Meet Jstone – Digital Cover

Where Are You From?  From Lynchburg, Virginia, it’s cool, but the music scene there- I feel like it’s better if you are a DJ; DJs have more opportunities than artists. Still, I’m in Greensboro, North Carolina now, and I feel like the market is open for artists and DJs. There are so many events going on down here, and the music scene is strong. It’s even better because you can easily hop in a car and drive an hour to Charlotte to link with some heavy hitters, and Greensboro has a lot of studios where big artists and producers come through all the time. We’re only six hours away from Atlanta.

Tell Us About Yourself?  I was born with a heart problem, so I could not play sports. My dad got me into music, and I’ve been doing music my whole life, growing up seeing my dad singing, wrapped in clubs, and singing in the church choir. You’ve just been around me my whole life. I love it and am passionate about it. I remember my mom and my dad both loved music, so growing up, my sister and I got to hear all types of music, from R&B like Jodeci and HTown to rap like 2Pac, N.W.A., KRS-One, and more. Growing up around my grandparents, they put me on a lot of music too; I remember my papa and grandma playing Johnny Taylor, Otis Redding, The Temptations, and all the Motown artists.

Who’s your ideal musician to collaborate with and why? If I could collaborate with any musician, Dead or alive, I’d have to say David Ruff because his voice was so powerful; every time I hear it, I get chills. He is my favorite artist all the time.+

What do you consider to be your greatest achievement? My greatest achievement is never giving up on my dream. I always said I was gonna do music when I grew up, and seeing my dreams happen is a blessing. I hope that inspires others to go out and achieve their dreams. From having my songs on heavy rotation on the radio to being in magazines to winning awards, all of this is a blessing, so I want people to know that if I could do it, you can do it too.

How was life growing up? Life growing up was good. I had both of my parents and my sister. We were all close, and then we used to spend a lot of time with our grandparents as well. My sister also did Music. She got a couple of songs out on a few of my albums. She also was making beats on the low; we used to go in our room and freestyle

How did you feel when you went in the studio for the first time? The first time I went to the studio, it felt great, man. The first studio I went to was a DJ I met at the party from Roseburg. His name is Rodny, and his son and daughter used to go to school with my sister and me in Roseburg. His son was a star football player. His daughter was popular and used to chill as well, but he had a nice studio built in the basement of his house with a beat machine, MPC, soundproofing, and all kinds of equipment down there. He ended up recording me, and I did a few mixtapes with him.

What made you become an artist? I became an artist because I had a performer’s heart, and I couldn’t play sports, so my dad got me into music. I remember my dad buying me a karaoke machine and getting me started. He showed me how to time my flow and control my breathing to perform better. He showed me the business side. My dad and I used to freestyle, record our own cassette tapes, and sell them from the start of my music.

How do you typically approach the songwriting process? My songwriting process depends on how I feel at the time. I never wrote. I would tear a beat and freestyle. Whatever was on my mind at the time, I’d get those feelings out, then start playing around and got in the habit, right? So really, my process is easy once I find a beat that I like. If it’s something that really touches me and makes me wanna think about a topic or something deep, then I sit back and take my time to write something, but if it’s like a club banger, something that makes me feel good, a lot of times I just hop in the studio and freestyle the whole song.

Did your parents make music? Yes, my dad makes music. My mom used to sing in the church choir. You and my sister did Music as well.

CDs are Popular again. Do you have CDS, vinyl, and merch? Right now, I don’t have CDs, but I do sell merch. I sell T-shirts and hoodies. I also sell USBs with my music on them. I’m actually looking for a CD burner, and once I get it, I am gonna start pressing up a few CDs for my true fans that support me, because I know a lot of people like that. I still have CDs because some people like something physical, and with a CD I can also autograph them.

I was always making money because my dad showed me how to get out there and hustle my CDs and cassette tapes. My mom used to work on the weekends because my mom was a CNA, so on the weekends my dad would take me to the park in different places and take pictures of me. Shoot videos, and then we’d hit the car washes and sell CDs and stuff, so basically he was showing me the business, and that’s something that really stuck with me.

I remember being maybe six or seven years old, and we poured into a gas station. Everybody from our town was pulling up at the gas station and riding the strip, playing the tape that me and my dad just recorded earlier that day, and that feeling was so special that after that I was all in with the music.

How did you feel when you first heard yourself on the radio? Hearing myself on the radio for the first time was crazy.

I remember I had just got my learner’s,s and my cousin was somewhere in the car, and then it came on the radio. I was so hype, bro; I turned the radio up and was just filled with excitement.

We had a record store called Record Exchange, and I already had my own session in there with my solo mixtapes, but the tape I did for Rodny was special because two of the songs on the first mixtape we did were called. Shut Them Down, and the other song was called Just Me. Both of those songs ended up getting heavy rotation on a hip-hop station, 99.9 The Boombox in Charlottesville, Virginia, and that was amazing to be in a nice grade and to have two singles and heavy rotation on a big radio station.

The economy is bad; what things do you do to survive as an artist? With the economy being bad, I work a job, then I do music on the side. I also get paid to do A&R and listen to records, plus I’m a radio DJ on three different stations.

Who is Your Favorite Artist? What Is In Your Playlist?  My favorite artist of all time is David Ruford. My playlist right now: I got the new Jacquees album, Mo 2FPJ, the introduction album, and you could never go wrong with the classic Keith Sweat collection.

What do you think your role in Hip-Hop is today? I think my role in hip-hop is to teach younger generations about the legendary artists who opened the door for us to do what we do today, and to teach as many artists as I can the difference between the Music business and the industry.

What advice do you have for new artists? My advice to new artists is to stay true to you. Focus on what works for you and stick with it, and know that what works for one artist might not work for the next.

Do you use AI, and how do you feel about it?

I feel that AI is a tool, and that’s how you should use it. Yes, I use AI when I write songs for other artists so I can make a reference track, and the artist has something to go by when they get in the studio to re-record the track with the producer of their choice.

What do you do in your free time? House music is on my dad, so I love spending time with my kids. My wife and I like to hang out and do stuff from time to time. I watch football. I like to work out. I like going fishing.

Tell Us A Little About Yourself. From Lynchburg, Virginia, it’s cool, but I feel like the music scene there is better if you are a DJ; DJs have more opportunities than artists. Still, now I stay in Greensboro, North Carolina, and here I feel like the market is open for artists and DJs. There are so many events going on down here, and the music scene is huge. All it’s just better because you’re easily hopping in a car and driving an hour to Charlotte and linking with some heavy hitters, plus Greensboro has a lot of studios to have big artists and the producers coming through all the time, and we’re only six hours away from Atlanta.

When did you become an artist? I became an artist the day that my pops put a microphone in my hand.

Any shout-outs? Yes, my dad, my uncle Ricky, my uncle Banga, uncle Reggie, and many more, and my family

Anything Else? I love Inspir3 Radio and what they do for independent artists, and I’m so happy to be a part of the team as a radio DJ

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