Rollz Radio Episode 7 | Hosted by Rollz McGuyver
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Episode Summary
There’s a certain kind of artist whose story isn’t just about music, it’s about lineage. About the people who shaped them, the eras they lived through, and the culture they carry forward. Jak Da Mak is one of those artists. The moment we started talking, it was clear this episode wasn’t just about bars or beats. It was about history. Mentorship. Responsibility. And the Midwest roots that shaped his voice.
Growing Up Inside the Culture
Jak didn’t “get into” hip hop. He was raised inside it. He started as a DJ, going to Fresh Fest shows as a kid, seeing Run DMC, Rakim, LL Cool J, Houdini, Beastie Boys, Fat Boys (the whole lineage), live, in front of him. That kind of exposure doesn’t just inspire you. It imprints you.
The Disconnect. And The Responsibility
One of the most powerful parts of our conversation was Jak’s perspective on the generational shift in hip hop.
“Somewhere at some point, there was a disconnection.” – Jak Da Mak
He sees the violence. The self‑indictment. The court cases built from lyrics. The way younger artists sometimes carry the weight of the streets into the booth without realizing the consequences. But he also sees the beauty. The talent. The potential. And he’s doing something about it.
Jak works as a mentor with alternative‑education youth, kids who need extra support, guidance, and someone who understands the world they’re navigating. Hip hop isn’t just a hobby for him. It’s a tool. A bridge. A way to connect.
The Culture We Carry Forward
This episode isn’t just an interview. It’s a reminder of what hip hop was, what it is, and what it can still be. Jak’s story is mentorship, memory, Midwest roots, Arizona ciphers, and the responsibility to guide the next generation. It’s the culture we carry and the culture we choose to build.
Shoutouts from Jak:
- DJ Needles
- Area 13
- AZ crew
- Houston
- Vegas
Chapter Markers
- 00:00 — The Disconnection in Hip Hop
- 00:48 — Jak Da Mak Joins the Conversation
- 01:00 — IG Track Playback
- 02:04 — Style Breakdown: Midwest Funk + Breakbeats
- 03:41 — Early Hip Hop Era & Mentorship
- 05:04 — Pushing the Culture Forward
- 05:29 — Violence, Court Cases & Self‑Indictment
- 07:35 — Knowing Hip Hop Was His Path
- 09:05 — Mentoring Youth & Responsibility
- 09:34 — Hip Hop Born from Pain & Expression
- 12:03 — Closing Reflections
- 12:24 — Shoutouts & Sign‑Off
Links
Other Episodes of Roll Radio
Episode Transcript
RR007 – Hip Hop History, Mentorship, and the Culture We Carry with Jak Da Mak.mp3
Transcript
00:00:00 Speaker 1
So at some point, it was a disconnection.
00:00:02 Speaker 1
And I love a lot of these younger artists’ music.
00:00:04 Speaker 1
Don’t get it twisted.
00:00:06 Speaker 1
Because I got a hood in me too, right?
00:00:08 Speaker 1
So I dig it.
00:00:08 Speaker 1
But when I came up, it was more conscious.
00:00:11 Speaker 1
You had a EPMD, and then you had a Airbnb Rock Cam, and you had a KRS-1, and you had a Run DMC, then you had a LL.
00:00:18 Speaker 1
And none of these artists sound the same, right?
00:00:21 Speaker 1
Then you have Public Init, then you had Stessa Sonic.
00:00:23 Speaker 1
All these different artists
00:00:26 Speaker 1
It didn’t sound the same at all.
00:00:28 Speaker 1
I remember when Sugar Hill Gink dropped their record, right?
00:00:31 Speaker 1
Now I remember for the first time hearing that and it blew me away.
00:00:34 Speaker 1
And then I got UTFO record.
00:00:36 Speaker 1
I was born immersed in hip hop, right?
00:00:39 Speaker 2
Rolls Radio.
00:00:45 Speaker 2
I’m here with Jack the Mack.
