Former HipHopDX Features Editor Andre Grant said in his “Defense Of The Struggle Rapper” editorial, “Out of all the things the Hip Hop web has vilified, the “struggle rapper” might be the least deserving of all that ridicule.” Before Kendrick Lamar became big enough for Barack Obama to sing his praises or Drake found himself making deals with Apple, they were artists without a significantly large fanbase attempting what seemed like the impossible. Hitting the top of the charts became a distant goal to making past one hundred streams of a song possibly made within the confines of their bedroom walls and gaining likes, re-post or anything else that would reach someone. Providing a weekly outlet for those getting their feet wet in the sometimes brutal sport of Hip Hop, allow us to give readers a look into tomorrow’s possibilities through “Up NeXt.”
21-Year-Old Recently Dropped His Debut WILDWEST Project
Inspiration For Career
“Drake’s Take Care album really inspired me to start and take my music career seriously. I connected to Drake through that album on so many levels. He opened up the world of Hip Hop to a more relatable, emotional and conscious place. He made that album a story…storytelling rap. His melodies in Take Care”….they really stuck to me. His flow was there…it was inspiring and his uniqueness stood out to me so much. I wanted to be able to share my stories with my music. Drake has lyrically inspired me to share a part of myself with my music. I have always been around music my entire life and have always been jamming out to different tunes and wanted that rockstar vibe. I had a toy guitar growing up that I was obsessed with, I loved to dress up like a rockstar….the whole vibe. Always wanted to perform.”
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Do you believe you have a shot at stardom?
“Undoubtedly, but I am not looking for stardom, I just want to inspire people the way I was inspired to make music. Why? I am not trying to be famous, I am trying to be iconic. By doing things differently and more strategic.”
Project(s)
“Following WILDWEST, I really want maximum exposure to show people how diverse I am as a musician. I am already going back to the studio to work on new music different sounds, you name it. I want to tour and play shows off of WILDWEST, I am about to drop WILDWEST merch and also drop the video for WILDWEST within the next couple of weeks. I really just want to work with a lot of new people… collab with some bigger named artists and bigger producers and really solidify a sound that is both a combo of WILDWEST and my older music.”
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Twitter: @Jaxonoys
Instagram: @ jaxonoys
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