Today we’d like to introduce you to Jay Ward.
Jay, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I grew up involved in the music department at my church. I was always in the choir or playing the drums as a child so that sparked my interest in music and developed my inclination. Me and my sister used to make music together playing around all the time, and she began to take it serious and got a record deal. By the time I got to high school, I was already writing songs and rapping while also still playing the drums at church every week, and I met my boy Darius, who comes from a musical family as well and we got in the studio. Ever since thats been my whole life.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
You know they say for every overnight success there was years developing it. I’m probably on my 10th year seriously doing music, so I would say it definitely hasn’t been a smooth road but I’m still blessed to be on the journey. Anybody that does music knows that it’s little things that can derail you or attempt to break your focus whether it be not having anywhere to make music or not having support or even a relationship distracting you from your goals. It’s all apart of the game tho, and how you deal with all the bullshit is what separates you from the average musician/artist.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
So growing up in church obviously there was no chance to really rap for real, so my initial foot in the door was singing. I had to learn how to engage a crowd during my solo’s at a young age and really figure out how to make my voice sound good. Being a rapper from Los Angeles is tough because there’s so much talent all around you and for me, my niche has always been the fact that I can rap with the best of em, but I can also slow it all the way down and get on some RnB shit. I feel like that’s what sets me apart. Along with my ear for music. I think that growing up around real instruments and real song structure and theory helped develop my talent at a higher and faster level.
I’m releasing singles and focusing on my visuals right now but I’m about to go on a crazy run. I might drop a small project between now and the summer, but I’m working on my album right now that I want to release by the end of June.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
In no way shape or form can I take all the credit for my catalogue or my success. There’s a long list of people that help my vision come to life and even offer their own vision to help widen my horizons. I’ve had my main production team over the years that have stayed with me regardless of the situation and they honestly deserve majority of the credit. Shoutout Darius (15hunnitboy), Fresh & Jared, Walt Mansa of LFTFLD, Blxst, and everyone else who even thought to make a song with me. Also, I have a team of people who believe in me and they help me get everything organized and ready to present to the public, so shout out to Kevin, Vic, Novy, and my whole team. Also, thank you to Rance of 1500 or nothin for letting me be a fly on the wall all these years and really embracing me and allowing me to grow up around the vibes that we all know and recognize around the city, even if you don’t know who was responsible for it.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @jaywardisme
- Twitter: @jaywardisme
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