Our guest this week is Jayd Ink. Born in Kingston Jamaica, she first came into prominence in late 2013 and hasn’t looked back. Her work has garnered acclaim from industry heavy hitters like Mannie Fresh along with incredibly talented artists and producers from BOB’s No Genre Label.
On this episode, we talked about her start in music. She answered why it’s important to travel as an artist, how she feels about singing rappers, and so much more.
Be sure to check this event on June 23rd featuring Jayd Ink. Read below for more details:
The Academy & Ellhah Media Group presents… THE HUSTLE: Edition 18
Who: Jayd Ink | EverythingOshaun | Keysha Freshh | Immerze
Where: The Drake Hotel | 1150 Queen St. West
When: Thursday, June 23rd | Doors 9pm
Admission: Get your tickets $10 online | $15 at the door
Poetry [@02:20]
Chedo: How did you get started with the creative path? A lot of artists I’ve been noticing… have started in the choir, some of them are writing poetry. What really got you to tune in to music?
Jayd Ink: I started off writing poetry. As an artist, I grew up listening… reading a lot of Tupac poetry. I needed an outlet. I was so busy. I didn’t get a chance to do sports and what not. So I needed another way… It was actually a friend that actually got me into doing music. I used to be in the choir when I was younger but I didn’t think anything of being a singer or writer. I went to his house and i just kind of freestyle something there. It was something random. I was like, “Hey I’m already doing poetry. Why not?” It started its own thing. It just became a passion of mine. It was an outlet. It is my therapy now and it just kind of evolve that way. Definitely, poetry has a big influence in me being a songwriter and singer.
Chedo: When you say freestyling, were you rapping a little bit? Were you dabbling with rap in the beginning?
Jayd Ink: A little bit. Not really rapping but I was singing rapping. So he raps and wanted me to sing a certain way. I said, “No, I don’t really like it like that.” So I was just freestyling… move around the chords a little bit. We are very impressed, “Hey, it kinda worked.” It was kinda dope. It’s been good so far.
Influences [@04:47]
Chedo: Since you are an R&B artist was there any R&B influences you could point to?
Jayd Ink: Not in the beginning. It was mostly rap. It was mostly hip hop. I was singing / flowing. Before the whole sing / flow came about I was singing and flowing like that. Tupac… I used him as an inspiration for writing and Biggie I used him for melodies. I think he was very dope with melodies. I said, “I wanna challenge myself with that and do different melodies and records.” R&B-wise I am a big fan of old school music… the Mary J Blige and Lauryn Hill are my biggest influences. I think everybody as a collective supported me being an artist. But it did influence from hip hop. Now… I am more like in R&B. It is becoming it’s own R&B type of vibe.
Keep Going [@11:57]
Chedo: Let’s talk about… a little bit to the T.I. thing. Tell me how that came about? What did you feel when you heard that you will be on the same track as the King of South?
Jayd Ink: I did a lot of records when I was in Atlanta. The song that we actually did was a throw away record. Could it be because we did so many songs? We were like, “We can throw that away.” When I came back 5 months later, I got hit up and said “Hey, T.I. is gonna jump on this record.”
Chedo: You are kind of like being cautious because things happen… people talk all the time in the industry.
Jayd Ink: I am not really into the talk. I am more like show and prove. If it happens, it happens. When he hit me up, he said that “Yeah the record is done and they released it” It was getting a lot of buzz. I was happy about it. It was dope.
Chedo: When moments like that happen, you maybe need signs sometimes. You see a thing and then maybe say, “Woah T.I.! This is a real deal. Maybe a marker for me to keep going. Was there anything like that for you? Were you like “Ah this is cool. Move on to the next…”? Or like “Oh my God! I can do this!”
Jayd Ink: I was like, “Ah, I can move on to the next.”
Chedo: [Laughs]
Jayd Ink: It is not about being rude or anything. It was just like that was a moment. That was a good moment. There was so much more I gotta do though. It is not about anybody else. It is about me making my mark on my journey. I am just enjoying what I am doing. It is always like keep going… keep going. No matter what. That’s my mindset.
Travel [@13:41]
Chedo: When I was living in London, I was doing my radio show. When artists have an album I was like “Yo! Why don’t you come down to promote the album. Let’s do an interview.” Some artists were like “It’s so far, bro.” It’s an hour and a half for them to come down and to get press for me to promote them. Some Toronto artists are just like “No man. GTA. I am not going outside of that.” So what are the benefits of leaving Toronto and going to places like Atlanta, New York… What do you get out there when you leave?
Jayd Ink: You are crazy if you don’t leave. You are crazy if you don’t get up and go somewhere else. It builds your creativity. I feel like stuck here sometimes. I always escape to New York. I went to New York for a weekend. I was writing and doing all those things. Maybe they also feel [stuck] because the city is not poppin and they all their friends here and what not. But, there is a whole different ball game. In general, when you travel you experience different things. You grow as an artist. You grow as a person. You need that.
Patience [@19:00]
Chedo: A lot of artists I talk about in terms of patience, “How come I am not on yet? I am better than this person. I am hot. I ain’t where I am supposed to be yet.” Do you ever go through things like that? How do you manage?
Jayd Ink: I used to. I used to say things like that. Like “Man, I should be on right now. I should be poppin.” But I think I am exactly where I am supposed to be. I think everybody in general is exactly what is supposed to be. Nothing happened before it’s time. I needed to learn patience because I might get elusive right away. I might get it and don’t know how to handle it, don’t know how to talk. I had to go through process… There was one time where I was not really doing shows. It was a process for me of getting everything. Let me just put myself out there a little bit more. I am a little bit a mystery to people.
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