Israel Jones Is an Architect of North Florida Blues

Art via Evan Solano

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Ant shall bring disaster to evil factors.

For what feels like forever, Bronson Israel Jones has been biding his time in the sticks of North Florida, detached from the eyes of the entertainment industry, training for his moment. Testifying over soul samples chopped, screwed, and overlayed with the blues just like momma used to make, Israel Jones’ newest album, Go With God isn’t just one of the best rap records you haven’t heard this year, it’s a studied dedication to the storied Southern culture that molded him.

In Jones’ mind, culture is found in the organ swells of Ridin’ Dirty, the technicolor skies backdropping 454’s swampy citrus raps, the glint of countless gold teeth. It’s a distinctly black Southern culture that’s been pimped and paraded to the masses for generations, watered down to its easiest to replicate ideas for C-Suite reptiles looking to stay warm in a pile of cash. The South and Jones alike have always had “something to say,” but getting people to hear and respect the more profound thoughts comes with fighting through the noise of greed and copycats. For Jones, protecting this culture became a responsibility, one he’s trained to uphold his entire life.

At five-years-old his parents’ eyes lit up as he held performances of original songs in their living room. Come high school, rap battles both online and in the physical became crucial sparring sessions, building an obsession with language and how to weaponize it. When he entered poetry circles as a young adult, the weight and starkness of the real world was transmuted from soul crushing to empowering with every couplet.

Looking back on this incubation period, Israel gleams, speaking of how his art has evolved. “At first I had no substance, but once I got it, I was addicted to it,” later adding, “it’s grown into this tree of therapy, not just for me but it lets me act as a vessel for others. I can speak for myself, my community, my family, whatever is on my heart. I feel like an alchemist in that sense to take things in real life whether it is from five or 15 minutes ago and turn it into lyrics.”

Dozens of artist showcases, countless bedroom studio sessions, a label with college buddies turned family, and a myriad of projects, solo and collaborative, were born from his artistic curiosities: Knee Deep, Blacc Boys Don’t Cry, The Sun Shines On Us All, Bigga Purpose EP, Good Time!, Safe + Sound EP, Feels Like Forever. Each is a labor of love transported to you live from a muggy nowhere zone, a flyover space where hearts still beat and many stories could have been left unsung. Jones had become the conduit for these sacred tales; every verse represents a slice not just of his life, but every soul in his homeland served raw and uncut.

Over the course of his newest LP, Go With God, that sense of duty to put on for the people and culture of his beloved corner of the country is executed with biting calls for respect, shoutouts to Trick Daddy and Aphrodite, and a distinct vision of love and growth all his own.

“Get Free!” is a daring rewire of UGK’s “Diamonds & Wood” into a sparky acceptance of life’s waves, jittering at a frequency Pimp C would never dare hit for the risk of creasing his gators. “On Behalf Of The South” is a combative sketch of the cultural influence and the bastardization of the 3rd Coast’s many creations that challenges Common’s “I Used To Love H.E.R.” for rap’s greatest personification. Plus, the soothing poetic side gets room to stretch out on “Got My Heart,” an intimate idyll to women everywhere (though Georgia, Texas, and Florida women hold a special place) cruising through your speakers at 2MPH.

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But preaching to the choir could only get him so far: “I felt like there was nothing left for me to do back home. I’ve accomplished everything I could do in Gainesville. The scene is monopolized by greedy people. Tallahassee, I did everything there. It was time for a new chapter. On ‘Get Free!’ when I say ‘I’m so tired of the South,’ like yeah, I’m tired of living here, but also I’ve done it all.”

Go With God doubled as Jones’ love letter and hearty goodbye to the South before migrating to the Northeast so his down-home gospel could hit more ears. As he floats through newfound industry circles, guest speaking at colleges and linking up with other Southern transplants in The Big Apple, the passion never ends, just shifts into expansion.

Over the course of an hour, I was lucky enough to Facetime Jones and speak about his story so far, classic Dirty South LP’s, and his creative process.