Super Good is Duckwrth’s Ode To A Brighter Future [Interview]

From his first bootleg album, working on his own creative studio and his affinity with Trunks from Dragon Ball Z, we delve into what makes Duckwrth’s serene nature and his unfeigned optimism prove why he is well on his way to Super Saiyan status.

When I met Duckwrth for the first time in a Chelsea hotel lobby, it truly felt like I could have been the journalist from Almost Famous. The setting was all very Wes Anderson-esque in fact–perfectly encapsulated when a cleaning lady, blissfully unaware of her surroundings interrupted the interview with a quick hoover.

Jared Lee AKA Duckwrth is gregarious and radiant that day, stepping out of the elevator, donning a pair of Vans Cordovan Loafers and bright orange trousers; the ensemble suddenly transported me to an image I’d seen of André 3000 performing on stage in 2002. And not unlike the famed Three Stacks, Duckwrth gives off an almost childlike sense of freedom in his manner. Not childlike in the immature sense, more like that pure unfiltered perspective–open to see the world through a multitude of lenses.

Duckwrth is reminiscing about the bootleg tape era–the late 90s and early noughties, an era when a legion of hip hop greats went on to make music impervious to constraint. Specifically he is remembering his first bootleg: Jay Z’s Blueprint2 (and not the Word Of Mouth tape he first mentioned when I asked… a cheeky jest which to no one's surprise, innocently went over my head). This first purchase however, served to be the first gem of many that began to instil an untethered sense of creative freedom in him.

It was in 2012 that Duckwrth truly started to realise his future in music he tells us–2012 was in fact the year when he began working on Super Good, he adds. And although Super Good might be his latest album, it is also, as such, his oldest. A record he feels was driven by ‘destiny’ and a ‘bubbling force of energy’– anxious to cut loose. At points his flow becomes so casual it sounds like his bars are lying flat and his words like thoughts that suddenly untangle through a moment of clarity; all of which is sealed by his signature experimental production, consistently bringing something radically fresh to the table.

Fast forward a few years–we are presented with his debut full-length album I’m Uugly, followed shortly after by An XTRA UUGLY Mixtape in 2017. His latest albums however, have marked a new chapter for the LA native. 2020’s SG8*, for example, is founded in something entirely different, on the chaos of the pandemic: Not quite all good, not quite all bad. “That was the only time I really haven't set up a story in a project. It was about just trying to be present. But in feelings of anxiety and betrayal, trying to get out and still be human during COVID.” He adds, “I think I was just displaying my interest in music and what I listen to, and just having the freedom to go anywhere I please. I've never been a person that's restricting myself; and I would say Super Good was more about setting up a foundation.”

And naturally his vision extends beyond the confines of music, “..with Super Good, the goal is to turn it all into a creative studio. And we've been branding a lot of stuff at Super Good. But essentially I want it to be a hub where, say for instance, if I wanted to animate my own cartoon I could have animators do it too. I can call one of my homies like, I'll call Channel Tres and say, 'Hey, I need a voiceover for this character',” A true testament to Duckwrth’s boundless sources of creativity and unconfined thinking.

Read the interview below to see why Duckwrth is well on his way to Super Saiyan status.

NW: Before we get into the whole year and what you're doing at the moment, tell me about you. So your upbringing, a bit of background and where you're from…

D: I come from South Central Los Angeles, California, I grew up in a church household, a lot of gospel, a lot of music all the time. So that just kind of was in my DNA. I went to school in San Francisco for four years for graphic design, but still had a music bug and started to try out music halfway through college. And then when I got out of college, the goal was to put music and graphic design together. So that has kind of just beem my journey since.

A lot of fans talk about how immensely energetic and infectious your stage presence is. How do you feel being back on stage?

Bit surreal. I feel like, a year and a half being longed out and like what you do best, it was a bit off-putting, I mean, but everybody was off-put. So I guess my experience was just the amount of stimulation that you get from performing, being used to having that much stimulation to just sitting in your home and kind of watching TV, it was really big... It was just really weird. I think the conversation that's being had between myself and artists, I mean, myself in the audience it can be therapeutic, in a sense. But it's a lot of tapping out when you're performing. I gotta kind of 'log out' of myself.

You're sort of in a limbo-state, or liminal space.

Exactly! Yeah, because it's very hard to explain, the feeling of being on stage and having this energy exchange with 500,000 people. It's very different. But the times where maybe I catch eyes with someone you know, or maybe even when the song ends, and there's applause or, or somebody say something... It's like an interaction in that way. I think that's when we feel the gratitude and that grounding moment, I think that can be like the closest to therapy in essence. Well, it is for me.

