Meet Jaquan Barnett aka Artis of Beautiful Noize Entertainment

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jaquan Barnett aka Artis.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Jaquan. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My name is Jaquan Tamar Artis Barnett. I am a Hip Hop artist, music producer and I work in film. My middle name, Artis, is my artist name and is an acronym meaning, “Act Real To Innovate Success.”

I am CEO to music label Beautiful Noize Entertainment, my independent Black-owned business. I write and produce my individual music as well as develop and collaborate with my label artists.

My journey to becoming who I am today has many paths, but was sparked in college when I was in a four-man music group called B.A.S.I.C. meaning, “Black and Succeeding in College.” I wrote my own lyrics as well as produced and managed the group. It was during this time in college that I built my very first studio. We marketed and released an album together and performed our original music on campus in front of a very large crowd of students, faculty and non-students.

It was very clear to me in this moment when I performed that I was in a new territory in my life that I had never experienced. The energy from the crowd was absolutely electrifying and that alone was the catalyst to solidify my interest in music. I contemplated it so deeply that I strongly considered making music for a living and let go of going to law school. This kind of unfamiliar but good feeling left me with goosebumps and tingles all over my body to the point that I couldn’t even sleep. I stayed up for over six hours after my performance, just in awe of how much I impacted people with my art. I had a really good taste and I wanted more!

After college, I focused my energy on creating my own music platform and expanded my studio. I continued to teach myself as well as further my education in the production realm while also exposing myself to opportunities in front of and behind the camera. I started Beautiful Noize Entertainment, LLC and developed the artists I had on my roster. I released my project “Raising The Bar” and built momentum from this piece of art.

Over time, I gained and sharpened more skillsets. While collaborating with my artists, I began to film and direct our music videos in-house and expanded my creativity as a producer. I also carved out time to network which led to opportunities for me to film and edit videos for celebrity clients, artists, and celebrity red-carpet interviews in the heart of Los Angeles.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The most challenging obstacle that I have personally dealt with— involving my career aspirations— is the duality of balancing my career as a Hip-Hop artist, attempting to sustain the momentum I had generated for my label and brand. All the while, being confronted with disastrous emergency and tragic circumstances involving my parents, siblings and family that unfolded at the very moment I started to peak.

My father lost his job and self-employed business while at the same time his father, my grandfather, had passed away. My family attempted to grieve, but it was difficult when simultaneously, they were facing eviction. I had to make the ultimate choice to either sit back and watch everything take a turn for the worst or sacrifice my endeavors, opportunities, my growth and everything I had built as an artist in order to help unburden my family in an attempt to put out as many fires as possible.

I made the decision to temporarily postpone my career, momentum, and priorities as a CEO, artist and producer, to assist and tend to my family’s emergencies. This involved paying off all the bills and debts owed, clearing them from an eviction status, and granting my parents a full break so they could grieve and relax, deservingly.

While I was extremely successful in fulfilling this particular goal, the challenge lay in the time-lapse, as I realized it was much harder to initially re-establish my momentum, given the time lost from my absence as a music producer. My rhythm of recording, producing, publishing content, networking and creating had been greatly affected, so it took quite a bit of time to rebuild. However, in due time, I regained my footing by building a brand new state of the art music studio in Los Angeles and started working on my album. Just when the rebuilding phase got easier, my music studio unexpectedly flooded from severe weather conditions, and I lost everything right before my eyes.

It was almost a case of Murphy’s Law, and this unfortunate event took a toll on me in the moments going through it in real-time. But rather than remain discouraged, frustrated, angry or become depressed, dejected and hopeless, I chose to pick myself back up. I re-focused my energy to rebuild all over again in order to reposition myself to continue my pursuit of my love, passion and ambition for music so that I become a successful Hip Hop artist in the music industry.

I realized that I was still in the driver’s seat because I am still alive with a strong beating pulse and blessed with an opportunity to manifest a new destiny if I remove fear, worry and doubt. I was resolved to continue operating with faith, conviction and courage that it will all work out. I believed I could persevere through this challenge of another rebuild, as long as I trust in my abilities to do just as I have done in the past: set new goals, put my head down and grind. As a result, I was able to build my best studio yet, and triumphantly return to making music and pursuing my career.

