{"id":454173,"date":"2026-09-05T05:38:44","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T05:38:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/454173\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T05:38:44","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T05:38:44","slug":"jwalts-new-spoken-word-album-is-a-testament-to-parenting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/454173\/","title":{"rendered":"Jwalt\u2019s new spoken word album is a testament to parenting"},"content":{"rendered":"

The past two years have been a whirlwind for the Oakland artist Jwalt. The rapper, born Justin Carter Walton, released<\/a> the album \u201cEvery Version of Me\u201d<\/a> last year, and he has been everywhere \u2014 from freestyling alongside rapper Bow Wow<\/a> on the Sirius XM Radio show Sway\u2019s Universe<\/a> earlier this year, to performing locally at events like the Temescal Street Fair and LakeFest, to throwing the first pitch at the Oakland Ballers home opener, to his song \u201cLove Myself\u201d reaching No. 74 on the charts. He also graduated from NYU, got engaged to his fianc\u00e9 Nataya Walton, and welcomed their second child.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It has been quite a journey for the young artist who has been writing poetry since he was 8 years old and launched his professional career while still in high school.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Aug. 14, Jwalt, 24, released his first spoken-word EP, \u201cHow Love Grows,\u201d<\/a> inspired by his Oakland upbringing and his time as a father to his children Massaiah and Amirah Rae.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was moving a lot, traveling a lot, there were a lot of good, powerful things. But, it was also draining,\u201d he said. \u201cAfter Amirah was born, I was doing a lot of writing, a lot of reflecting on fatherhood, my relationship with my children, and with my father, and what I learned about the perception of fatherhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jwalt wasn\u2019t sure what to do with all that writing. He thought about a poetry collection, as poetry was what kickstarted his artistic journey as a kid, when he performed at Oakland Unified School District\u2019s Martin Luther King Jr. Oratorical Festival<\/a>. It was conversations with two friends, the playwright and screenwriter Chinaka Hodge and the actor and producer Daveed Diggs, that convinced him to release the material as a spoken word album.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He teamed up with producer ClayDough<\/a> \u2014 the two had attended Oakland School for the Arts \u2014 to work on the project. They pulled in 16-year old singer Abayomi, a current OSA student who competed on season 24 of American Idol for background vocals on one track, \u201cAmirah Rae.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"NATERA_JWALT-OAKLANDSIDE_260825_022\"\/Jwalt\u2019s new project is a spoken-word album that explores Black fatherhood and community. Credit: Ximena Natera for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

Before you were born, I thought strength
Was how long a man could stand without breaking.
But then I watched your mother bring heaven into our home barefoot.
No hospital lights. No waiting rooms
Just breath, warm water, pain, love, and God
Standing quietly in the corner of the room like a witness.
You came into this world in water. Like something ancient,
Like the ocean itself decided to place a miracle in my hands.<\/p>\n

Two veteran Bay Area lyricists also participated in the EP, Oakland rapper and community activist Mistah F.A.B. and San Francisco poet laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin, who each contributed their voices to the track \u201cHood Like This.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the day The Oaklandside spoke to Jwalt, he was with his fianc\u00e9 Nataya and their kids at the Leona Heights home of his maternal grandparents, Tina and Anthony Jones. The home is filled with family photographs, including baby photos of Jwalt, his twin brother Jordan and his youngest brother Trevor, and various wedding photos.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever it\u2019s someone\u2019s birthday, my grandma prints tons of photos to decorate all around the house,\u201d Jwalt said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is the home where the extended family meets every week for family dinner, and where the Joneses raised their own kids, and now watch over their grandkids.\u00a0The home also serves as the backdrop for the video<\/a> of the track \u201cFatherhood.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had Sunday dinner every week for the past 27 years,\u201d Anthony Jones said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"NATERA_JWALT-OAKLANDSIDE_260825_014\"\/Jwalt sits by his son Massaiah during dinner while his fianc\u00e9, Nataya Walton, feeds their one-year-old daughter, Amirah Rae. Credit: Ximena Natera for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"NATERA_JWALT-OAKLANDSIDE_260825_008\"\/From left to right: Jwalt, his son Massaiah and Anthony Jones, his grandfather, pose for a portrait in Jones\u2019s living room. Credit: Ximena Natera for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\u2018Dada, be cool\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cDada, be cool,\u201d Massaiah tells his dad as Ximena Natera, The Oaklandside\u2019s photographer, starts snapping photos on the patio.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat should I do?\u201d Jwalt asks his son as he tries out poses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLike that, dada,\u201d Massaiah says.<\/p>\n

His grandparents are nearby in the kitchen, and Nataya is watching after Amirah Rae as she wobbles around the house.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jwalt said his maternal grandparents moved here from Baltimore to begin their now three-generation Oakland family. His father\u2019s side of the family is from Southern California.<\/p>\n

