Fashion Activism... 'Music Saved My Life' - The Story of a Street Rapper
Listen Up! JustJahmaine on the Nottingham streets with his PA system
Barbara models JustJahmaine’s Anti-Knife Crime T-shirt for ThriftVIP
Championing those in our communities - Fashion with Purpose: At ThriftVIP, I like to thrift in the lateral sense too, whether that be through the people I meet, those out in the street, or something currently happening in our culture, here in the UK. Sometimes inspiration for a collection starts with this. I like to incorporate this into fashion activism, where I can champion others who are standing up and out to be heard.
This is Jahmaine’s story.
Word on the Street… Where is The Love?
On a Saturday afternoon on 18 May 2019, I was moved to tears by JustJahmaine and his message, speaking out on knife crime. It touched my heart. I bought a t-shirt with the logo and just knew I wanted to incorporate this into a future shoot and to write about this mans endeavours. I have since worn the T-shirt on several occasions, including to Graduate Fashion Shows in Nottingham and when I went on the Alan Clifford show at BBC Radio Nottingham, where I also mentioned Jahmaine and his campaign.
I also went out one Sunday for an hour to stand by Jahmaine, to take videos, give out Jahmaine’s anti-knife crime stickers and speak to people, collecting their knife crime stories. It was encouraging to see such a positive response from the public to his tireless endeavours, working hard to change mindsets…. as early as possible.
It warms my heart that this one man can make such an impact and is doing something, saying something, spitting something poetic, eloquent and driven with such genuine emotion. A poignant reminder that we need to hear this and more needs to be done to Stop The Bloodshed, UK (STBSUK).
More knife news as I type this, everyday it seems….
Listen Up!
The following facts were taken from ITV's programme:
Ross Kemp, Living with Knife Crime on 08/08/19....
285 fatal stabbings in England and Wales last year
In Sheffield, over the last ten years there's been a 50% reduction in child services.
You’re twice as likely to be stabbed in London than anywhere else in England and Wales.
There were 15,000 knife crimes in the capital last year.
In the past decade, 20,000 police officers have been taken off the streets (in the last 10 years)
“Young people who reside in areas of social depravation simply don’t have access to certain services.”
Ross Kemp goes on to say that its not just those from places of poverty, but the middle classes too. It’s not always a class issue, it’s about lack of opportunities for young people in society and communities.
Reasons for carrying can be anything from protection, to postcode territory, to those taking matters into their own hands, or for no specific reason at all.
The prolific culture of knife crime is only made easier through the sale of knives such as ‘Zombie’ knives which are made to mimic zombie apocalypse films and where the purpose is violence only, made evident with images or words on the knives to suggest so. The type of knife really doesn’t seem to matter that much though it seems, as we’ve seen in the news, the varying types of weaponry used can be anything from a standard kitchen knife to a scimitar.
After chatting with Jahmaine at length about this, he reports that Derby, Sheffield, Nottingham & Leicester are the worst places outside of London, if not worse at times (perhaps due to the size of them in comparison, which can make these incidents feel closer to home).
If anyone knows about knife crime, it’s Jahmaine Davis. Having come from a background a lot of people would find difficult to even comprehend, this man has come a very long way. His story is an inspirational one, so let’s find out more about him now….
Below are photographs I had to think carefully about before including, but they are significant to this story. I discovered them on my way home, just outside my door after returning from my 5 hour chat with Jahmaine, in a nearby cafe bar on 07.06.19. I never heard anything in the news about this. Who knows whether it was knife crime or one of many incidents occurring every night and day in our cities.
"(My) Music Saved My Life"
StopTheBloodshedUK - by JustJahmaine
’Hello and thank you for your time, my name is Jahmaine Davis and I am 40 years old. In April 2018 I unfortunately had to attend the funeral of a good friend of mine, who was killed in January 2018, unfortunately having been stabbed to death. Due to this, the eventful life I have led and the epidemic of knife crime that is sweeping the country, I decided I could and would help to make a difference.
Firstly I came up with an idea of holding an event with a view to raising awareness about the realities of knife crime. I intended on doing this by holding my own event entitled StopTheBloodshedU.K.
I had previously written a song called StopTheBloodshedU.K and I approached my probation officer at the time Ian Cripps and explained my idea. This was to hold an event which would start with a dramatized role play of a street robbery gone wrong. My intention then was to invite 4 professionals to explain the processes that would be undertaken following such an incident by 1, Police officer 2, Court representative 3, Prison officer 4, Probation officer. This would then be followed by some fund raising and the whole event would be finished off with a performance by myself of my own original song entitled StopTheBloodshedU.K.’
When Jahmaine explained this to me during our meet up, I could really see this working in a number of different ways, and especially as a workshop or event, touring schools and colleges. The way he explained some of his experiences, acting out the situations, I could see he was a true performer, able to articulate himself in a way that was interesting to watch, and to learn from. A natural teacher, perhaps too.