00:00:48 Speaker 2
What’s up, dude?
00:00:49 Speaker 1
What up though, bro?
00:00:50 Speaker 1
How you doing?
00:00:51 Speaker 1
You all right, bro?
00:00:51 Speaker 1
What’s cracking?
00:00:52 Speaker 2
I’m doing well, my man.
00:00:54 Speaker 2
We’re here to listen to your music and then talk about it.
00:00:57 Speaker 2
So first thing I’m going to do is just press play.
00:01:00 Speaker 2
We’ll listen to a track, something that you posted on Instagram.
00:01:03 Speaker 1
So here we go.
00:01:04 Speaker 1
This is Jack the Magnificent Mac.
00:01:09 Speaker 1
If I get her in the bed, she gonna come like the police.
00:01:12 Speaker 1
You know how to be common when you’re moving in the street.
00:01:14 Speaker 1
Pounds out of town, yeah, I got a couple of freaks.
00:01:16 Speaker 1
Gonna take the bags to the post office say we can sweep.
00:01:20 Speaker 1
I do it through shorts.
00:01:30 Speaker 1
I’m more than just a rap All-purpose guard I used to play for the rap Just said I catch and sleep by store Koala little boy Up and down East 94 With a different horn Trying to score Praying to the Lord Hoping that we make it back Safe and give ’em more I treat it like a tool I swear I’m gorgeous I hoop and I hustle high Odie Mary for sure Sometimes I do it dolo First pair of khakis and a polo She can’t go No ’cause I’ma navigate the wheel Sometimes you gotta go alive when you drug deal.
00:02:04 Speaker 2
Okay, so I pulled that off of your Instagram and this dude, he’s got the little Eric B.
00:02:11 Speaker 2
and Rakim little searchers in the background.
00:02:16 Speaker 2
Tell me a little bit about your style.
00:02:18 Speaker 2
Like what do you do?
00:02:20 Speaker 2
What are you about?
00:02:21 Speaker 2
Give it to us.
00:02:23 Speaker 1
That’s probably the DJ Needles influence as far as the breakbeats and the higher drums and being more hip hop because I’m from the Midwest and for, out here, we like funky music.
00:02:39 Speaker 1
It’s kind of more West Coast and East Coast because I’m in the Midwest.
00:02:44 Speaker 1
Well, you know what I mean?
00:02:44 Speaker 1
You got to think we can MC, we come from MC Breed and all of that.
00:02:47 Speaker 1
So
00:02:48 Speaker 1
At the end of the day, when I started being around more hip hop guys, because when I was first started rhyming, I was into hip hop guys.
00:02:57 Speaker 1
So when I went to the, so when I moved to Arizona and I met DJ Needles and all of them, he came and picked me up one day.
00:03:05 Speaker 1
I’ll never forget it.
00:03:06 Speaker 1
We was at a cipher and him and Ross 13 pulled up.
00:03:12 Speaker 1
We was at a cipher and we shot a video for the cipher.
00:03:16 Speaker 1
And guys, Isaiah Prophet was like, damn, you don’t know DJ Needles?
00:03:21 Speaker 1
And I was like, no, I didn’t.
00:03:22 Speaker 1
I felt really bad.
00:03:25 Speaker 1
So I felt really bad for not knowing DJ Needles because how Prophet was talking about him, right?
00:03:30 Speaker 1
So I got his number that day and the next day I called him and him and Ross came and picked me up, man.
00:03:36 Speaker 1
We went and dropped a classic hip hop joint.
00:03:38 Speaker 1
You know what I’m saying?
00:03:39 Speaker 2
So tell me a little bit about yourself.
00:03:41 Speaker 2
So like your era of hip hop, like, you know,
00:03:45 Speaker 2
old school hip hop head, right?
00:03:48 Speaker 2
I could, I could tell.
00:03:49 Speaker 2
How did you get into it?
00:03:50 Speaker 2
How did you get into the hip hop scene?
