Today we’d like to introduce you to Jakiyah Cabell
Hi Jakiyah, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started professionally creating almost a decade ago when I first decided to produce music and embark on a journey as a singer/songwriter after deciding I no longer wanted to pursue a career in Psychology in undergrad. I released my debut EP a couple of years later in 2017 (which is now archived) and then went on to enroll in film school where I’d obtain a Bachelor’s degree in Cinematography & Marketing. At the time, I knew I needed to go back to school to elevate my craft and further my studies in the arts.
While there I learned the art of screenwriting and cinematography. The former helped me grow as a writer and gave me the technical tools I needed to start working on my novel while the latter inspired me to start taking photos where I’d work with various musicians on their album photoshoots. During my side-quest pursuit of photography, I started working on a series where I captured palm trees all over L.A. and one of the multiple exposure studies from that series became “Dreaming of Palm Trees” which I’d later have the photograph hand-dyed on a piece of silk fabric. The silk became the first in a limited edition collection of hand-dyed multipurpose scarves that I’d release in my boutique which tied together my love of music, photography, and fashion designing.
Throughout this time, I acquired various skills that helped me scale my business while simultaneously producing more music that is finally being released and working with different record labels as a marketing consultant, concert cinematographer & tour manager. All of which I’m realizing were stepping stones to help get me closer to my dreams. In these ‘side quests,’ I had experiences and made connections that helped manifest and complete creative projects that have been in the works for years!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road hasn’t been smooth at all. My journey has been an interesting one. Full of ups and downs, false starts, and new beginnings. For one, I’ve never been afraid to pivot. When things in my career aren’t going the way I anticipated, I’ve never been afraid to switch gears and take on a new direction while everything else balances out.
I think that’s the best part about being able to speak multiple creative languages and having ideas that transcend mediums. When I find myself bored, stuck, or creatively burned out, I can easily tap into other gifts and skill sets until inspiration and divine timing strikes and leads me back to other mediums.
As a multidisciplinary artist, I’ve explored many mediums and dabbled in different aspects of my creativity throughout my career before finding the perfect way to blend every aspect in a way that allows me the space and opportunity to tell an immersive story through my art.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a multidisciplinary artist & creative director specializing in the mediums of film, literature, photography, music, and design. I think what sets me apart from others is my ability to innovate and blend various mediums to tell a story and create an impeccable product.
If I had to choose, I’d say I’m most proud of my endurance. As I mentioned previously, I’ve dealt with my fair share of failures and have invested money in my craft only for it to not yield my desired results. But all in all, I’ve always gone back to the drawing board and got right back to it no matter how far away from the finish line I am. That to me sets me apart from most who have given up when the going gets tough.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I see the creative industry becoming more accepting of and championing multidisciplinary creatives. We always hear “A jack of all trades is a master of none.” in a derogatory sense, but most don’t realize the full phrase is that “A jack of all trades is a master of none and oftentimes a master of none is better than a master of one.”
I’ve been counted out and told I need to “niche down” only to end up on the mood boards of those same companies years later attempting to imitate the things I’ve done.
I also predict more strikes and an overall surge and improvement in the way creatives in my industry are paid. Us being paid our worth and given the opportunities to leverage our unique artistry in a way that allows us to thrive and not merely survive as artists. We’ve been undervalued and underpaid for far too long especially because we are the backbone of every industry.
Without creatives and visionaries, nothing happens and until these companies, studios, record labels, and corporations do right by us the state of the art world as we know it will continue to regress and remain stagnant.
Pricing:
- $111 (Single Hand-Dyed Silk-Scarf)
- $222 (Rendez-Two, 2 Scarf Bundle)
- $333 (Menage a Trois, 3 Scarf Bundle)
- $150 (Photography Prints)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jkyhcbll.com/boutique
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/jakiyahcabell
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/lM9Cxu6W5zM?si=DQqOIGkoVy8sfX7f
- Other: https://social.tunecore.com/linkShare?linkid=sZoVcLfeRtqbRkmgPTsLow
Image Credits
image stills are from “err’body luvs di sunshine” a short film/promotional commercial for my collection of scarves
creative directed by me. shot & co-directed by connor fay.
available to watch on youtube here: https://youtu.be/lM9Cxu6W5zM?si=DQqOIGkoVy8sfX7f
