Just Jack

Before achieving any recognition, Jack Allsopp, known professionally as Just Jack, took on an assortment of jobs as a flower arranger, gardener, and cleaner, doing whatever was necessary "to put crust on the table." One of those positions brought him to RGRecords, where he passed a copy of his demo directly to the label head, Chas Smash, the former Madness singer and dancer. Smash immediately embraced the sound and offered Allsopp a four-album contract.

The deal marked the culmination of a lengthy apprenticeship for the Camden, England rapper. Allsopp had been drawn to every strain of Black music from an early age and had already started DJ'ing by the time he turned 14. The indie guitar scene left him unmoved, yet electro, hip-hop, and house consistently energized him. He merged those influences, applied his own English inflection, and cut the single "Snowflakes" for RGR in 2003. British journalists responded at once, and a mash-up of "Snowflakes" with the Cure's "Lullaby" created by Eddie Temple-Morris and Jay Reynolds turned into an immediate club favorite. The same mash-up appeared on the U.S. edition of Just Jack's debut album, The Outer Marker, issued by TVT in late 2003. In 2006 he delivered the elaborate yet relaxed follow-up Overtones.