Jon Watts

Jon Watts

Jon Watts is a recording artist who works in hip hop, spoken word, ambient, and drone. He has been recording since 2001 and develops self-produced work built around live instrumentation, layered rhythms, and dense lyrical structures.

Style and approach

His music combines rap with poetic and reflective writing, using multiple internal rhyme patterns and polyrhythms. He studies artists such as Atmosphere, Sage Francis, and Aesop Rock, and extends those influences through his own production and writing. His work is also shaped by travel and self-examination.

The Art of Fully Being

The Art of Fully Being is a self-taught, self-produced, self-recorded, self-written, self-pressed, and self-promoted project. It includes jawharp tones on the title track and a hidden track featuring raw, polyrhythmic Moroccan drumming. The record is described as a dense, flowing piece of work built from layered instruments, rhythms, and poetic meanings. It is recorded at the Pendle Hill spiritual retreat centre outside Philadelphia, and Watts spends six months in meditation and reflection while completing the writing, recording, and production process.

Faith and subject matter

Watts is an openly devoted member of the Religious Society of Friends, known as Quakers. His songs include references to Quaker culture, including “Friend Speaks My Mind”, and “There’s a Spirit in Iraq”, which is based on his relationship with Tom Fox, a Quaker who is taken hostage and killed in Baghdad in early 2006 while working with Christian Peacemaker Teams. His music is presented as an expression of calling rather than an attempt to persuade listeners.

Writing and production

Watts presents himself as a rapper as well as a producer, with a strong emphasis on independence. His work is written, recorded, produced, pressed, and promoted by himself, and his lyrics often move between wordplay, spiritual reflection, and personal experience.