Daily Inspiration: Meet Jay Hollywood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jay Hollywood.

Hi Jay, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My story really started when I was like five years old using my dad’s iPad. I spent a lot of time on GarageBand and iMovie making songs and little videos with my brother. We would shoot music videos around the house, and whenever we were with friends at church or school we’d use iMovie’s trailer mode to make short films together. That early curiosity about music and filmmaking stuck with me as I got older.

In middle school, I started putting out mixtapes on SoundCloud and would literally email them to my entire grade and put up posters of the album cover all over the school. Around that same time, I joined the media team at my church, where I learned how to run live audio, operate cameras, and help direct the livestream broadcast. That experience gave me my first real exposure to production from a technical side.

By high school, I had started releasing music under the name Jay Hollywood while also directing my own music videos, visuals, and narrative short films. Since then, I’ve continued developing both music and filmmaking while exploring other creative mediums like design.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
One of the biggest challenges for me has been pushing back against the boxes people try to put me in. Because the most visible part of my work is rapping, a lot of people assume that’s the only thing I do. What they don’t always see is that I’m also the person making the beats, writing the songs, mixing and mastering the track, designing the cover art, directing the music videos, and even styling or designing clothing for the visuals. I’m really passionate about world-building and having my hands in every part of the creative process, and I take pride in wearing so many hats.

Sometimes that means the work behind the scenes doesn’t always get recognized, or when I pitch ideas that extend beyond rap, especially filmmaking or visual work, I’m met with skepticism, as if rap is the only lane I’m capable of operating in. A lot of my effort has been about expanding that perception and showing people the full scope of what I do creatively.

At the same time, I’m very intentional about how I talk about that. Hip-hop is a Black art form that I love deeply, and I never want to distance myself from it or diminish it in order to be taken seriously in other fields. I never want to be lumped into the “I’m not a rapper, I’m an artist” crowd. I’m just trying to show that rap is only one part of my larger creative vision.

So far this year, I’ve been especially intentional about highlighting those other sides of my work. It’s been a process of making sure people understand that the artistry doesn’t stop at rap.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I usually just describe myself as an artist because my work spans a few different disciplines, but at the core, I see myself as both a musician and a filmmaker.

Most people know me through my music. I’m a writer, singer, rapper, producer, and engineer, and I handle pretty much every part of making a song. At the same time, I’m also a filmmaker. I write and direct my own visuals and short films, but I also enjoy working on other sets in assistant roles.

The project I’m most proud of is my album, the funeral, which I released last year. It was something I had been planning and conceptualizing for years. I was confident in the music, but what mattered just as much to me was building a full experience around it. Some of my favorite artists like Tyler, Kanye, or Michael Jackson, create entire worlds around their work, and that’s always inspired me.

With the funeral, I feel like I achieved that for the first time in my career. Everything from the music and visuals to the teasers, merch, design, marketing, and live performances was part of one cohesive narrative and aesthetic. Seeing all those pieces come together into something bigger than just a collection of songs is something I’m really proud of.

Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
For the past two years, my friend Tyler Hope has been my closest creative collaborator. He’s shot nearly all of my visuals, whether that’s short films or music videos, and has been there for pretty much every idea I’ve wanted to bring to life. No matter how ambitious or unconventional the concept is, he’s always been willing to jump in and figure out how to make it happen with me.

We complement each other really well creatively, and I love collaborating with him. He has an incredible ability to translate my ideas into strong visual storytelling, and there’s honestly nobody I trust more when it comes to bringing those concepts to life on screen.

Working so closely with Tyler has also taught me a lot as a filmmaker. Being able to watch his process up close and see the level of dedication he brings to his craft has been really inspiring. His work ethic pushes me to keep raising my own standards, and a lot of what I’ve been able to create over the past couple of years wouldn’t exist without that partnership.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jayhollywood.co/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imjayhollywood/
• Twitter: https://x.com/imjayhollywood
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@jayhollywood.?si=ziAahZitRLOP9J4f

Image Credits
Roda Teame, Gio Cabaltica, Allyson Weisel, Tyler Hope