You're due to go on tour next year with Billie Eilish... Going on tour you can always guarantee coming home with some good stories. Are there any favourite stories from other past tours?

[Laughs] A lot. I was talking about this one yesterday, my friend. There was this one time in like 2017, we're doing this college show and this is the like – kilt version – of myself. I was wearing this long kilt, it was more so just like a plaid skirt. It wasn't even a kilt. But it was long. It was like a nice length, and I had long hair which was just wild. It was great. But I would do this whole trick where I would kick the mic stand out a bit and catch it on my foot and bring it back. And one time I kicked the mic stand out, and it didn't come back. It landed onto somebody's head in the audience. And it was really crazy, I was super apologetic. But what was great, she had Afro so when it landed it just kind of bounced up,

You should have just played it off..

[Laughs] Just try and grab it back.

Another grounding moment with your audience as well. They see you being human. In that moment, you're no longer just an artist.

They become part of the performance art.

You talk about wearing a kilt in this story. I can see you've got a strong relationship with the fashion world, I mean your style is really sick. Can you tell me about that relationship a little bit?

I guess fashion and style is another way of reflecting what's happening inside, as we know, it's like a form of expression. But my sister, she raised me to be a well put together person, she loved fashion. And I think she wanted to do fashion when we were younger. And she ended up being a fashion stylist. She's 37. But she definitely put me on to fashion tremendously. When you're growing growing up, even like, when she was in the living room watching Sex in the City, and she's hogging the TV so I had to watch SATC. But it worked out and I really liked that show too. I think it's a great way and it's so natural to me now. But if it wasn't that type of situation, I think, for anyone it should. It's like imperative, it's important. You want to present yourself in a way, the conversation, once again, goes beyond what you say. But it's like, what you wear, how you feel about yourself…

“...fashion and style is another way of reflecting what's happening inside, as we know, it's like a form of expression.”

I agree, it’s key at the moment, especially now that we have our lives online. Are there any designers that have inspired you in particular?

I always love Vivienne Westwood. She, you know, was a part of the original punk aesthetic. Or at least coming from the UK. I guess, specifically with the Sex Pistols, in that whole era of punk, that aesthetic definitely became heavy. But her being a part of that was essential and I was very heavy into punk rock. Just her rebelliousness. I really liked what Kanye is doing. I think a lot more people are wearing earth tones way more because of Yeezy. Like, I'm pretty sure because I think in that time, it was either you wearing all black, or he was wearing like, I guess a lot of different variations of colours, but it's very like our tone, or no logo, very utilitarian and good shapes.

He's been a catalyst for a lot of trends over the last two decades now. You mention that punk influence... Does that play into your music as well?

Yeah. I mean, I've been in that for so long too that it's also quite natural. This is the first time I'm not wearing a choker. But I usually have some type of like hardware on me like just hardware, my affinity for hardware and generals function like punk aesthetic. I think more so for me these days, it comes out in a live show. Like when I go through the harder parts of the show, like the rage parts, like I'm all the way there. The parts I can do like r&b and it could be sexy, you know, but when it comes to the rage it's just like all hell. I think that's when it comes out the most.

I can see that with Super Good as well, your album that came out last year. You really showed your versatility as an artist. There's tracks like "Too Bad", which feel like you're really trying something new. It almost gave me that funky psychedelic rock vibe of The Gorrilaz or even the Beatles…

Definitely The Beatles. For sure.

Was that intentional to have such a versatile catalogue on the album?

I think I was just displaying my interest in music and what I listen to, and just having the freedom to go anywhere I please. I've never been a person that's restricting myself; I would say Super Good was just setting up a foundation. I guess, musically, what I want to give for the rest of my career and because I've gotten so many places, like I just needed something to be like, ‘Okay, this is me and let's just say it’ – that being soulful, that being groovy. Like you say it's not even really entire songs, the hardest song I'd probably say is "What You Mean?" That's more like, it's not very punk, in essence I guess, but anyway... [laughs]. It's just setting up my foundation of soul. I think that was a part of it. So I would say that song is definitely like the Beatles / Temptations. That whole era–60s and 70s.

I can see that. And then jumping to the your latest EP SG8* is that track "Mask Off" , you got a really funky, slapping baseline at the end of the track, which I really love that ability to apply some really deep, introspective lyrics to a track, that could itself be played in any environment, whether that's like in a club, or in the crib, you could have the sort of baseline could be part of any kind of club banger whereas your instrumentals feel like you're tripping alone in your bedroom.

Are there any particular artists that you look to when you were making SG8* because I felt that funk influence, like almost Raphael Sadiq kind of style?

