Choo Jackson- The Art of Perseverance: An Interview & Psychological Breakdown

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In the quiet hum of Pittsburgh’s creative pulse, Choo Jackson speaks with the calm of someone who’s seen chaos and turned it into chords. Our conversation started the way real ones do — over DMs, no agenda, just honesty. Choo’s story runs deep: born in Vero Beach, raised in Chambersburg, sharpened in Pittsburgh’s ID Labs — the same walls where Mac Miller and Wiz Khalifa learned to translate soul into sound.Through it all, he’s carried one consistent theme: growth through pain, faith through doubt, and perseverance through everything.

ROOTS & ID LABS

Jah: You were born in Vero Beach, raised in Chambersburg, and came up in Pittsburgh through ID Labs. Which of those places shaped your sound the most?

Choo Jackson: I was raised in Vero Beach till about 16. Then I moved to Chambersburg — kinda finished growing up there. I listened to random rock with my skater homies; found N.E.R.D. Then I’d go home and my brother’s playing Jeezy, Blueprint, Lil Wayne. In PA I got hip to Philly battle rap, then found Wiz and Mac. All of it kinda shaped me.

Jah: Working at ID Labs must’ve been wild — same building Mac and Wiz built so much magic in.

Choo Jackson: I was just trying to do my thing. I was in a group back then, trying to build. I’d run into Mac around the High Life era. I didn’t meet Wiz until later, but E. Dan is like my mentor. He gave me pointers on how to do things.

BEER FLAVORED PIZZA ERA

Jah: When Beer Flavored Pizza dropped back in 2013, it had that raw, fearless energy. What headspace were you in?

Choo Jackson: BFP — lol I had no idea what I was doing. I had a few songs, but Mac really helped me put it together. I went to his house in L.A. for the first time. I couldn’t believe my music had potential — he saw it. He was on MTV at the time; it didn’t make sense.

THE SOUND INSIDE THE DNA

Jah: A lot of listeners mention that “Larry Fisherman DNA” in your sound.

Choo Jackson: I don’t think about it. I go off feelings. That sound is just embedded in my DNA — it evolves at every turn, and I’m grateful for it.

“Some influences don’t have to be intentional — they just live in you.”

BROKEN HEARTS MAKE MONEY

Jah: Broken Hearts Make Money has so much vulnerability and growth. What headspace were you in when that dropped in 2015?

Choo Jackson: My first real heartbreak. The struggle of trying to be an artist while being pulled in different directions. I just wanted to connect with people. It taught me to use pain — that’s the gift of art.

“It taught me to use pain. That’s the gift of art.”

PITTSBURGH CIRCLE & SELF-SUFFICIENCY

Jah: You’ve worked with Christo and the ID Labs family — what did you pick up from that circle?

Choo Jackson: Christo was one of the first producers I linked with. We clicked instantly. The biggest thing I learned was being self-sufficient — recording and producing myself. I don’t look for beats like I used to; I let them find me.

EVOLUTION & FUTURE RELEASES

Jah: If Broken Hearts was processing love and Anime 1 & 2 was imagination, what story are you telling now? Is the sound of "UNSTOPPABLE", your newest single the direction you're headed towards?

Choo Jackson: "UNSTOPPABLE" was just a mood. I dropped a few thug tears making it. My homies told me to release it. My new project was supposed to be free and conceptual — no walls — but I started building a plot. The perfectionist in me kicked in. It’s done now, just mixing and planning the rollout.

CREATIVE RUNS & BALANCE

Jah: Back around 2020 you dropped TrailerBoy, Flooded, and Ghetto Beautiful Misery all within months. How do you keep that pace without burning out?

Choo Jackson: I make a lot of music — every rapper says that, but I studied mixtape runs. Curren$y had like 100 tapes! I wanna be fast and still shape a good project. I let the universe tell me when to drop. After five tapes (2023–2024) I took a year off to focus on family and health. Now I’ve got new topics.

“It’s new topics to talk about.”

SELF-BELIEF & AFFIRMATION

Jah: “U A Star” feels like an affirmation. What does self-confidence mean to you now?Choo Jackson: Appreciate that. Honestly, I battle self-doubt a lot — things move fast, you don’t always know where you fit. "U A Star" was me building confidence. Telling myself I’m a star in my mind. Not cocky — affirmations.

