Demun Jones at the Rust Belt -- April 2.
Sunday, April 2, 7 p.m.
The Rust Belt, 533 12th Avenue, East Moline IL
Best known for his tenure with the Southern hip-hop ensemble Rehab, country rapper Demun Jones headlines an April 2 solo concert at East Moline venue The Rust Belt, the artist's songs on his album Jones Country lauded by The Front Row Report as "loaded with country lyrics with some insane rap beats and rap skills that can stand with the best of them."
With "Demun" a nickname he earned at a young age because he was aggressive and energetic, the native Georgian Jones was 10 years old when he was transfixed by the immergence of N.W.A. and how they represented their own hometown. He has stated that he has never forgotten how that seminal album affected a southern boy down in Georgia, and that he himself always wanted to do the same for his surroundings in Jones County. Saying “I’ve had inspirations that cover the whole gamut of genres,” Jones was introduced to Led Zeppelin albums by his oldest brother Chris, along with recordings by AC-DC and Black Sabbath, while his mother Cheryl introduced him to the likes of Marvin Gaye and other Motown artists including James Brown and Michael Jackson. A ranch owned by Otis Redding is right down the road from where Jones grew up the son of a lifelong brick mason worker, and the musician's uncles introduced him to the southern rock soundscape of The Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Consequently, Jones said that he started listening to hip hop and rap, and was particularly intrigued by breakdancing, which was when he first heard N.W.A. Their album Straight Outta Compton, Jones remembered, was about Compton, for Compton, and it was a sort of musical documentary – a bird’s eye view of life – that the artist wanted to portray in his own autobiographical song selections for Jones County. “It gave me some hope that I could make my own music,” said Demun, who wrote his first song when he was 15. “It took a long time for me to realize I could make country music without singing the whole time and still be for the country person.”
Demun Jones headlines his East Moline engagement on April 2, admission to the 7 p.m. concert starts at $35.75, and more information and tickets are available by visiting TheRustBeltQC.com.