Being interviewed by National Prison Radio
Jahmaine wrote StopTheBloodshedUK “down the block” while serving time inside. He’d recorded this album before, but it wasn't picked up on. Now it's the right time.
His friends death was a wake up call to a new life, and he intended to surround himself with new people who would sit in line with his anti-knife crime ethos. It was time for change.
With the cruel reality of the benefit system and how life can sometimes be, Jahmaine got the job, and the flat, and was on track to getting his life sorted since prison, but due to health reasons, things fell down. As many of us may have experienced, just when we’re trying to make something work, having health problems can lead to a breakdown in many areas of our lives and forces us into situations we’d never dreamed of, such as a life on the streets or in Jahmaine’s case, a life of crime again. He had a setback due to 17 common assaults and a 6 month sentence in 2017. He’s gone from sleeping on a friends sofa to transitioning again to starting fresh somewhere else, building himself back up again.
Not quite 6 years out in 2019, Jahmaine has spent years of his life growing up in prison.
His first ever sentence was at 12 years old, with a total 5 year sentence at 13/14 years (it's hazy).
He's been in and out of jail ever since. At age 14 he was told he was one of the 10 worse juveniles in Britain. With between 50-100 convictions, a childhood in care and in and out of prison, it's not surprising Jahmaine feels the need to redeem himself and turn things around.
When you are constantly beaten down and told to “shush” a lot, and having dealt with childhood trauma, (Jahmaine actually stopped speaking during childhood) eventually, all that is bottled up comes flooding out, and for those with creative inclination, there is no better way than to voice and project this through a love of music, or the arts.
And so the journey begins, to new found freedom, compassion and purpose.
Jahmaine showing me some of his work during our meet up where we chatted for 5 hours solid
A really big part of supporting his musical journey has been an Arts Council & lottery funded charity called Soft Touch Arts where Jahmaine has also been able to use his business acumen to design and create merchandise to further endorse his message and incentivise new business opportunities. Among those mentioned, Jahmaine talks about Kieran Walsh, Yassin at HQ Recordings (another lottery funded music project who called him up); Naji-Wavey, and Julie Maxwell who have all played a great part in the evolving picture. You can find his jewellery / keepsake boxes at Pickles sandwich bar in Leicester.
Still At Large
Jahmaine has so far been interviewed by Dream Media, National Prison Radio, and Radio Leicester to name a few, and has given talks and performances across the UK, including involvement with BBC Introducing. See information about his most recent performance at the bottom of the page, which takes place in Birmingham as this blog goes out.
From prisons to schools Jahmaine’s anti-knife crime message is being heard live and direct. See Kieran Walsh’s YouTube interview with Jahmaine below….
The Story Continues…
‘l had seen an advert at Sumo nightclub in Leicester offering a free venue so I contacted them and asked for the criteria needed in order to be eligible for the use of the free venue. The contact I spoke to at Sumo explained to me to get details of equipment needed, time, audience and space etcetera and to get back to them. After hearing me out my probation officer Ian Cripps put me in touch with Julie Maxwell who works for Drum & Brass, a drama section of De Montfort University in Leicester. He also put me in touch with Soft Touch Arts a local charity based in Leicester. Simon Bland who works for HMP Leicester education also took an avid interest in my project which resulted in me being paid to perform at a probation resettlement event on the request of Carrie Peters (The head of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland Probation service), I was also re-booked for a later date.
Once I started working in conjunction with Soft Touch Arts and especially Kieran Walsh my ideas started to take on a reality. I sat with a technician at Soft Touch Arts and created my own original instrumental for my song StopTheBloodshedU.K. I also started designing my own Anti knife logo.’
“These kids really listen to me”
‘After my instrumental was finished I borrowed a Bluetooth speaker from a friend and went out on the streets busking. I performed for approximately an hour with many members of the public stopping and talking to me.
I received comments such as “good on you" “amazing lyrics” “such a positive message" “Well done you" and many more positive remarks. Following this, me and Kieran Walsh created a StopTheBloodshed Board that I would display in any future street performances, this also led onto both probation and Soft Touch Arts applying and both being granted funding for me to purchase a P.A System.
On receiving my P.A System I immediately travelled to places such as Leicester, Hinckley, Nottingham, Sheffield, Derby, Peterborough and Chesterfield with great success. These performances led to me being interviewed on Radio Leicester, (Andrew Pearce) and by Radio Leicester (Jo Haywood), I also came to the attention of Gurmit Kaur (Community cohesion officer for Nottinghamshire police) where we spoke about the possibility of me returning to Nottingham with a view to taking my StopTheBloodshedU.K project to Nottingham schools.
Madeleine Wallner (ThriftVIP, Nottingham based fashion entrepreneur) was also impressed with my work. She purchased a T-shirt and interviewed me for her blog (this one).
Kieran Walsh arranged for me to be interviewed at Soft Touch Arts which was videoed for potential educational purposes in the future (see above). I was also interviewed by Comic relief at Soft Touch Arts.
