Runkus Moves In, permanently

“God is music, and we are just songs that he is singing.”

Of the growing contingent of young Jamaican artistes with a fresh sound, Runkus is perhaps the most poised at the time we are doing this interview. His most recent EP “Move In” was released to warm receipt, even now its popularity grows. If nothing else, “Move In” is a conceptual collection of songs that demonstrate the range and potential of young Runkus. It ends up being more upon further inspection, but what differentiates Runkus from the multitude is his somewhat surgical timing. Not only does Runkus capitalize on the lyrical prowess known to Jamaican artists, but his unorthodox merging of melodies and rhymes add the needed texture to make him pop out of the big picture. His music speaks for itself really, but Runkus’ content is wholesome and very much rated G for general family listening.

We arrive in separate cars at the gate of the seabed authority, as if by ‘majik’, we were given permission to use the space for the shoot/interview. But as Runkus, Jik, Amilcar and I step into the building which would have been restricted otherwise, I realize not only how exclusive the interview would be, but also that it started from that very second. Everything would inform the process from here, and this curious young artist before us, who stopped to question every function in the building, had already began write himself into my notes.

Several Flights of Stairs later, we are overlooking downtown, from the waterfront right back to the shopping district. The wind is nice, Runkus makes a joke about being Spiderman and jumping onto a building beside the one we occupied. It wasn’t too bright, but we were definitely ebbing on the last rays of good light, so we went right into the shoot.

Runkus and I finally catch up for a reasoning right as the sun set, and the rains climbed in from the hills

So the title of your EP is “Move In”, tell us how this came into being?
Oneness records, Benjamin. Murray, him did link me before, him play with Dub Ink, he’s one of the main producers on this album. He linked me with a riddim called Retrolax and I did Kindness, first song I did.

“Kindness” sounds like a very central piece.
Yeah man, the original not the remix, the acoustic with Dre- Island is the remix. When I got it, I just wanted to show people the most violent way to be kind, yuh nah mean (laughs)

Yeah because people respond to that kind of thing here too.
Yeah man we live in an environment right now that respond to a more violent approach, so nothing wrong with that, but is just because they don’t know. If they see violence every day, them think that cool, if you show them kindness every day dem will know say that cool. But yeah that was “Kindness”, then Benjamin link me and say, we have one tune already, think we want do a next one. Him say why not just do an EP, we have “Run” already. So we just do a nice project, nice vibes, healing music.

The title seems to be a play on locomotion and introspection, speak on that. I like to always bear in mind that the essence of life is change and movement, much like your project postulates, we humans identify movement with life. Speak on that.
Like people don’t see trees as alive enuh. People don’t see trees as alive, them don’t see a rock as alive. A rock is- wah? A rock have minerals and dem ting deh that give us life, so how can it not be alive? Think about it like this too on a deeper, more metaphysical and even scientific level nothing is ever at a standstill. Solid is just vibration so fast and so compact that it appears to be solid. Nothing is as it appears and that’s what the concept is about, it’s about movement and move in, you say it right, it’s locomotion but it’s also introspection. I move every day, I wake up I move my eyelids, move my hands, my feet but do I move within myself, do I look within? Do I ask myself why? Why am I moving my feet right now, where am I going? Ask yuh self some questions sometimes man, nutten nuh wrong.

So how important you think that questioning is for you? Because it’s a thing that’s been known throughout culture as different words like asceticism, which is basically the search for truth, wisdom or knowledge.
It’s hard and it’s easy yuh nuh, because I am a lover of knowledge so I love to know. So even throughout this interview you can tell dem say everywhere we turn mi ask a question, want know how everything work.

I’ve always been saying that the Internet is more of a tool than anything else, but of course there are a lot of people who feel it is negative be are of how attached we’ve become to it.
It’s like anything really yuh nuh Gladstone, like anything. Anything at all that was created, can be used- Yo when God put rocks on the earth, nuhbody neva tell Cain to go pick it up and buss Abel head. It was there, that’s not its purpose. Water is here but nobody teaching anyone to drown or- y’knw weh me mean but at the same time, that thing that can kill you if you take too much, can save you if you drink enough. So, like with everything in life, it’s just about balance and you knowing how to us it. Because if you don’t know how to use technology, it will use you and the same goes with anything in life.

Your lyrics very musical, what is your writing process like?
No writing process. None.

You don’t write?
Yes, but I don’t really think about writing, once I do that is like a job or a duty or a way of doing things. I don’t have a way of doing things, I don’t even know how I breathe, if you think about it, because we do it naturally. So when you become music, it becomes you and you just do it. The more you do something is the more you become it, and if I give myself a writing process, I’ll become too technical and mechanical. Every day mi make music, every day! Right now as we speak mi a write lyrics. So that is how I stay ahead of myself. I try to out write myself, out rhyme myself, out flow myself, out sing myself. Everyday so that is my process, if that is a process.

Of your musical experiences which ones do you think have had the most profound effect on how you write nd approach your music?
There’s a lot still, I try to learn from everything, good or bad. Even if I do a bad performance, mi want- yuh nah I mean. I always try to build myself that’s the thing, I want to be the best me I can be and I don’t really have like a limit. Look at it this way, everybody love “Move In”, we give thanks. Those are lyrics from three years ago, imagine if they hear the tape I’m doing that’s two years in the making, or old songs thrown together.

What were some of the ways you would practice your craft?
Singing every day, playing music every day, but also listening to music I have something I call a downloading period. Where I’m not doing anything or can’t do anything (laughs). So I try my best not to force music, you know when it’s forced, every creator can tell when they are trying too hard. When that time come now is your time to just sit back and say now I shouldn’t be trying, now I should be listening, looking, observing. It’s still a part of the process. Also I have to experience, if I don’t experience something what will I write? So at the same time I just take dem ting deh as way to learn, to learn about music, I’m still just learning.

Human beings are always moving, changing, growing, but if you had to describe Runkus at this point in time, to the best of your knowledge, How would you do that?
Very hard, I don’t really like to describe or define myself because I’m not at a definitive state, I don’t think I’ll ever be at a definitive state. I leave people to define me, rather than me come and say I am this. I love jazz, I love reggae, I love ska, I love the weirdest set of things and is really a combination of all these things that make me who I am. So I chose not to really define myself, I let my actions define me. One thing I can say, I stand for is, feelings and expression. I love expression, love when people express themselves, even if is anger, frustration and sadness we are supposed to feel these things too.

Kingston is changing, I would like to say you among a large group of other influencer are a part of that, speak on it.
Great. If I can inspire change then that mean say mi grand man (laughs).