00:03:54 Speaker 1
When I was a young guy, a guy called my big brother, his rap name was Nile Flow.
00:04:02 Speaker 1
A guy rest his soul because he passed away.
00:04:05 Speaker 1
We was just always around him and he was exploring hip hop at that time.
00:04:09 Speaker 1
So during that time and in that moment,
00:04:12 Speaker 1
I wanted to learn as well.
00:04:13 Speaker 1
So the first thing I actually did was DJ.
00:04:16 Speaker 1
So I was hanging out with DJs in the community that was doing dope shows and moving around the community.
00:04:22 Speaker 1
And I was blessed because I was, my brother and sister had a real reputable name in the town.
00:04:29 Speaker 1
So a guy they grew up with,
00:04:32 Speaker 1
Tony the Funk Master Jackson.
00:04:34 Speaker 1
He was a real reputable DJ back in the day.
00:04:37 Speaker 1
He went to school with my sister.
00:04:40 Speaker 1
So at that point, when I told him I wanted to DJ, he took me and he started showing me different things.
00:04:48 Speaker 1
But the hip hop part came from my big brother T, man.
00:04:51 Speaker 1
Like I say, God rest his soul because he was a super dope lyricist.
00:04:55 Speaker 1
And I just wanted to be like him, man.
00:04:58 Speaker 1
I looked up to him.
00:04:59 Speaker 2
So what’s your goal as an artist, as a musician, as a creator?
00:05:04 Speaker 1
To keep pushing the culture, right?
00:05:07 Speaker 1
I think at some point it was a disconnection.
00:05:12 Speaker 1
The younger generation, nowadays they call them the YNs or whatever, but I don’t like that terminology, but the younger generation of hip hop and then the more seasoned generation of hip hop, not to say that they’re not seasoned,
00:05:25 Speaker 1
but somewhere at some point it was a disconnection, right?
00:05:29 Speaker 1
So a lot of the music is more violent oriented, you know what I mean?
00:05:33 Speaker 1
It’s like a lot of, it’s almost like people indict theyselves on record, right?
00:05:39 Speaker 1
a lot of the younger generation, whatever they’re doing in the streets, they actually go rap about it.
00:05:43 Speaker 1
And then when they gotta go appear in court, this is what they bring up in court and play the jury.
00:05:49 Speaker 1
And now
00:05:50 Speaker 1
you doing life in prison, right?
00:05:52 Speaker 1
So at some point it was a disconnection.
00:05:55 Speaker 1
And I love a lot of these younger artists music.
00:05:58 Speaker 1
Don’t get it twisted.
00:05:59 Speaker 1
Cause I got hood in me too, right?
00:06:01 Speaker 1
So I dig it.
00:06:02 Speaker 1
But when I came up, it was more conscious.
00:06:05 Speaker 1
Everything was, and then you had different variables, you know, you had different entities of rap.
00:06:11 Speaker 1
It wasn’t, you know what I’m saying?
00:06:12 Speaker 1
Like you had, you had a EPMD and then you had an Airbn rock camp, then you had a KRS one, then you had a Run DMC.
00:06:20 Speaker 1
Then you have LL, right?
00:06:22 Speaker 1
Then you, and none of these artists sound the same, right?
00:06:26 Speaker 1
Then you have Public Enemy.
00:06:28 Speaker 1
Then you have Stesasani.
00:06:30 Speaker 1
All these different artists that didn’t sound the same at all.
00:06:35 Speaker 1
And I remember when Sugar Hill Gang dropped their record, right?
00:06:40 Speaker 1
I was into, I was just into buying records at that time and I bought the record.
00:06:45 Speaker 1
And I remember for the first time hearing that and it blew me away.
00:06:49 Speaker 1
And then I got a UTFO record.
00:06:52 Speaker 1
You know what I’m saying?
00:06:52 Speaker 1
So it was like, I was born with, you know, immersed in hip hop, right?
