After a long wait Carolina artist Stephan Jailon dropped his new album Oak City Blues. The 28 track album which is split into a A-side and B-Side has Stephen showing is versatility as an artist, and flexing musical talent in what is just an intro of what is he has to offer. Oak City Blues is 28 crisp tracks that are filled with fun, love, and loss. I know you might see that “28 tracks” part and want to skim through the project, but you would be missing out on what is arguably one of the best underground projects this year.

“A.L.I Freestyle” the opening track chose for this project is sonically phenomenal, and what really ties the opening track together is the beat. Sampling Jasmine from Jai Paul the producer which is Stephen his self shows that he knows what he is doing not only vocally but is also a beast on the production end as well. In our latest interview with him we go on depth about the album to learn more about what inspired the sound for the album, why he chose to do an A - Side, B - Side track list, and many more. Find out more below.

What does the title Oak City Blues mean for you and how does this latest album add value to your discography?

Oak City Blues for me is the alignment of a story fully hitting home and where I am with music right now and the value I think added for me personally was I finally think I made something in the direction I really want to go

Give us a background about Oak City Blues what themes, locations, individuals and experiences have inspired the LP?

Oak City for one is a name for the city, my city Raleigh, North Carolina the blues was added to gesture the themes of pain, hard-work, and dedication that runs deep in the city and state. Not to dive to deep but memory was the main driver for this project I tried to tap into the feelings of when we first had that good summer night party or the first love and the shortcomings in between to the recognition of truth and growth with me as a person and my situations etc..

What gave you the inspiration to do an A side and B side for the album and what type of vibes were you going for each side?

Honestly in my opinion I just noticed the full length albums were starting to come back into play for the masses and at first I originally prepared for two releases Word on Road was originally side A and OCB was originally side B but after countless sessions and listenings we figured we just compile the best of the two and show both sides of me in the booth

Give us walkthrough of Side A

Point Blank Side a for all the hard gritty, we gone get this money sh*t...real raleigh sh*t !

Give us walkthrough of Side B

Side B I wanted a little more intricate I wanted this one to really capture the emotions and subtlety of the city

On production credits your name not only appears as the artist, but you also were executive producer, played a direct role in production of the majority of the songs, and also helped with engineering. How was it playing so many different roles in the making of the album?

That’s really how I make all of my music from ground up but i def have producers and engineers I love truly but most of the time I like to record like “next, next, NEXT” and when I don’t like something I go right back like oh the 808 should be like this or nah imma take this vocal out. You have direct access to it it’s not middle man I think everyone gets where I’m going with it...but I also really loved playing all the roles because I really get to treat and careful for my music like I know no one else will not a perfectionist but I definitely like to be apart of my process I don’t sit back and smoke all day in the Studio I’m really active in the yo, like leave me there by myself type sh*t!


Give us some background on Ali Road Studios, how and what kind of role did the collective play in the making of the album?

The team really kept my spirits high they’ve helped on some the production, promotion, and performance of the album. My favorite part of the team is the perspectives we are all from the same area mostly but very different views but it works so it’s dope ya know?!

On the album you only have two features Noah, and Krew$ can you tell us more about these artist and your decision in only featuring both?

Noah is Amazing, I consider him a brother first before the music shit he’s not only an artist but one of the best A&R’s in the city he gets every one from every crowd and can respond to each and get people that wouldn’t be in a room together on a stage or in a studio and that’s specials admire him and the The Lo$t Generation family’s work entirely.

I actually met Krew$ via Soundcloud long story short we chopped shit in dm’s and got to working Money Counter was the first song we ever made I remember I made the beat and laid my sh*t in the same session and I sent it to him and like the next day or so he sent his verse back and I just knew from then ok we make hits and Losing Faith was the second record and everything happened the same way exactly all over again so my brother Krew$ is a no brainer when you need the hits man

What was the timeline with the album, about how long did it take before you knew it was ready for release?

Really this album was a living process more than a musical one it’s some songs where I felt things that were pure to me fours years ago and some four months and for me it finally came together July and I decided the date like the first

What are some of your favorite tracks on the album and why?

Carolina Cruiser just cause it’s one of the oldest songs on there and I made that when I first started making music like one of my first few songs so to sit on that one for a while and just now release it feels super good, Weekdayz my second just because that whole song is really a conversation with myself and my demons

What can we expect in the future from Stephen Jailon, and Ali Road Studios

I’ve got a tape promised to my supporters locked tight at the moment but that’s for later this year but there will be new merch + videos in the following months.

Any last words?

I’m just super humbled and thankful for the reception. When you know it’s whipped from scratched it just feels different but all in all we just working

You can stream Oak City Blues now on Apple Music and SoundCloud and to keep up with Stephen Jailon and Ali Road for new releases you can find Stephen on Instagram and Twitter and find Ali Road on Instagram here. Also if you want to support him snd his collective studio be sure to check out there merch store right here. Big shout out to Stephen Jailon for coming on Nefarious Supply, he really did his city proud with this body of work.

If you have listened to Oak City Blues let us know your favorite song below and If you enjoyed this interview be sure to leave a like and comment. To keep up with content coming from Nefarious Supply you can find us on Instagram, Twitter, Apple News and Facebook.