Whether through a song or a video, Jay’s work is rooted in purpose: to heal, relate, and remind others they are not alone. Music was an early influence as he was introduced to Tony Braxton, India Arie and Lauryn Hill by his mother and other music such as Michael Jackson (his childhood favorite) and influences of Reggae and Soca from his Belizean father. "I remember rhyming words in school when lea
rning to read and I was almost addicted to pairing words that rhymed and I fell in love with poems and would read kids poem books and write my own poems in early elementary. I also remember loving Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5. Watching the "Michael Jackson American Dream" 5 hour long movie EVERY time it would come on. I was SO in it and I wanted to be just like Mike; to dance and have a connection with the music. I didn't know I was as personally connected to the music then, but I asked for every CD until I was old enough to save my own money. We weren't allowed to listen to most music on the radio growing up. My sister and I would sneak and watch 106&park, Rap City, MTV and BET music videos. I would always pretend to be the rapper and recite the parts I knew. Soon that turned into infatuation and then memorization. I was probably in the 5th grade when I wrote my first rap. Come 7th grade we would beat on the lunch tables and lockers in the locker room and I became addicted to free styling trying to outwit my opponent. By high school I was held to be particularly good at rap and free styling and my friends would often bring my name up or invite me in when it was time to battle or just fool around. Near high school graduation I found more of what I wanted to talk about and what I cared about like my faith and started being more organized in my approach. Today, my music continues to mature and expand and I'm all about creating and having fun while engaging my audience through my lyrics and rhymes"
