Rich Jones had big plans for 2020. At the top of the year, he released his long-awaited collaborative project with producer/multi-instrumentalist Walkingshoe, hosted shows at some of Chicago's most beloved music venues, and prepped for a national tour. The country went on lockdown roughly two months after Jones and Walkingshoe released their Bad Ambassadors album, a project that was in the works for several years, and the Chicago MC had to scrap his initial plans for 2020 and start over.

One of the first things he did during lockdown was convince longtime friend and collaborator Montana Macks to put out a compilation LP of his unreleased instrumentals. Macks and Jones went through a folder of 2,500 beats and compiled 11 beats for the producer’s first instrumental project, Arrivals & Departures, which was released at the end of July. While Jones was playing A&R for Macks’ album, he became inspired to write to some of those instrumentals, and in a matter of months, the two completed How do you sleep at night?, their first project together since 2015’s Pigeons & Waffles (recently re-released on Jones’ Bandcamp).

How do you sleep at night? serves a snapshot of life in Chicago during the summer of 2020. Jones, who often presents himself as a curator of good vibes and a lover of life, has a drastically darker tone over the course of the record’s 10 tracks, matching the pain and grief from the past nine months. Despite writing and recording this album during quarantine, the pandemic is rarely mentioned in the songs, outside of calling out the upper class’ lack of empathy during a health crisis. But COVID-19 does linger in the background of these songs, as he tells stories of paranoia and isolation, while questioning people who continue living life business-as-usual as so many of their neighbors suffer.

Jones dedicates much of his writing on this record to his critiques of public officials and their handling of police brutality during city-wide protests that took place last summer, following the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota. Over Montana Macks’ dusty, lo-fi production, Jones is angry at the world he sees. He ponders getting a gun to protect himself and friends, booby trapping his home (a la Home Alone), and killing fascists, all without raising his voice.

On the album’s climax, “And It Was Beautiful,” Jones reveals his central thesis for How do you sleep at night?: “Property over people ain't the math I subscribe to.” In a year where the mayor raised the bridges to prevent people from going downtown during the summer protests and news pundits suggested choosing the economy over the health of citizens, Jones reminds us what is most important – the people.

Congratulations on the album release! The response so far seems really positive - how’s everything feeling for you?

Thanks! It’s been fantastic all things considered. Normally for a release we’d throw a big show and all our friends would pack in somewhere and we’d have a laugh. Unfortunately that’s not possible for the foreseeable future but it’s been special to feel so supported by our community and that the music has resonated as deeply as it is with some folks.

You team back up with longtime collaborator Montana Macks for this project, what served as the spark (or catalyst) to starting How Do You Sleep at Night?

RJ: Initially, I was chilling out pretty hard listening to Macks’ vault helping him organize it a bit (the guy’s got a shit ton of beats). As I kept going through it, I started thinking on who might make sense for certain beats vocally or flow wise from amongst our friends and at a certain point I figured I could do some of them justice too! Lucky me, Swords, Troy and Walkingshoe lent me some gear so I could start recording from home. Once I started playing around and got comfortable, things really started to click.

The album sees you at some of your best yet, is there a song that feels the most meaningful to you?

“How do you sleep at night?” hits home pretty hard. Maybe the internet has made me too hyper aware of the choices of others, be it our elected officials or the maskless and oblivious, but I just found myself asking that question a LOT this year. I’m not a saint but there are some really devastating things that have happened and are happening and I’m blown away by people's ability to ignore it all. Wake up dammit!

You’ve put together a pretty deep & wide-ranging catalogue over the years, how does this one rank among the rest for you?

This is the best project I’ve released to date and if I ever don’t say that when I’m dropping something new, I’ve royally fucked up.

You’ve continued to be one of the best at showcasing & curating below the radar emcees from the city - this project is no exception - can you talk to us a little bit about the artists you chose to feature here?

Simply put, I wanted friends involved because I miss them all terribly. But also - the album is very much rooted in my experiences here in Chicago and I wanted to feature artists who have been a part of that journey. Psalm was the 1st show I went to when I was 15. Skech and Def were friends I made at the earliest open mics I’d frequent. Mykele, Blk, Davis, A.M., Matt and Jovan I met through rocking or going to shows and parties over the years. All in all, very much a family affair and they did not disappoint!

Bandcamp has really stepped up for artists this year, can you share a little bit with us about your decision to go Bandcamp Exclusive with this album?

Honestly, given the absolute contempt Spotify has shown independent artists in terms of their compensation model, going this route was a no brainer. Streaming works for certain artists really well and I definitely have a handful friends who eat off of it but I know way more people who are lucky if they even see $100 in a full year. I figured at this point, why not bet on us and see what would happen if we asked for direct support from our friends and fans. I also didn’t want to see people find the music blindly through some playlist completely devoid of context from the larger work. What I DO really want is for people to receive it all in full and Bandcamp provided the best platform for that. Throw on headphones, take a drive, whatever your preferred method of intentional listening - do that! Bonus if you’re so inclined to crack open a Topo Chico and roll up, the album really moves that way.

We’re seeing the posters all over the city - looking forward, what else can we expect to see come from this album?

Macks and I have some fun tricks up our sleeve. We have cassette tapes touching down at some point soon, plus a few other goodies which you’ll hear about when the time is right.

And, the question we’ve all been waiting for, how do you sleep at night?

Better than I was this summer, I’ll tell you that. Here’s praying we get our shit figured out.