Meet JHOAN

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to JHOAN. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

JHOAN, so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
Realistically, I don’t think I have. A lot of the people around me haven’t and probably never will but I think it all comes down to mindset. Like yeah you can think things like “I’m not good enough” or “Why am I here? I don’t deserve to be here” etc. but some people need to realize that whatever situation you’re in, it’s for a reason. Maybe you’re not in there to be the star of the show or whatever but you can always learn something from the situations you are put in; positive or negative. So instead of thinking “why am I here”, I usually try to morph that into “what can I learn from this”. And really, that’s how your favorite artists started, too. My favorite artist currently, Feid, was in a career dull for about 10 years before he really started gaining traction around 2019-2020 and, watching tons of interviews from him during and after that time, I get the feeling that he was thinking the same thing so… why not learn from the greats?

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I make art in whatever form I see fit. Currently, that’s music for the most part but I’m also getting more and more into graphic design and I’m also writing a TV show with a friend. I want to be able to expand my brand XYS into all aspects of clothing and entertainment because I truly believe in its meaning wholeheartedly. XYS stands for “Exempt Your Sins” which pretty much just means that you should learn from your past, grow from it, and try and be the best version of yourself. I think the simplicity of the name and the diversity of the meaning, it can really be taken far. As far as projects, I don’t plan on releasing an album any time soon. I am dropping a single every 6 weeks or so to try and keep consistency but nothing so far that tells an overall story. Once I get signed and I have that funding however… we’ll see.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
One of the most important qualities that I don’t see enough artists around me have is having a professional look to everything. Social media, their music releases, whatever. A lot of people just keep their YouTube how it comes standard with just the videos and the shorts and that’s it. It looks horrible and it makes it look unprofessional, ruining discoverability. Same with their releases. I see a lot of people just drop a song with bad cover art and no credits at all, especially on Spotify where you can see the producer, the writers, and the label name. A lot of people put no producer, use their artist name for writer credits and leave their distributor’s basic label name. They also negate claiming their profile on Spotify for Artists so now they can’t put a banner, a profile picture, a description or set an Artist Pick. Again, this looks unprofessional and is horrible for their discoverability and ability to grow a fanbase. Another important quality I see a lot of people ignore completely is caring about your work. I see people just releasing their first drafts and thinking that’s the final and just putting it out there. I mean come on. This is your art. This is how people perceive you on a deep level and you’re dropping that? I can’t believe it. Care for your stuff. But I would say the last thing that has truly helped me a ton with forwarding my career is actually going outside and meeting people. That’s how you get far in this industry: making connections. While, yes, nowadays you can do pretty much everything online and build a following that way and make connections, you’re just making it harder on yourself. Going out and actually meeting the people that will get you far in your career is somehow one of the most underrated things in today’s music industry atmosphere.

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?
Absolutely. I’m always looking to make more connections, especially outside of the music industry to try and just get a feeling for how everything works. I would love to collaborate with a clothing company to start working on designs and stuff for the future. Movie industry, music, clothing, whatever. Anything entertainment related whatsoever, I’m ready to work. So if you’re looking for someone to work with, I got you. Head over to ayejhoan.com/contact to be able to contact me so we can get in touch.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
1: Matt Ferland + Jhoan Manuel Munguia 2: Jhoan Manuel Munguia 3: Jhoan Manuel Munguia 4: Jason Mann + Jhoan Manuel Munguia

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