a dude blowing up out of LA right now named Blueface and a lot of people really hate the way he raps but it’s new and it’s interesting and kids are going crazy for it. Standing out is super important, I see dudes who are basically just doing a Playboi Carti impersonation all the time and it’s like… we already got Carti. He’s dope. You’re not going to make it pretending to be him. Even if an artist isn’t completely exploding music wise they might still be a good interview just because they are charismatic and fun to talk to on camera. I try to stay open minded and just do what I’m interested in which has served me pretty well so far.

Q: What Were Your Most Favorite Interviews And Why?

A: “The Xxxtentacion interview stands out just because it had such a huge impact. When he was locked up, that was pretty much all his fans had to go on and I just saw how much it meant to his fans and that feeling got me really intoxicated with the idea of how much this shit could effect people. And now that he’s gone that interview still stands as just an incredible living document of who he was and what he was about. Sometimes I see YouTube videos that have been up for 10+ years and that’s just amazing to me. I want to go back and watch that interview in 10 years. The idea that I’m making content that could still be relevant to people way down the road just means a lot to me.

That being said I’ve also just interviewed so many legends who I grew up on. Master P, Too Short, Ghostface Killah, DJ Paul, Z-Ro… that’s not even close to all of them but I haven’t lost sight of who I am, I’m a regular ass white kid from New Hampshire who got to hang out in the studio with Ghostface for a few hours and I haven’t lost sight of how insanely fucking sick that is.”

Q: With Music Continuing To Evolve With The Internet Age, Where Do You Feel It May Potentially Move Next or Who/What Artists Do You Feel May Rise Next?

A: “I’m huge on Lil Baby. He just had this documentary come out about him and I already loved his music but that just really convinced me he’s gonna be great. I listen to Valle, Z Money, Key Glock, Dolph, Sheck Wes, Key, Rico Nasty… I don’t necessarily think all of them are going to be huge mainstream artists but I just listen to shit I think is hot from people I think are solid.”

Q: Any Words Of Advice Can You Share To Artists That Are Inspired By Your Platform And Looking To One Day Make It Big & Receive An Interview Invitation By You?

A: “Work hard at your craft and just try to figure out who you are. Rap is all about knowing yourself. That’s why when you watch videos of Kodak rapping at 14 you can tell he had the juice. He just knew what was going on even though he was a little boy. The worst rappers are the ones who look like they have no clue what they’re doing on stage. They’re nervous, they don’t have any confidence in what they’re doing. Fans can smell that shit a mile away. Work on yourself, learn, read books, just develop yourself. But also don’t get hung up on being a rapper. A lot of the best managers, label dudes etc that I know are people who were trying to be rappers but at some point gave it up and decided to focus on being behind the scenes instead and now they’re rich. Not everyone can be the person on stage. Learn the whole game and at some point you might identify some opportunities that are less conventional but which might be way more profitable long term.”

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Photo shot by Scott Marceau

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