We were lucky to catch up with Jaewar King recently and have shared our conversation below.
Jaewar, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
As far back as I can remember, I was always an artist. I believe that imposter syndrome comes from insecurity and worrying too much about what others think. I sometimes give my inner critic too much authority because doubt is a powerful drug. I understand that learning how to acknowledge these truths helps us quickly move through and beyond these feelings winningly.
I did everything I could to master my craft and build confidence in my abilities. Imposter syndrome came from a hyper-awareness or perception of how different I was from the other “successful” artists in my immediate community. When I played my first major festivals with Vibe Riot, We were the “oddball” band in a sea of bluegrass, classical, and country rock musicians. Sometimes there were thousands of people in attendance, but I didn’t see many people among them that looked like me. I genuinely wondered on these nights how our sound and aesthetic would be received.
At Floyd Fest for example, the attendance at our stages was dynamic. A small crowd would slowly grow as people were drawn in by the sounds coming from our stage. Each night, I knew that our job was to quickly convince the crowd to participate in the experience with us. It felt like there was some natural bias against us that melted away as we rocked on through our songs and sets. We let our funky R&B and rocky reggae music do most of the talking for us. I would keep the banter between the songs natural but short until my confidence grew and the feedback between myself, the band, and the crowd would extend even between songs.
On nights like this, I overcame the imagined “voices of the haters” by focusing on my purpose. To me, music is a vehicle for unification. When you get people to be present and focused on how they move their bodies to the rhythm, how they are synchronized (or not lol) with those around them, and how their feedback is often reflected by the band, everyone gets relaxed and more comfortable with each other. I also undergo a similar process at the same time, entering a subconscious state where doubt cannot interfere. The nervous energy gets converted into physical movement. The band and I focus on the vibe of the moment and react to what we see and hear, while telling stories of love and appreciation for the human conditions we all experience.
By our 3rd and final performance at Floyd Fest, we had a large crowd that fully enjoyed our set. We were complemented and thanked for bringing “something different.” We would get used to hearing this at future events. These days it takes a unique situation to stir up feelings from imposter syndrome, but when I do, I go back to the basics. I let my focus on my purpose see me through. I want my art to uplift and unite people. In that process, I feel uplifted and united too.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
To answer this, I feel the need to start from the beginning. I was born in Brooklyn, New York to my, at the time, Rastafari-Jamaican father and my Haitian mother. They gave me my name which translates to “peace loving lion king” from what I believe to be a north-east African language. My parents instilled in me the idea that I could do absolutely anything if I learned math, science, and how to communicate. Being 1st-generation American also made it easy for me to feel “othered”. When we moved to Tidewater, Virginia, I made connections mostly through playing sports and sharing my songwriting. I am currently walking 2 paths. I am an Engineering Project Management professional, but I’m better known as a Virginia-raised musician, producer, and creative director passionate about creating art that transcends cultural divides and brings communities together. One of my focuses is to keep representing the talented minorities in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics field. My other focus is to expand my annual “Vibe Fest Presents” event into a multi-day festival and exhibition of multimedia and performing arts.
On the engineering side, I am excited by the different life changing technologies I get to help shape. Along the way, I get to both lead and learn from talented individuals who often become lifelong friends as we provide services that help make life easier for many people.
On the art and event organizing side, I get to meet brilliant artists and music ambassadors and the amazing people that support them. My brand centers around my work with the collective of musicians who make up the sound of Vibe Riot’s fusion of African and Caribbean rhythms, rock, jazz, and the power of the spoken word. We are in the studio this winter cooking up a new project after years of releasing one-off singles. It’s exciting to be intentional about a body of work while exploring and developing the pieces.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
As an engineering project manager, I had to understand the work that needed to be done, who had to do it, and the schedule that needed to be followed. Communicating this to management teams and project teams throughout different organizations required the navigation of different audiences and diverse cultures. Problem solving was critical because no project goes exactly as planned, and I had to help mitigate issues that arose. It’s very similar for leading a band or putting an event together. While organizing Vibe Fest, there are a lot of people simultaneously working on different aspect of the event and the coordination of artists, sound and lighting equipment techs, press personnel, hospitality personnel, security, the audience, family, friends, sponsors, and other important internal and external stakeholders, etc. takes organizational, communication, and problem-solving skills to make sure things go right. Things never go perfectly. Travel delays, bad weather, cancellations, and last minute changes are hard to completely eliminate 100% of the time.
I would advise individuals early in their career to write everything down and use planners and calendars to keep even the simplest tasks and schedules organized. This plays right into communicating early and often to stay ahead of problems. Problems are best solved by knowing what is most likely to manifest before they happen.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
I’m looking for motivated project managers and event planners or those with aspirations to work with some of the hottests artists and biggest music management companies in the world. Expanding our events and growing our brands creates the need for new partners and more collaboration. Anyone who is interested can contact me at [email protected]
Contact Info:
- Website: www.VibeRiot.com
- Instagram: @kingjaewar
