Vice Spotlight: Leaping Tiger

Jacob Park, otherwise known as Leaping Tiger, is a New Zealander doing it like no other. He’s  a producer, singer, writer and bass player. He can even do several of those things at the same time –live– which is one of the coolest things I’ve seen in the Aotearoa music scene.

He’s been producing music under Leaping Tiger for years, but says he started “taking it seriously in his first year of university” seven years ago. 

Since then he’s released multiple projects, done collabs with other artists and has even started his own media brand ESP, all of which has been done independently. 

And now, finally, we have the 3rd Leaping Tiger album, Godspeed, an electronic dreamscape with elements of hip-hop, jazz, and pop. 

The album is a tight 24 minute, 9 track release with no song overstaying its welcome. The energy appropriately takes you up with fashion week banger “Miu Miu” (feat. Nganeko) to the heartfelt synth pop “Honest” (feat. Pollyhill). I must have listened to it front to back five times the day it came out and made everyone I was working with at the pub do the same.

Unbeknownst to me, and most other listeners, Godspeed is Jacobs ode to Aotearoa. The album is the last thing he made before setting off to his new life in London.

“I really just wanted for this album to be a timestamp of my time and experience being in the New Zealand music scene,” he told VICE over a call.

And if you listen closely you can hear the clues.

Tracks like “Protagonist” use Skepta's Red Bull Academy interview over some captivating saxophone by JY Lee.  The final track “Godspeed” has a recording Jacob took of his arrival at Heathrow airport.

“I was like three pinot gris’ deep as well and I was like fuck. I was stressing like, ‘Am I gonna miss this shit?’ and I was holding my phone just waiting,” he says.

All of these are playful hints pointing to a new era and direction  for Leaping Tiger and it’s probably one of my favourite things in music: when an artist leaves little easter eggs throughout their discography for you to find. It’s another reason you should listen to albums start to finish rather than just playlists.

Other than the self referential tracks, you have a stack of incredible NZ artists on the album who have been carefully selected by Jacob. 

“I wanted all the features to be New Zealand artists that I know and love and also for them to be like my contemporaries – like an extra accurate reflection of who's been around me in that time,” he says.

“I just want to work with my friends.”

A friendship that’s back for their second time, is Church & AP, the rap duo from Auckland who have been on the scene since they were 17 and 18. In 2020, Jacob and the two teamed up to create the bass slapping banger that is “Screw Face”. Clearly, the friendship lasted and is back on the track, “Carpe Diem”, which has the classic Church & AP pass-the-baton flow with the addition of an infectious hook – that gets stuck in your head – from Jacob. The way he uses feature artists reminds me of Kaytranada. He makes a track with an artist in mind and creates something that works best for them. It’s a rare talent.

It’s unmistakable when you listen to Godspeed that Jacob is inspired by some of the best in the game: Flume, James Blake, Blood Orange and more. But still it’s his own style. Jacob makes music for himself and himself only.

This appropriately selfish outlook is what reminds him that he can’t just sound like his musical heroes.

“You've got to be honest with yourself and just make the music that feels like you. You know when it feels like you and you know when you're trying to just rip off another artist,” he says.

“Most of your influencers are going to shine through anyway.”

This was a hard lesson given to Jacob through a piece of advice from Jason Eli, a tutor at MAINZ, when he listened to his beats years ago.

“Yeah, like this is good, but, you know, I've heard this a million times. You sound like all these kids who go here and try to make these Flume type beats. You're a bass player, right? Why don't you play bass?” Eli told Jacob.

And now if you ask me, Jacobs bass playing is one of the stand out pieces of his music. It shines beyond his inspirations and creates the sound that is Leaping Tiger.

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