The main obstacle through all of this turmoil was the time it took to get back to building and running my business. Facing and experiencing the reality of not being able to pick back up where I had left off was the most frustrating— although, it’s not that I wasn’t willing to put forth the effort. There were no shortcuts to exploit, but I am a stronger man as a result of everything I’ve endured. I am proud of my efforts and accomplishments through my perseverance. I turned those obstacles into the best music I could make to date, which I talk about in more detail on my forthcoming project, “No More Silence.”

Can you give our readers some background on your music?
I am a rap artist known as an emcee that produces conscious Hip Hop music. I specialize in intellectual, thought-provoking rap and poetry designed to promote self-reflection, self-awareness and introspection. My unique quality behind my artistry is that I break the rules. My spirit moves me to talk about what I believe in, what I agree and disagree with. I’m not afraid to take pride in revealing the details of any topic I discuss in my music.

My lyrical content is quite unconventional because my message is ‘on point’ versus ‘to the point.’ Meaning my message is real, raw and full of authenticity vs what most mainstream music does, which is to gloss over the details. How I draw a listener in lyrically would be to describe and create a deep image of perspective on a subject.

As a simple example, if I were to talk about a beach, I could break down different elements of the landscape, the ocean, the sand, even the atmosphere metaphorically and profoundly. I can then tie it all into everyday life, touch on social issues and political reality, and package it in clever rhymes and wordplay. Whereas, the system and format of a lot of mainstream music including “rap” music encourage the artist to keep the subject matter and lyrics more direct and simple, in saying something like, “summer days at the beach,” repetitively and speaking about a few activities you can do at a beach in a matter of a couple of minutes.

My song “Beaches” demonstrates this detail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUHlTpXlMC4.
Lyric video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuY3XLdlWqs

My depth makes my content thought-provoking. It’s critical thinking balanced with a contemporary vibe. The topic could be a heavy one, but the presentation is still very digestible. I believe in talking about issues in full, which is why my songs are not of common length. We’re living in a time where a lot of music is being put out for quantity vs quality. It’s very difficult to have people appreciate a full body of work, even for the highest and most respected artists today. Some music artists have had to essentially conform to putting together short songs and just keep releasing tracks with easy/shallow substance, meanwhile it has been defined and disguised as catchy.

I grew up listening to music that still stands the test of time today, and those tracks range anywhere between four to even ten minutes long. Some songs I create can become quite lengthy; but I feel that if my main focus was on keeping my message as short as possible, it becomes less truthful. It presents itself to be more like a regular tune instead of a level of awareness or even a teachable moment. I believe my subject matter is very necessary. Life is real and those real things that are happening everyday affect everyone; therefore they must be spoken about.

My song BAD C.O.P.S. speaks on current social issues: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSnCZhtqLp4.

Raw and unapologetic honesty is what I am all about as an artist. This is a major part of my brand as well as who I am as a person. This reflects in my company as well. I focus my energies on attracting like-minded individuals whenever I am in a mind frame to allow other artists in my space.

As far as my company, I am most proud of being able to produce music at the same level of skill as my film capabilities.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
My parents; they were my original investors in life, and of my company, Beautiful Noize Ent. who planted seeds of independence, ownership, empowerment and encouragement, to constantly to pursue my passion and goals with all that I have.

AlShan Barnett aka DJ NahSla, my brother who first introduced conscious Rap/Hip Hop, in which he became a motivational influence in my life pushing me to be the best artist I could be and still does to this day, providing support, training and mentorship on how I can grow my skill sets as an emcee and producer.

Perpetua Romain aka DJ Purple Lettuce – My very uplifting teammate and dear friend; a creative who manages publicity, spearheaded and planned events, brought a level of likeness and recognition of my artistry through various forms of media platforms and continues to assist in brand awareness for me and my label.

Alton Patton – An encouraging motivational mentor and colleague in film & broadcast TV production, who is constantly present and in full support of my career and journey.

Ming aka YaBoyMing – A colleague, lyricist, vfx-editor extraordinaire and friend always operating at a high level; and a partner in creating productions from music to film, always challenging me to be great.

Dion Nehemiah – My family; he continuously texts me inspirational messages on a daily basis, always pushing me to give my all and take care of my business.

Contact Info:

• Website: beautifulnoizeent.com

Image Credit:
Photos by Perpetua Romain (@djpurplelettuce), Photo by Shakiyla Reyna (@enlightened1sse), Photo by Cecily Lorica (@cec.ilyx), Photo by LA based event photographers

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