Creating my own logo, I started to brand onto products in order to market my project. I have been asked via Facebook to perform at a child’s birthday party as well as many other events happening across the midlands.’
JustJahmaine with his PA and posters with kids on the street in Nottingham
Jahmaine is a natural performer, a showman at heart, but he also deals with that nagging self doubt we all often have. When we’re our biggest critic, it’s easy to doubt ourselves when we do something on a bigger scale that we’ve not done before. Nonetheless, Jahmaine just takes it in his stride and keeps going, having produced an award worthy album, where his passion and conviction is most definitely felt. Straight from the heart, you feel his pain, his compassion and his passion for a new found life, where the focus is to stop kids using weapons. The kids often ask him to rewind tracks when he’s out on the street, they want to hear his lyrics.
He’s been out on the streets performing now over 50 times, giving his time to spread the important message to those kids who feel they can relate to him, more than they perhaps can with a police officer on the beat (if and when you see them in the community).
Jahmaine is looking for funding, sponosorhip and promotion for his album release, however the snowball effect his endeavours already seem to be gaining in momentum, are carrying him along and things are evolving naturally.
He likes to do things his way, and this coming from a man who knows what he’s talking about, I’d say we can trust his judgment on that. By writing about him, I’m hoping it goes something towards him receiving the recognition he deserves.
Jahmaine with album cover: No Pain No Gain
“Gail force winds won’t knock me off now”
‘With the success of my products selling out as I made them and a demand for more, I started using a wood etching machine at Soft Touch Arts to engrave my logo on to wooden products.
I purchased my products from the Works, then took them to Soft Touch before etching them with my logo, then going on to sell them at a profit. I sold all the boxes that I crafted with still a demand for more.
I also started designing and creating my own products from scratch, these also sold out as I made them. Unfortunately by this time we had been using the etching machine as often as possible and inevitably the laser dwindled and died, thus halting what was beginning to turn into a very viable and positive business model, in its tracks.
Due to my recent successes it has given me the incentive to apply for a loan in order for me to purchase my own wood etching machine in order to continue working on my StopTheBloodshedU.K merchandise.’
Photo album: StopTheBloodshedUK
Music has given Jahmaine a new self worth and a voice to speak out for every person in the UK, to have a stab free day, as he would say. All I can say Jahmaine, is keep progressing, bless up (another phrase I’ve adopted from Jahmaine), and believe in yourself because you are you and you are making your mark again, this time as a positive force for good.
Respect. Love. Unity.
Madeleine Wallner x
RealityRap - Listen to an early version of #StopTheBloodshedUK on JustJahmaine’s YouTube channel
If anyone would like to support Jahmaine in raising funding to support his project, please find him on Facebook, Instagram / Instagram or email him directly here.
Send him some social media love!
Look out later in the year for his album release, where he’s got some very nice surprises in store.
STBSUK Album Cover: ‘Inside Out’ The re-mastered album release date, estimated October/ November 2019
You can purchase Jahamine’s songs from the album now on Apple or Spotify
Sign JustJahmaine’s petition to get anti-knife crime in schools:
And, if you’re reading this in time, you might just make it to this FREE event, by Voice Against Crime happening 31/08/19 in Birmingham.
And in other news, let’s hope this initiative has made a difference this Summer, in Nottingham.
Below, Barbara of Model Students wears Jahmaine’s Anti-Knife Crime T-shirt:
It’s not all black and white
Above: click on the photo for more images
Anti-knife crime campaigners in the news…
“Nah big man ting big up London big up Hackney yeah yeah”
UK Youth Parliament Member for Hackney, Busayo Oyedoyin
Busayo Oyedoyin, an 18-year-old British-Nigerian youth politician from Hackney, London, whose passion for helping others has led her to meet The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.
Busayo first became politically involved at the age of 17, after the pain of losing friends and the thought of child-less parents, ending youth violence became her main focus.
Look out for the Knife Angel Sculpture, made completely up of 100,000 blades, of knives handed in. It’s already been to Liverpool, Birmingham, Coventry, and most recently there were plans for Leicester this year. It’s heading to Derby in October. They were trying to bring it to Nottingham, but the council think the money would be better spent elsewhere. Let’s hope we see more community cohesion instead, as a result.
Choices and Consequences is a partnership between the Ben Kinsella Trust and the National Justice Museum
Stormzy wore a stab vest when he headlined at Glastonbury this year. Read the article by Hang Up here
"Last night I headlined Glastonbury in a stab-proof vest custom made by the greatest, most iconic living artist on planet earth, the one and only BANKSY." -Stormzy
Operation Shutdown have been really busy in Westminster this year. Google them for more.
Chris Preddie OBE & Yizzy whose video 3 Minutes to Live is on point.
Find The Poet Akin - Drop the Blade on Twitter here to check out his Sound Cloud track.
With many thanks to Jahmaine Davis for allowing me to share his story here and to photograph his anti-knife crime tee to help spread the word about his message and enterprising endeavours.
Madeleine Wallner