Today we’d like to introduce you to Earl Gray.
Hi Earl, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Born Emanuel Jordan, I’m from Pensacola, FL born and raised but I’ve always had an affinity for Los Angeles. I always had an understanding that I was different from others and found more excitement doing things that are out of the norm.
I was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in middle school and struggled yet managed to graduate high school, but I always had dreams of being a star. With no scholarships, subpar grades and no plan, I joined the Air Force and initially planned to make a career of it. I decided not to re-enlist however because I wanted to pursue a career in music. I had not yet decided it would be as a rapper but as an A&R for a major record label in hopes of running my own one day.
I’m originally a poet. I wrote my first poem in the fourth grade but it wasn’t until a friend of mine introduced me to her poetry in high school that sparked my inspiration to write again. I would write about love and my aspirations for a better way of life. I used to write my poems to songs that would create the mood for my writing to flow. This is how I established my rhyme scheme that eventually turned into rapping. I would post these poems online on my Tumblr.
It was not until the pandemic that I got laid off from work, and I started songwriting as a way to pass the time and use the isolation wisely. It was at this time that I wrote and recorded my first song which was “Begin”, the first song on my Debut EP “Tea Time at Mannies”. I finished writing the remaining songs on the EP once I relocated to Los Angeles in June 2020 for school at The Los Angeles Recording School. In that same year, I started my indie record Label, The Many Moons Co. In the following year, I signed my first artist HOLLYWOOD CINQO, and released his Debut LP “LE NOMBRE CINQ”.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It hasn’t been a smooth road at all but its been worth it.
I moved to Los Angeles in June 2020 in the middle of a pandemic. In that same year, I released my debut EP, “Tea Time At Mannie’s”. Due to money restraints as well as COVID restrictions, It was recorded entirely in my bedroom closet. I also directed my video “Tea Time At Mannies” that was shot in my bedroom. My middle school friend Brandon flew in from Las Vegas to shoot it. I dropped out of my program at The Los Angeles Recording School” before I decided to go back and finished so I could graduate in December 2022.
I was going to school full time as well as bartending full time in order to save up for beats and studio time to record my debut LP, “Drink More Tea”.
A lot of my hardships made it hard for me to create so I had no motivation to release music. It’s been three years since I’ve released any music or dropped any visuals. On December 30th, I held an album pre-release/Listening party called “EARL’s Tea Party” for my debut LP. Planning and paying for the event out of pocket was definitely an obstacle but to see how everyone received the music was worth while.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I was very out going and very animated. I always enjoyed being the center of attention and I loved to draw laughs from those that were around me. I was always great with impressions and enjoyed acting out my favorite movie scene mid-conversation. Im a middle child of five and I grew up escaping my reality through movies and music. I played the trumpet and the baritone in the middle school band, and I also used to box as my sport of choice. I worked at Chuck E. Cheese’s and American Eagle Outfitters in High School until I relocated to Copperas Cove, TX prior to joining the military.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pourmyteabxtch/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pourmyteabxtch/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@themanymoonsco.4584
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/themanymoonsco
Image Credits
Felisha Carrasco Sharon Marrero
