No change but what we make

From the moment we meet, Catherine Saint Jude Pretorius defines openness. Speaking from her current base in London just as summer teeters on the brink of autumn, the Cape Town-born artist is many things to many people. Not least herself. But regardless of where the story starts, her narrative always comes down to celebrating difference and fuelling change.

Today she’s arguably one of the most unique rappers in the UK capital. Her studio output is best described as heady: up-front street beats that make bodies move, all stomping drums, playful effects, and ear worm loops. Meanwhile, the rhymes tread a fine line between social consciousness, LGBTQ rights, and razor sharp wit, usually in one flawless bar. Universally accessible yet unarguably niche, to appreciate where these ideas come from you first need to understand her background.

Our first encounter with Dope Saint Jude’s uncompromising attitude was 2016’s Reimagine, the track’s soulful instrumental creating a deceptively laidback mood contrasting rhymes about disillusionment with the status quo: ‘People are different and people are strange; But the ones who are different keep sparking a change’, she spits with typically effortless flow. Indicative of her early approach to sending clear messages, in 2021 that determination remains but the route is different. Not mellowed, but certainly matured. Hence last year’s Go High Go Low, its lines about solitude and difficulties finding workable solutions.

“It was more about making queer hip hop, that was my intent in the beginning. Now it’s more about self expression, making art that obviously still has a strong thread of queer representation and the representation of women, my identity shown through art. I would say it’s more about making things that feel good,” Jude says of recent work. “It was very angry and rebellious. I still have that fire, but I think there’s a reason when you see social movements arrive they are always run by young people.

Our conversation coincides not just with the changing of seasons, but a feeling that society itself is shifting, taking culture along for the ride with it. The pandemic laid bare many inequalities, but from Black Lives Matter to shameful economic imbalances between rich and poor, they were staring everyone in the face long before that Great Pause. And if one thing is for certain, as we emerge from the waking nightmare there’s no going back, with the expectation of genuine progress even louder than Jude’s anthem, Grrrl Like, itself a comment on how broad female identity has become. And recent research by Ballantine’s True Music shows just how prevalent prejudice is in the scene. Simply put, the majority of those polled, across four continents, had either experienced or witnessed discrimination at an event. The result being a series of pledges from the platform, including safe dance floor policies at all brand shows, and fair payment guarantees.

Paying people fairly based on factors outside race, nationality, or location needs to be a priority,” Jude replies when asked what steps the music industry should take to address prevailing and endemic equality issues. “I’ve seen people pay artists differently. If you’re from South Africa, because people are often paid in rands, they might see their fee drop. Then UK artists get paid more, even though there might be a similar sized following for both. And this goes for everyone, photographers, whoever… Also, giving Black artists more freedom to be creative in the same way as white artists. Often Black artists are put into an urban category, or hip hop. There’s not the same room to experiment, or the same platforms. I want see them able to be their authentic selves.

In her own words, “there’s a lot of work to do”. Nevertheless, Jude is keen to point out how much ground has already been made. The critical and commercial success of her own discography is one example in contemporary hip hop. But she’s quick to namecheck a host of women currently leading from the front in streaming and sales figures, including Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion. We ask about other artists who inspire hope that visibility is improving for musicians who have traditionally been marginalised.

“A big shift happened with the emergence of Lil’ Nas X as top-selling artist on Spotify. That’s a Black, gay man. That’s insane, it says a lot about where we are now,” Jude responds, albeit acknowledging difficulties achieving that recognition. “Even though he’s met with a lot of hate and there’s a lot of controversy around him, I think it’s a very tangible marker of things changing. I would like to see how that trickles down to other, smaller artists. How they are perceived, how they are booked, how venues start treating queer artists. Not having them as novelty acts, just having them on the lineup as themselves. Not a token act.

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