The Abridged Version
- Local rapper and hip-hop artist Jakhari Smith sits down with Community Reporter and poet Natachi Mez after his performance at “The Stacks,” a YouTube concert and conversation series from Abridged by PBS KVIE in partnership with Amatoria Fine Art Books.
- Smith draws inspiration from social issues and his personal experiences to create his emotive brand of hip-hop.
- A fear of public speaking almost kept him for beginning to perform at all.
Jakhari Smith’s music journey began when he started journaling to deal with grief after losing his grandfather in 2020. Journaling turned into poetry and then, eventually, he put his words to music. The journaling is still evident in his music as makes attempts to parse out his emotions, trauma, social issues and his place in the world.
Smith brought his personal lyrics, his band “The Sqaudd” and their jazzy hip-hop instrumentation to “The Stacks,” a concert and conversation series in partnership with Amatoria Fine Art Books, for an intimate performance in the Midtown Sacramento bookshop.
After the performance, Smith sat down with Community Reporter and poet Natachi Mez for a conversation on his musical origins, how stage fright almost kept him from performing and his relationships with other musicians in Sacramento.
Watch the Q&A below or click here.
Check out the full concert above or at this link.
Want to see the show in-person? Catch the next live taping of “The Stacks,” featuring singer-songwriter Beti Masenqo on Wednesday, Sept. 23. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the show starts at 6:30 p.m. You can find tickets via Amatoria’s Eventbrite page.
