From Indiana to Dallas, singer-songwriter, rapper, and recording artist Arique Jackson highlight the flaming hit "99" off his recent 12-track debut album, 'The Magnifying Glass.'
While attending Anderson University in Indiana studying Theology, Arique Jackson fell head over heels for music creation and songwriting, which led him to drop out and pursue music full time. It wasn't until moving to Dallas and meeting producer Skinny Mac that Arique Jackson was able to hone in on his craft and release his debut album, 'The Magnifying Glass.'
Now highlighting the album's third track, "99," listeners can hear a more tenacious and determined Arique Jackson as he shares the many experiences and tribulations that brought him to where he is today. We love the attitude and confidence that Arique Jackson delivers in this single, as he leaves us feeling motivated to get a bag for ourselves.
Hitting play on "99," the track opens with nothing but Arique Jackson's sole vocal that instantly heats up the track while sharing how he came up from the mud and now lives every day like it's his last. As the flaming hot beat drops, Arique Jackson jumps into his verse with the utmost power and drive, leaving us bopping our heads to each and every bar.
We naturally feel drawn to Arique Jackson's overall vocal tones; he sometimes brings a wildly similar sound to Drake, yet his perfect diction and expression are entirely his own. As we reach the chilling outro, Arique Jackson's filtered vocals create this empowering depth to the song while ending it on a reflective and powerful note.
Take a trip back to "99" with Arique Jackson's latest hit, and find his entire 12-track album, 'The Magnifying Glass,' on all digital streaming platforms.
Thank you for joining us at BuzzMusic Arique Jackson. What an exciting and powerful experience you've delivered with your recent hit, "99." What inspired you to create this determined and expressive single?
Well for a little bit of background, I am from Indianapolis and I just recently moved to Dallas at the tail end of 2019 so I came out here with a dollar and a dream basically, no pun intended. 99 is about me on my own trying to make something shake between hustling and the classic sex and rock N roll versus The Most High wanting to take me beyond that. On my own, I was without my real identity and had no convictions and even when I was riding crooked The Most High was still with me rescuing me from CRAZY CRAZY stuff. So it's really about thinking about where God brought me from. From being on my own, like Matthew 18:12 says, to being back home.
What did you want to get across to your audience with your in-depth bars in "99?"
What I'm trying to get across is that your circumstance does not determine your value or where you are at in your road to your version of success. One of the bars in the song is “I’d cut green like a lawnmower” which is a triple entendre because back some years I and some of my guys were plotting on getting more money so we started growing and I was mowing lawns and we were all splitting profits. And my next line is “He was sticking with me but the Lord knows” and I'm referring to The Most High in that bar and that is saying we all are on different walks and even when we are in the middle of a course correction phase we don’t have to explain ourselves to anyone. Why? Because the Lord knows. Mose literally killed a guy and The Most High still used him so if you have faith in Him then he is going to remember all those late nights you worked hard to keep the lights on.
Did you team up with producer Skinny Mac for the sonics in "99?" What sort of sonic vibe did you want the song to capture, and why?
So Skinny took the first verse and the outro on the track, the Producer we linked up with was DillyGotItBumpin. We definitely wanted a hype club sound because this is a hype topic. I remember the first time I got paid to engineer for someone. I was stupid excited because I had just reached a new level and anyone who came out of a “live fast, die young” mentality or anyone who just leveled up should be celebrating and I feel like we delivered that.
Would we be able to find more powerful and tenacious tracks like "99" on your recent album 'The Magnifying Glass'? What themes or concepts do you present in this project?
There are definitely some super vibes on The Mag. The concepts in this album all mainly revolve around the spiritual. The big themes I speak on are not feeling worthy and Dealing with Mental health issues and of course leaning on The Most High in those moments. If the listener doesn’t get anything else out of this album I want them to stop criticizing themselves, stop comparing themselves to others and Find God in every flow that I spit.