“Some of the things I’ve been doing is making sure I have a lot of material, good material, so that in case you get so caught up in the business side and people get bored with prior work you can always turn back to the stash and give them something fresh.” – @worldslyrik
Episode #280 : A.V.A Live Radio Behind The Music with Jacqueline Jax
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/avaliveradio/2015/12/09/episode-280-ava-live-radio-behind-the-music-with-jacqueline-jax
GETTING TO KNOW WORLDSLYRIK
by Jacqueline Jax host of A.V.A Live Radio
Music business…
Honestly at first it kind of depressed me because there was a time that if you were a dope artist all you had to do was make good music do some shows and people would support, where now there’s a great shift in the sense that an artist has to be a jack of all trades and quite often it has nothing to do with actually making music, particularly when it comes to gaining a following on social media, that’s something that people want to see now.
It used to bug me because often times, especially as a new artist you find yourself spending more time trying to figure that out as oppose to working on the craft itself. Now it doesn’t bug me so much because there are people out here like you Jacqueline that are willing to help artists navigate this thing, and see artists through, and I think I speak for all of us out there when I say its very much appreciated.
Some of the things I’ve been doing is making sure I have a lot of material, good material, so that in case you get so caught up in the business side and people get bored with prior work you can always turn back to the stash and give them something fresh. I’m constantly exploring new ways of marketing, I don’t turn down shows whether its 5 people or 5000 people I am doing the show and I’m giving it my all no matter what, I’m also sticking to my day job which is over the road trucking. This gives me an opportunity to not only physically connect with people in New York or New Jersey, but New Mexico Nevada California etc etc..
Social media…
I like that social media has connected people and its given people a voice and a microphone that they might not have otherwise had, including myself. My biggest challenge with social media has been trying to stand out while fitting in at the same time, getting people to understand that at the end of the day we are all more alike than we think regardless of race religion whatever, while also showing them that of all the artists that you have access to, this is why you should listen to me also, this is what I bring to the table, and if i can get you to just listen you’ll like it, you’ll feel it.
Singles vs an album…
I feel like an album is the complete picture to a puzzle while singles are the brightest pieces that make up the puzzle. There are times when you hear a single and you figure ok this is all this artist is and you may or may not give the whole album a listen based on how you feel about the single. I don’t personally have a preference on either of the two but i do feel like its important to give people a little bit of everything that way you transcend demographics as oppose to being known as an artist that just makes one kind of song, I’m promoting every song on my project knowing that I’ve got people from all ages and all walks of life looking for that song that they can vibe too.
I grew up watching my older cousins DJ at parties…
and I remember seeing how music made people react, made people want to dance, cry, fight, feel and at first that manifested as wanting to be a DJ, but i realized that the DJ can only work with the music that’s out there, and it was then I realized that I wanted to be a writer and or performer, the guy making the music for the DJ to play.
Black Sabbath…
featuring James Lee Lopez, I wrote this song because I was at a point where I was feeling like the sky was falling and it made me really question my faith in God, so I wanted to document one of the conversations I had with him. James did a great job on the hook, I wrote it and he performed it exactly how I envisioned it. The crazy thing about how i met James was that it was through Craigslist, I was looking for singers to do features with and at the time i hadn’t wrote Black Sabbath yet. A few weeks went by after I wrote Black Sabbath and something was telling me to go through the submissions I received and the one I hadn’t read was from James, once I heard his voice I knew he was the right one for the track, I reached out to him and he was ready to work asap.
This is my first project ever hence the name “1 for the money” and I thought that it was important on this project to just be extremely transparent and open about who I am, the things that go through my head more often than not, its also going to be passionate. I’m paying a lot more attention to lyricism and substance on this project as oppose to commercial friendliness.
I was born and raised in Brooklyn New York…
and the music scene is very diverse, its called the big melting pot because of all of the different cultures residing literally a few feet from each other so its not uncommon to hear hip hop coming from one house then reggae from another or calypso salsa meringue, in fact if you come across certain houses you’ll hear all of those genres playing from that one house at any given time, its a music lover and a culture lover’s city.
I would like to have 5 minutes alone with…
Jayz, hands down my favorite artist and one of the artist I’m most inspired by. The reason why I say him is because one he’s from the same city, the same borough that I’m from so when he speaks it resonates, and also because given his story coming up in the music industry, where no one wanted to sign him he was too different, he was too this and too that and how he overcame that to now be the mogul that he is. I think that given his track record of success and failures in his career as well as the role he played in many other artists and moguls themselves careers, a conversation with him would be truly enlightening and humbling and even familiar to some extent.
Do you feel that there is too much emphasis being placed on being current and trendy or is there a balance that you’ve found helpful in your artistic decisions? I don’t think there is any more emphasis being placed on trendy now than there has been ever since music became a business, people want to feel like they are in with the crowd especially when it comes to popular acts, it makes them feel better about the decisions they make within they’re own lives, and that’s why having a mic is more of a responsibility than most people even realize, what we as artists say and do people listen and mimic, sometimes it works vice versa, with that being said i feel like you have to have unshakable confidence in you and your dopeness because people are watching.
I am most afraid of…
The feeling of fear, sometimes it builds you sometimes it breaks you but it always affects you.
My personal definition of success…
I always say that the person that gets up everyday and makes a living doing what they love to do is blessed. For me to be able to make music, and that be my main source of income or at least one of them would be my definition of success. The latest success story that has made me proud was starting this “1 for the money” project and finishing it, figuring out my voice and learning the ins and outs of making music while still remaining open to new ideas and creativity, this was something I said I was gonna do and I did it so how ever it works out, its definitely something for me to be proud of.
My overall goal for my life and career is…
to become a music and entertainment mogul, i want my name to be so household that you don’t think twice saying it or hearing it.
Three ways I challenge myself…
1. Believe it or not one challenge was actually jumping onto social media, my Instagram and twitter are the only forms of social media I’ve ever had, no my space Facebook none of that so getting on that has helped me to become more extroverted with complete strangers.
2 Asking for help when i need it, as men we can be really stubborn, but I’m working on that, i don’t have all the answers and I am not alone in this journey called life.
3 Always remaining to be my toughest critic. That’s a challenge when you hit a block in the studio or when writing, and that unwillingness to pat myself on the back, always pushes me to be better do more or sometimes do less depending on the situation.
Social Media:
Instagram : www.instagram.com/worldslyrik
Twitter: www.twitter.com/worldslyrik
Website: www.worldslyrik.com
Soundcloud: www.soundcloud/worldslyrik