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UK caster Jody Bigfoot is swapping his esports broadcast mic for the music mic as he tours Japan with his unique twist of dancehall music.
He’s been described by the BBC as ‘the only internationally signed Geordie to rap reggae in Japanese’.
He received a grant from The Great British Sasakawa Foundation to tour Japan between September 30th and December 17th 2024 with his DJ/partner Liil Bits, playing music from his latest LP: Geordie Japanese Dancehall. This is in partnership with UK/Japanese Reggae crew Direct Impact, who are celebrating their 30th anniversary.
According to a press release, ‘it’s been 12 years since Jody Bigfoot penned his first verses over reggae riddims whilst living in Japan’.
Jody and Liil Bits will deliver this unique cross-culture collaboration to a variety of venues, from a traditional soba stand to reggae bars and skate parks scattered around the land of the rising sun.
Jody met the Japanese producer of the LP, Ichiyo, whilst running a thriving group of digital reggae producers on the original and more community-oriented version of Soundcloud way back in 2011. This was where he met the Norwegian outfit Helgeland 8-bit Squad, who produced his first releases under the moniker Trinity Lo Fi (alongside the notorious Newcastle rapper and WHQ resident, Zico MC.)
When Trinity Lo Fi dissolved, Jody kept the name alive launching his own label (Trinity Lo Fi Recordings) and set his overly large feet away on a new path. Solo but never alone, thanks to the internet empowering his numerous cross border collaborations, Jody started a new project with German producer Tandaro to make his debut solo album Duszt.
Accompanied by a one-hour music video filmed in Japan, Duszt is a trap and hip hop album with live instrumentation. Yet, ever obsessed with digital reggae after Duszt’s launch, he began working on a new EP alongside Ichiyo, who was still creating innovative reggae/dancehall riddims. The first three songs had such a unique and promising vibe to them, the EP swiftly evolved into the 12-track monster it is today.
In love with the rhythmic capabilities of the Japanese language and the new flavour it brought to his creations, Jody Bigfoot incorporated it into his lyrics wherever possible. The album also has carefully curated features from Japanese MCs; Yugo Taguchi, Mori, Kid Eastah, Numb’N’Dub, Tutor Real and one from the Scottish rastafarian Yahisreal.
‘Though there are a variety of digital reggae styles spread throughout the riddims, the lyrical content is more closely related to punk or roots reggae than dancehall,’ according to a press release. ‘The driving force behind all of Jody Bigfoot’s music always has been and always will be a burning desire for all humans to find freedom from wealth disparity and brainwash whilst healing the natural world.’
Jody’s story also caught the attention of the BBC, who featured him per this TikTok:
More on Jody Bigfoot’s background
Born at home to a pair of socialist vegetarians, Jody Bigfoot has always stood out from the crowd, standing at two meters tall with size 15 shoes and has never been one to follow the flock, a message he laces throughout his songs, encouraging people to find their own way.
After playing a leading role in the local anti Iraq war movement and attending the largest protest in history to no avail, he became disillusioned with conventional forms of protest. Equally fed up with mainstream education and English hedonism he spent most of his twenties traveling and working in any country he could get a visa, doing anything from packing cow hides in Australia to climbing and dismantling 250 foot trees in ancient Canadian rainforest, scranning inspiration and penning lines wherever he went.
Over the years he has had many performance highlights including a seven-day tour of the alps with Soom T and DJ Kunta, Tokyo World festival, Boomtown Festival, Solfest, Lindisfarne festival, Superbyte Festival an One love Reggae Festival. He has supported, in his home town of Newcastle, Jehst, Skepta, JME, Loefah, Benga, Caspa and more. So far he has recorded eight LPs and 45 music videos alongside producers from seven different countries – Jody says it will take a catastrophic event to stop him.
Jody has worked on various UK esports broadcasts, including the University Esports Masters, which saw Staffordshire University win the Valorant final earlier this year.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.