00:06:57 Speaker 1
So a guy that, my big cousin, he used to do security and go on tour with a lot of tours or artists and sell merch and do different things to
00:07:12 Speaker 1
he was hustling back in the day, what I’m saying?
00:07:14 Speaker 1
So I used to go to all the fresh festivals, bro.
00:07:18 Speaker 1
I used to go to all the fresh festivals, man.
00:07:20 Speaker 1
Like I said, I’ve seen everybody, Beastie Boys, Airbnb, Rakim, Run DMC, Houdini, you know what I’m saying?
00:07:29 Speaker 1
Like I seen all these artists back in the day, the Fat Boys.
00:07:32 Speaker 1
Like it was crazy.
00:07:33 Speaker 1
So at that point,
00:07:35 Speaker 1
I knew at that point, at some point, I’m gonna be doing hip hop, you know what I mean?
00:07:39 Speaker 1
Because I was able to be exposed to those type of shows back in the day when I was a youngster.
00:07:44 Speaker 2
It’s crazy the way you talk about it too.
00:07:46 Speaker 2
It’s because, you know, I’m a music enthusiast and I got introduced to hip hop.
00:07:52 Speaker 2
Luckily, my buddy, he’s like, okay, here’s hip hop.
00:07:57 Speaker 2
In my opinion,
00:07:58 Speaker 2
was the last big cultural change in music.
00:08:02 Speaker 2
And DJs were taking and reproducing records and that’s how hip hop was born, right?
00:08:07 Speaker 2
They’re cycling these break beats, just like the track that you had, right?
00:08:11 Speaker 2
You know, it’s like cycling those beats.
00:08:14 Speaker 2
MCs are coming over and they’re rapping over it.
00:08:16 Speaker 2
That to me was the big turning point before we got into this crazy digital age where now
00:08:23 Speaker 2
Everything’s off the chain.
00:08:24 Speaker 2
And then you’ve got AI music.
00:08:26 Speaker 2
That was the era.
00:08:27 Speaker 2
That was it.
00:08:28 Speaker 1
Yeah, man.
00:08:29 Speaker 1
You know, and that was a beautiful era of hip hop.
00:08:31 Speaker 1
You know what I’m saying?
00:08:32 Speaker 1
It was a very violent era as well.
00:08:34 Speaker 1
And it’s kind of like, I’ll never forget, we was all bent out of shape when, you know, Biggie and Pac, you know, passed away from hip hop situations and scenarios, right?
00:08:46 Speaker 1
Now it’s like every other week a rapper is either going to prison or
00:08:51 Speaker 1
dying or shot somebody or, know what I’m saying?
00:08:53 Speaker 1
That’s why I say the disconnection.
00:08:55 Speaker 1
So when we dropped the ball, because a lot of that, we should have been able to eliminate a lot of that.
00:09:01 Speaker 1
And that hurts my heart, and like I say, my everyday job, I’m a mentor.
00:09:05 Speaker 1
I work with kids, alternative educational kids, right?
00:09:09 Speaker 1
They need extra support.
00:09:10 Speaker 1
So I take pride in that.
00:09:13 Speaker 1
You understand what I’m saying?
00:09:15 Speaker 1
Music, since I got to the age of where I’m at,
00:09:20 Speaker 1
it’s more of a hobby than anything else.
00:09:22 Speaker 1
So, but I got so many dope records.
00:09:24 Speaker 1
It’s just trying to expose the energy and see if I can help change the culture a little bit.
00:09:29 Speaker 2
I keep getting inspired by the things they’re saying, but like the violence in music.
00:09:34 Speaker 2
And you look at where hip hop was born, right?
00:09:38 Speaker 2
It was out of violence.
00:09:39 Speaker 2
I mean, it was in the South Bronx and everyone was hurting.
00:09:44 Speaker 2
You know, that black community is just shouting out, we need help.
00:09:50 Speaker 2
And it’s like, it’s crazy because it’s such a microcosm of the culture and where we are as just people.
