DETROIT, MI – To say that Juma Muqaribu’s life has been tumultuous is a bit of an understatement.
His parents split soon after he was born, and he and his mother moved around a lot. His father died when he was 8, and his step father – Joseph Likowski – became a hug influence in his life. He introduced Juma to music, and then not long after passed away when he was 18. He found himself lost and confused and trying to navigate these tough emotions, but his outlet was met with bullying in school as he was made fun of for dressing weirdly.
He spiraled into a dark depression and began cutting himself so much that he was eventually admitted to a psych ward at the age of 18 – where he was diagnosed with PTSD and Psychosis. His path through all this turmoil was one constant … music. He took some of the early lessons from his step-father and began to explore a unique juxtaposition of sounds that today are embraced in his own individual style and sound that he calls ambient metalcore.
“I think people can see when they listen to my music the turmoil I’ve been through in my life,” Juma said. “That’s what my music portrays. If I just say my lyrics out loud without screaming them, it makes me cry because it’s so painful when I go back to those memories and think about them. I can get sentimental about it … so instead I scream it. And there has been some really messed up stuff that has happened, and these songs are my way of letting out things that have been bottled up for a long time.”
The best example of Jump!n Juma’s unique blend of ambient sound and metalcore can be found on his new EP, “Halloween Must L!ve.” The seven-track project features acoustic guitar sounds with double-kick pedals and breakdowns with vocals that Juma calls “absurd.” It’s heavy, but a luminous Halloween feel.
“I love Halloween and this music is meant to be played when kids go trick or treating around Halloween,” Juma said. “My music is hard – I scream vocals or make my vocals do weird sounds. Different genres of music have specific things that make them stand out, and metalcore is vocals and lyrics and how crazy you can make them sound. My music always has a kind of dark feel to it. I’ve been listening to that kind of music since I was younger. It always spoke to me more than any other type of music. I’ve also loved ambient music, and I’ve combined the two into a genre that is all my own. I just kind of blended two types of music into one.”
To listen to Jump!n Juma’s music or to follow him on social media, please visit:
https://www.instagram.com/jumpinjuma/
https://mobile.twitter.com/FaLL0utIsLife
https://soundcloud.com/user-612055805
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLknehS9T-nfQTYto2jiWJ0RliYik8qC9L
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLknehS9T-nfQ0jGXpgDr7AKoHmKkJ_YkV
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