Interesting. I think if anything it is more so a theme that I was trying to portray more. But that was the only time I really haven't set up a story in a project. Because between like, like “The Falling Man” or Super Good or everything kind of like a story this one it was more so just be trying to be present in feelings of anxiety and betrayal, trying to get out and still be human during COVID. A lot of those themes are in the album. And I think for that one, too. I feel like I was playing with more modern soundscapes than before. I felt like Super Good was nostalgic and SG8 was very present. I would say. I don't know who the inspiration is... I would have to get back to you on that. I know "No Chill". That song is definitely DJ Quick and... Raphael Sadiq, so there you go. They have this one song together specifically, I think “Let's Get Down” or something like that.

So you mentioned how that EP has really been influenced by this last year as well. And inevitably what we do creatively now, you can't help how we've been impacted by the last year. Is there something that would soundtrack this experience for you?

I don't know what I listened to. But I know that there are two songs in the project for sure. Between "Mask Off" and "Clueless". "Clueless", you know, during the height of COVID-fear and when I was feeling most anxious, I was wishing that I could go back in time and be in that time when things were simpler, and that time for me was when I was 17 and the whole world was... I was in awe, in wonderment, it was so colourful and I was just so ready to discover. I was innocent in that sense. And I was just coming across, Outkast, Bad Brains, N.E.R.D, Erykah Badu, and it was just such a high. And I wish I could just go back to that simpler time. And then I have a question too, like, damn, did I always feel this way? Because I never felt anxiety until last year, ever. You know, I have butterflies in my stomach every night. You know, that's it. But then it made me think shit, was it always here and I just didn't know it was, so just dreaming of going back but then knowing that that's not the answer.

“When I was 17, I was in awe, in wonderment, it was so colourful and I was just so ready to discover. I was innocent in that sense. And I was just coming across Outkast or Bad Brains, N.E.R.D, Erykah Badu, and it was just such a high.”

People like Outkast, The Neptunes, KRS-one… they've really opened up the avenue for a lot of musicians to express themselves in hip hop. Are there any that you would credit personally?

I mean, the ones that you mentioned. Definitely. Neptunes definitely, Erykah Badu, definitely, Gorillaz, all of that. Gnarls Barkley that whole like, early 2000s era, it was just so creative. They were doing hip hop and R&B but it was on a totally different level and they opened up the doors for this whole new generation. And I guess the only difference now is just the heavy drug usage of this new generation of music. Kind of like it but best believe they're also pulling from that. Those colours of that whole 2000 to 2010 scene. But that's the shit that definitely made me and it made me go further in music, like N.E.R.D was the catalyst to me finding once again like a Bad Brain, or listening to a Megadeath album, or Adolescence: Dead Kennedys, any of that punk, like I had to go through N.E.R.D first because I saw a black dude doing their version of rock in that sense; they made me feel safe, they made me feel seen.

“But that's the shit that definitely made me and made me go further in music… any of that punk shit... I had to go through N.E.R.D first because I saw a black dude doing their version of rock in that sense; they made me feel seen.”

Can you remember the first record you spent your money on?

It was a bootleg album, it was Word of Mouth, that was the first CD I bought, like the first real album that was bootleg [laughs]. Nah... I think the first one was an actual real album, it was Blueprint ii Jay-Z.

You've mentioned you did graphic design as well, what led you towards learning that craft? Was it in college?

Yep, in college. I was doing graphic design before that, like Microsoft Paint. But I figured out how to do text, shape, form, colour and background all in there. And then, I didn't know Illustrator, so I went to college to learn Illustrator and Photoshop and everything else.

You've got your graphic designing, fashion interest, music, you've got a lot of creative avenues to express yourself. You're also someone who likes to watch anime–If there was one character that you feel like personifies you, who would that be?

That’s a great question, I would say… From keeping up with me at 17 years old, I think Trunks from Dragonball Z. He was the son of Tregeta in Super Saiyan I think. He was like, if Goku was Michael Jackson, Trunks would be Prince. Trunks was pretty. He was very pretty. He was spicy. And everybody had their power, you know with their hands and he had a sword you know? I thought that was some real pretty shit like he's the only one that had a sword in the whole show and he had this cropped jacket.

He was fashion conscious, all about the aesthetic.

For real.

Have you ever thought about doing a score for an Anime film? I know you did something on the new Space Jam film…

Definitely! So that’s pretty much what I'm doing with Super Good, the goal is to turn it all into a creative studio. And we've been branding a lot of stuff at Super Good Studios. But yeah, I want it to be like a hub where you, say for instance, if I wanted to animate my own cartoon I could have animators and I can call one of my homies like, I'll call Channel Tres and say, 'Hey, I need a voiceover for this character', or, you know, call whoever. And then after that, I'll probably get the same artists to make the soundtrack for it. So it would be kind of like the original idea from Gorillaz, you know, but actually making the whole series and having it being very artist-involved instead.