00:09:59 Speaker 2
And these brothers and sisters are in pain, and you even look back to rock’n’roll with Chuck Berry, It’s like shouting out the top of our lungs, soul.
00:10:11 Speaker 2
And it’s all through music.
00:10:13 Speaker 2
And that’s why music is so important to me because I think there’s such
00:10:16 Speaker 2
a history that we can look at and we can observe and we can see what’s happening here.
00:10:22 Speaker 2
And music is an expression of that.
00:10:25 Speaker 2
That’s just how I feel.
00:10:27 Speaker 1
Yeah, I agree, man.
00:10:28 Speaker 1
You got to think like hip hop came from, like you said, breakbeats, right?
00:10:33 Speaker 1
Different breakbeats.
00:10:35 Speaker 1
And
00:10:36 Speaker 1
creating different energies from different artists all across the board.
00:10:39 Speaker 1
What was the guy, Larry Smith, I think, who created a lot of the young, DJ Hert, right?
00:10:47 Speaker 1
Well, DJ Hert started hip hop.
00:10:49 Speaker 1
But I’m saying once they started, you know, after the Sugar Hill Gang came a lot of different artists like Cool Mo D, Run DMC, people started getting record deals.
00:11:00 Speaker 1
LL Cool J, they started getting paid for record deals.
00:11:02 Speaker 1
And I think it was a producer named Larry Smith.
00:11:05 Speaker 1
And he was like a really dope producer, played instruments and all of that.
00:11:10 Speaker 1
So that made the hip hop started to build into a different fashion, a different, you know what I’m saying?
00:11:16 Speaker 2
Because they started re-performing the instruments, right?
00:11:18 Speaker 2
Is that what that was with Sugar Hill Gang?
00:11:21 Speaker 2
Yeah.
00:11:22 Speaker 1
All of that.
00:11:23 Speaker 1
There you go.
00:11:23 Speaker 1
So, you know what I mean?
00:11:24 Speaker 1
So I just think that, you know, the hip hop story, it’s been a lot of
00:11:31 Speaker 1
scenarios where the hip hop can go negative, but it also has been a lot of situations where hip hop was positive as well.
00:11:39 Speaker 1
Right.
00:11:39 Speaker 1
So I was I had a combination of the two, which excites me because I got a chance to experience the crack era, hip hop era, you know what I’m saying?
00:11:51 Speaker 1
Because of my age, I got a chance to be exposed to different eras that grown me into the person that I am today.
00:11:57 Speaker 1
You know what I’m saying?
00:11:58 Speaker 2
Yeah, that’s exactly it.
00:12:00 Speaker 2
There was so much history embedded in that culture.
00:12:03 Speaker 2
So, well, my man Jack the Mac, I appreciate you coming on the show.
00:12:08 Speaker 2
I appreciate you just kind of speaking from the heart.
00:12:11 Speaker 2
You know, we don’t have to end this conversation here.
00:12:13 Speaker 2
We can keep going, but I think that this is a good place to stop.
00:12:16 Speaker 2
Just give it that.
00:12:17 Speaker 2
We’re just introducing this whole thing.
00:12:19 Speaker 2
And I think that there’s value in continuing to talk about it.
00:12:23 Speaker 2
My man.
00:12:24 Speaker 1
I appreciate it, bro, man.
00:12:25 Speaker 1
Thanks for having me, man.
00:12:26 Speaker 1
Much love, my brother.
00:12:28 Speaker 1
We’re going to keep it going.
00:12:29 Speaker 1
Shout out to DJ Needles, Michigan, my whole crew.
00:12:33 Speaker 1
Area 13, everybody out there in AZ.
00:12:36 Speaker 1
Then my people in Houston, my people in Vegas, all of that, man.
00:12:39 Speaker 1
We’re going to keep it going.
00:12:40 Speaker 1
All right.
00:12:41 Speaker 2
My man.
00:12:42 Speaker 2
Peace.
00:12:43 Speaker 1
Bless.