Hip Hop Artist Jake P Came of Age on Basketball Courts of Montclair

Hip Hop artist Jake Podhurst, a.k.a. Jake P., practically grew up on the basketball courts in Rand Park in Montclair. 

But his natural ability was a blessing and a curse as he rose to be a 6’2” point guard with a dream of going pro. 

Podhurst’s game was inconsistent, and worse yet he struggled to find his identity off the basketball court. A broken bone in his foot his freshman year at New York University gave him the time to solidify his decision to walk away from the sport.

“I had gone through too much with basketball. I just wasn’t in a good mental space with it,” he said.

Around the same time, Podhurst had a teacher that got him interested in creative writing and a friend who encouraged him to find his voice as a rapper.

“I knew I could do it, but at the same time it’s very much a practiced skill,” he said. “You have to learn about yourself. It took probably about eight months to find my own flow.”

On Saturday, Podhurst, 27, will celebrate the release of his first album with a party at The Loft in his hometown. He will be surrounded by family, friends and supporters.

Podhurst said his rhymes are influenced by his experience as a privileged white boy surrounded by young African-American men from circumstances much different than his.

“The things that I rap about are very much related to a white kid who grew up in Montclair and who’s seen a lot,” he said.

“A big theme I write about is being very privileged and fortunate … having been exposed to things that I guess were much tougher. I played in some of the roughest, toughest places. Being literally the only white guy in any situation for most of my life.”

The album — which will be available for free — is a “mixed-tape” of new music and work he has been developing over the last five years.

“I feel like I made some really thoughtful choices,” he said about the instrumentals that complement his lyrics. “It doesn’t have any chorus or any hooks. It’s just verse after verse, and each verse has its own instrumental.”

Podhurst has made a handful of impressive live performances to date. At NYU, he was asked to perform at a Black History Month event. He was a student performer at his graduation at Lincoln Center. After graduation, he returned to NYU to open up for J. Cole.

It was during a course called “Lyrics on Lockdown” at the university that he discovered he wanted to work with African-American youth. The course sent him and his classmates to Rikers Island, where he led a workshop on rapping.

Today, Podhurst who is married and living in Jersey City, is using a lifetime of experiences as dean of students at the Great Oaks Middle School in Newark. It’s a demanding role at the charter school, he said, but one he is comfortable with.

“I’m in a place where I can just do what I’m good at and feel good about it,” he said.

As for basketball, he said he still plays a lot and thinks about someday playing overseas.

Hear Jake Podhurst's music and RSVP to his free debut album release party.