Gary Clark Jr. has always been a genre-defying artist, but with JPEG RAW, he set out to reinvent himself. “I turned into a 12-year-old kid again,” he says. After years of being typecast in the blues world, the pandemic gave him space to experiment, study, and expand his approach. “I started realizing I’d been in rooms with Wayne Shorter, Robert Glasper, and Esperanza Spalding, and I was exposed—like, ‘Oh no, this isn’t just three chords and the truth anymore.’”
That musical curiosity led him to dig deeper into African guitar styles, jazz theory, and unconventional rhythms. The album’s opening track, Maktub, was inspired by West African music, something Clark had long admired but never fully explored. “I didn’t even realize I was absorbing it,” he admits. “Then I picked up the guitar and it just came out.”
This mindset shaped the entire record, blending blues, jazz, soul, and experimental rock. “Nobody was watching. There were no expectations. I wasn’t making a Gary Clark Jr. album—I was just making music.”
The themes of JPEG RAW go beyond musical reinvention—it’s also a record about perseverance. The song This Is Who We Are sums up his outlook: “Turn tragedy to triumph.” Clark explains, “2020 knocked me down. But I still believe in us, and I want my kids to believe in us. If something happened to me, I’d want them to take this album as a message: You don’t give up.”
Clark didn’t just push himself musically—he also surrounded himself with greatness. The album features contributions from Stevie Wonder, George Clinton, and Valerie June. “Stevie was a dream. Valerie? Her voice was meant for this record,” he says. But he also took inspiration from jazz legends, incorporating samples from Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis. “It wasn’t about name-dropping—it was about absorbing their energy.”
With a revamped band and a hunger to translate these songs live, Clark is ready to hit the road. “There are some real changes in the lineup this time. It’s going to be different,” he teases.
And as for what’s next? He’s open to anything—even bagpipes. “Kyle’s fault if I do that,” he laughs. “But I’m in a place where I’m just exploring, man. There are no limits anymore.”
Watch the interview above and then check out the video below.
