We were lucky to catch up with DeShaun Jay recently and have shared our conversation below.
DeShaun, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?
Well personally, I let life inspire my music. Whether it’s a feature, Phone Calls track, or I’m just rapping to rap I always pull from my past experiences or whatever I may be going through if I ever have an issue deciding where I want to go with a song I’m working on.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I make music, primarily Hip-Hop and R&B. I’d call my genre “reality rap”. Even when I’m in my R&B vibe it’s nothing you have to pretend to have gone through. I paint pictures you can relate to and understand through music. I can set the vibe for whatever you’re doing or in the mood for while giving you a line or two that you can quote from every song. At the moment I’m just focused on bringing better music, more visual content with it and keeping in consistent for my listeners. So far this year I released my fourth R&B album “Phone Calls 4” in February and followed up with my “STAKKS” ep in the spring. This is the first time I’ve ever released three projects in a year’s time but it felt good to do. With that being said, we got plenty more coming soon.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I would say my ability to learn from second hand experiences, discipline I’ve grown to have, as well as learning to check myself in vital moments. In this journey as an entertainer, you have to humble yourself at times. It’s nothing wrong with being confident in the QUALITY of your art or talent, that doesn’t mean this is going to change your life overnight. It’s possible of course, but don’t count on it. Don’t get complacent with one great piece of work and think that’s all you need to do. Keep working on growing and improving, because there’s always someone out there that wants it more than you, the difference is how much you’re willing to work for it.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
Of course! I’m always willing to collaborate with new people. The only request I’ll have is, make it make sense. If you haven’t listened to my music, that is perfectly fine. Look it up, listen to it so if you’re looking to send me something to work on it’ll be easier to find something to fit both of us. But outside of that, lets work! My email is [email protected]. Artists, videographers, podcasts, whoever. Feel free to reach out.
Contact Info:
- Website: linktr.ee/DeShaunJay
- Instagram: instragram.com/deshaunjayfrvr
- Twitter: twitter.com/deshaunjayfrvr
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGZLNC_07DS_qANndY26aGA
Image Credits
Salim Proctor, Stilo Jordan Photography