MAC’S LESSONS

Jah: You came up under Mac’s wing. What lesson from him still guides you?

Choo Jackson: He told me, “Never forget to just rap.” It means give bars — with all the melodic stuff, don’t forget what got you here. Sometimes I look at the email where he said he wanted to help with my hooks. But the real lesson was watching him on tour.

SUBSTANCE IN HIP-HOP

Jah: Where do you think hip-hop needs more risk — and where more discipline?

Choo Jackson: We need to go back to substance. I’m a huge underground fan — distorted beats and autotune melodies are fire, but we care too much about being lit. There’s a time and place. I think we should say more.

LONGEVITY & LEGACY

Jah: From Beer Flavored Pizza to Choo, to where u goin 2, what does longevity mean to you in 2025?

Choo Jackson: Longevity means everything. I want people to pass my music down like Al Green or Marvin Gaye. I want my soul to travel and give information for decades. I stay inspired by just attempting. Making a song is like an emotional puzzle — I love that.

“I want my soul to travel and give information for decades after I’m gone.”

DREAM COLLABS

Jah: If you could lock in your dream trio — one producer, one feature, one visual director — who would it be?

Choo Jackson: Pharrell as producer, Cudi as feature, Hype Williams for visuals. Pharrell’s beats and coolness — I’m a fan. Cudi’s MOTM 1 & 2 helped everyone coming up. And Hype’s early-2000s videos? Crazy.

PERFORMANCE VISION

Jah: If you performed a full project tomorrow at Mr. Smalls or The Rex, which would you choose and how would it look?

Choo Jackson: Broken Hearts 1. A smoky junkyard stage, barbed-wire fences, guard dogs, a big red pulsating heart, and a small choir singing hooks.

MESSAGE & LEGACY

Jah: What do you want people to take away from your music right now?

Choo Jackson: Just that I’m here to get you through tough times. Being an underdog is strength. Fight for your voice when they dim your light. Perseverance, honesty, and faith — that’s what I want people to take away.

“Fight for your voice when they dim your light.”

Hip-hop has always doubled as therapy. It’s the cipher and the couch. When an artist turns pain into poetry, they perform the same emotional work psychologists call catharsis: naming what hurts so it can heal. Choo Jackson’s story, told through projects like Beer Flavored Pizza and Broken Hearts Make Money, shows how self-expression becomes survival. Every mixtape is a case study in resilience.

Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory says we shape behavior by watching the models around us.Choo grew up between Florida’s skate culture and Pennsylvania’s battle-rap grit—absorbing Jeezy’s discipline, Wiz’s ease, Mac Miller’s playfulness.Those observations became blueprints for his craft: creativity as learned behavior reinforced by belonging.

Freud described sublimation as transforming emotion into art or innovation. When Choo says, “It taught me to use pain—that’s the gift of art,” he’s describing sublimation in real time. Heartbreak becomes melody; self-doubt becomes bars. Instead of repressing conflict, he channels it into creation—artistry as one of the healthiest defense mechanisms we have.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs ends with self-actualization—fulfilling potential once safety and belonging are met. For Choo, projects like U A Star mark that climb. Self-belief becomes both subject and outcome: “Telling myself I’m a star in my mind.”Each track isn’t just product; it’s proof of upward motion through the hierarchy.

Viktor Frankl taught that humans endure suffering by finding meaning in it—logotherapy. When Choo reflects, “Fight for your voice when they dim your light,” he reframes pain as purpose. Faith becomes cognitive reframing; perseverance becomes existential defiance. His underdog ethos isn’t bravado—it’s resilient meaning-making.

Observation breeds identity. Pain refines expression. Confidence fulfills potential. Purpose redeems struggle. Together they explain why his music feels alive—it’s built on the same processes that keep the psyche intact.Hip-hop, then, is collective therapy disguised as rhythm. Every verse is data. Every beat is behavior. Every underdog who keeps recording proves that growth is possible when we stay honest.

In a culture that moves at lightning speed, Choo Jackson is proof that stillness has its own rhythm.He reminds us that art isn’t about perfection; it’s about presence.Pain becomes poetry. Perseverance becomes pulse. This conversation wasn’t about promotion — it was about purpose.And as his faith and honesty echo through every line, BookOfJah stands proud to share his story —From the Mind, to the Mic, for the Movement.