\u201cOakland is like no place in the world,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve been lucky enough to travel all over the world and I still come back to there\u2019s no place like Oakland, no place like home.\u201d<\/p>\n

These moments with family are what the new EP is all about.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of the tracks, titled \u201cMy Father\u2019s Hands (Black Fatherhood),\u201d<\/a> pays tribute to his father Dewayne Walton, recognizing how hard he worked to provide for the family.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I remember my father\u2019s hands.
How they wrapped around my back when I was down,
Fixed broken things around the house,\u00a0
Held my childhood together without looking for a thank you.<\/p>\n

The track includes a recording of his paternal grandfather speaking.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really special to me to have my grandfather\u2019s voice on the project,\u201d he said. \u2018That\u2019s something that\u2019s gonna live forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy whole project, I see it as a time capsule in a way,\u201d Jwalt said. \u201cIt\u2019s something that my kids will be able to go back to and listen to, and get to hear what I say about them, or even hearing about my relationship with my dad, their grandfather, and how that shaped me.\u201d<\/p>\n

In another track, titled \u201cFatherhood,\u201d<\/a> he touches on the trials, tribulations and joy of being a young father \u2014 he first became a dad at 19 \u2014 and the need to own up to mistakes, and to be honest and be present.<\/p>\n

\"NATERA_JWALT-OAKLANDSIDE_260825_030\"\/Jwalt and his father, Dewayne Walton. Both men became fathers at a young age, which has help them bond. Credit: Ximena Natera for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

Jwalt said he learned many lessons from his father, Dewayne Walton, about how to navigate his way through life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have to feel like you have to do it by yourself,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot of my family, we lean on each other. Especially, sometimes as men, we feel like we can\u2019t be emotional, or we can\u2019t ask for help. I had good figures in my life that showed that it was OK.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Hard work and faith\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Jwalt said his father cried the first time he heard the EP.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe thought it was powerful,\u201d Jwalt said. \u201cBoth my parents loved it. They\u2019re very proud of this piece and the work on this album.\u201d<\/p>\n

At one point during the photo session with The Oaklandside, he pauses to take a call from his dad.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m doing an interview,\u201d het says. \u201cCan you come by so the reporter can talk to you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

His parents only live about five minutes away, so not 15 minutes later, his parents and his younger brother Trevor appear. His mom, Alexsandra Walton, quickly scooped up her granddaughter and propped the toddler on her hip.<\/p>\n

Her husband Dewayne said the best part of fatherhood was seeing the journey his children have been on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe past 24 years have been like flipping through a picture book,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s gone so fast, but I remember every minute detail.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dewayne said that his children have strong family roots on both sides of the family. Alexsandra\u2019s parents have been married for over five decades, he said, while his own have been married for over six decades.<\/p>\n

\"NATERA_JWALT-OAKLANDSIDE_260825_027\"\/From left to right: Jwalt, his grandfather Anthony Jones, his son Massaiah Walton, his father Dewayne Walton and his younger brother Trevor Walton. Credit: Ximena Natera for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

Faith plays a strong role in Jwalt\u2019s life and the life of his family, and it shows up on the album in the track \u201cMassaiah,\u201d in which he can be heard praying with his young son.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just got off the phone with my dad just before I came down here, and he\u2019s always telling me to be thankful and and thank God for what you have because you got to put in the work,\u201d Jwalt\u2019s father Dewayne said. \u201cWe are all a very Christian-based family. So, hard work and faith. Those are the two things that we instilled in them now as they\u2019re growing up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones\u2019 pride in his grandson is evident as he speaks about Jwalt\u2019s accomplishments as a father and as an artist.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has stuck to what he wanted to do, and he\u2019s done a really great job,\u201d Jones said. \u201cHe\u2019s a great kid.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, to see how they raise their kids, and I know it comes from the way we raised them, treated them, and they are passing that on \u2014 it\u2019s a full circle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jwalt said the lessons he learned from his grandfathers and his father help him serve as a role model as well, not just for his own children but for other Oakland kids, through his work. He likes to give back to all the places that helped him learn his craft, such as Youth Speaks<\/a> and Youth Radio<\/a>, where he mentors younger kids who, he said, look like him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to show that first of all, it\u2019s possible to follow and achieve your dreams,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it\u2019s also possible to make it bigger than your city. A lot of folks sometimes get caught up and feel like it\u2019s not possible to leave Oakland. I try to be a testament to show that it is possible. You can do what you want to do. You just got to put in that work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, raising a second child back home in North Oakland, he feels more grounded, and more established.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, because my family is what I always come home to, it\u2019s what always rebalances me,\u201d Jwalt said. \u201cMy family keeps me grounded, and it also motivates me to keep on going.\u201d<\/p>\n

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