Just Jack

Just Jack

Just Jack is the recording name of Jack Allsopp, a UK hip-hop and electro producer from Camden, United Kingdom, born in 1975. He grows up in North London and develops an early interest in dance music, including breakdance, electro hip hop and house. He starts DJing at 15 and later becomes immersed in DJ culture and US garage.

Background and early development

After completing a degree in Furniture Design, Allsopp enrols on a community music production course, where sampling becomes a larger part of his approach to making music. He then focuses on developing his sound while taking a series of jobs by day, including work as a washer-up, flower arranger, TV post-production runner and shop staff at Gap. He describes this period as one in which he records through the night and works during the day.

Debut album

Just Jack’s debut album, The Outer Marker, is a set of songs about modern life, relationships and social pressure. It is first issued on the independent label RG Records. The album receives strong reviews, with The Independent calling it impressive, Q describing it as masterful, NME welcoming Just Jack with the comment “Awesome. Welcome Just Jack, you rule!”, and The Big Issue referring to him as “The new troubadour of daily life in the UK”.

Recognition and live activity

The Outer Marker is later repackaged and re-released with extra tracks and the video for “Snowflakes”. The track receives airplay and remixes, including versions by Aphrodite and a Cure bootleg. Just Jack and his band also play an early Glastonbury Dance Tent performance and are due to appear at the V Festivals later that summer. Allsopp says he does not identify with a scene or a musical gang and presents Just Jack as a project outside fixed affiliations.

Label

Just Jack releases music through Just Jack Ltd.