Such a great idea. When you started Super Good, what was your vision behind that initially? Was it all planned out or were you going to let it sort of snowball into something?

To tell you the truth it's blossoming as we speak. It's kind of every day. It's like, 'Oh, that makes sense'. I would say Super Good was an idea and a concept that I had in 2012. And I actually made an album called Super Good, but it was just too left. It was just way too left; and I produced the whole album. But I don't know if I will ever drop it, maybe one day. But um, yeah, that album was so brave, I wanted to create that. So again, you know, it's something that'll be more digestible. So within every album that I've made in my discography, I was trying to make Super Good, but it didn't work out starting from like, Nowhere. I'm Uugly. I was trying to do Super Good for sure. But it's just like, things weren't Super Good, things were very ugly. So it turned into Ugly and then Xtra Uugly was continuing on from Uugly and I realised like, alright, cool, I can do it now. And then things were really dark and I'm just like, f*ck, I'm still not in this place to do Super Good. So I did Falling Man. And then finally, I was ready after that. So I find it very... What's the word? Not just serendipitous, but destiny? I guess, being something that I've been working on since 2012, and it never was ready. It's been like a bubbling force of energy. And now that it is out from being the foundation for everything that I do even when actually in SG8*, SG means life is just super good. And then eight because eight songs. But even turning into the grounds, it's that minimalism for sure. But I'm turning to garment design and designing things like these totes and working with Levi's, creating these jackets and pants and stuff. And it's all super good. That's the brand. I feel like I have my apple now.

Sort of a legacy thing. What does having a legacy mean to you? Because for some people, it's about, you know, something to pass on to their family, others it's simply something personal…

I think it's really what you leave this earth with. I would like to leave this earth with something fruitful. Something that can help people entertain other people, make people think and inspire people the same way I was inspired by people from the 2000s. If any of them passed, I would say they definitely left a legacy for future generations. So this is continuing. My job is but I guess legacy is doing it on a mass mass scale. So it's a wide reach.

A lot of artists advocate for the importance of owning your masters having a say in how their musical legacy is left behind. Do you think having a collective or a label like super good, has that given you more freedom in what you do as an artist?

I don't think it's more confidence, I would just say it's something I've been trying to do for a long time is to check things off on a checklist. I'd say maybe more security because I feel like I can always lean back on that because even in 2017 I had a series called Boy and it was like a rose and they would talk about things like androgyny in its simplest form. And I made these shirts that would keep selling and it was, you know, providing a lot of financial stability for me but I think I gravelled it because my androgyny didn't need to be displayed I think it was just naturally in me. So I feel like Super Good is something that is beyond any trend, where I can be myself. Super Good is a feeling that I want other people to feel, it's something that I love to feel. Super Good is universal.

You’re showing your authentic self and it sounds like Super Good is an excellent avenue to do so. Within your music there has been this recurring subject of inner conflict, do you feel pressure to be a voice for your generation?

I used to. I used to think like that, like I need to have a destiny… Just all that shit haha. I believe in my skillset enough, and I believe in my team enough that I can keep producing work and it will find its way to people, not always because instagram is the worst, but we’ve relied upon that to advertise. I do feel like we are going to have to find new ways; everything is so algorithmic. So we will have to find new ways to push. I guess my pressure maybe now is to do art, music and design to the best of my abilities and rapping and trying to be like a superhero. Just do your shit. Do your best.

Going back to something you said before about growing up hearing Gospel music, so I presume you grew up in a christian household. Would you say Gospel still plays a role in your music today?

Mostly it’s my band members, we were all raised in church. So we relate in that way, with gospel music and gospel progressions in music, different harmonies, different moments of gospel that only church kids would know. So even when we’re arranging the songs, it might have a slight gospel arrangement; even in the heavier rager songs, they will do something like a progression while we’re mid-rage and i’m just in the back of my head like ‘Yo, y’all wildin’ out’ [laughs], so it’s more so a connection with my band.

It’s interesting that Gospel influences the order you put your tracks in… is there anything else that influences the arrangement?

Feeling.

Purely?

And what story is being told. Like , like I said there wasn’t a specific story so that was just purely feeling.

If you could jump to a different era in music what would it be? I know you’ve talked about a few specific decades that have impacted your music overall…

Probably the 70s. Especially with how explorative the music was, because it’s more like pog-rock, psychedelic, Jefferson aeroplane, even a lot of the Jazz artists were experimental. It really felt like the 70s was a tremendous celebration of life. Based upon the colours, people’s garment choices and how brave menswear was like the platforms, shoulder pads, crop tops, wild. Even in the disco era, it was just a lot of celebration of life in the 70s.

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