Najee Janey’s love for music was birthed during his adolescence while watching his father play a diverse range of music like: Zouk, Jazz, Funk, and LatinX. The singer, songwriter, rapper, and poet from Roxbury, MA is just beginning to find himself musically and is pushing his craft to new heights.
After first hearing Big Pun’s “Still Not a Player”, Najee fell in love with the honesty, complexities, and culture of Hip-Hop. While Hip-Hop is his first love, his sound can’t be boxed in. This is evident with his recent soultry release What’s Crackin and his numerous songwriting credits on Atlantic Records R&B artist Sebastian Mikael‘s last two albums, including his recent hit single “Time.”
Najee is poised to have a successful career as a songwriter and performer. Coming off 2 nominations at The Boston Music Awards (“Unsigned Artist of the Year & R&B Artist of the Year”), Najee has just released “The Purple Earth Theory,” his first project in 4 years. Najee’s debut album is slated to be available mid-2020.
Press release: https://conta.cc/2CeRCJV
Website: https://najee-janey.com/
Soundcloud Link for Reposting: https://soundcloud.com/najeejaney/asis-1-track-ep
Social Media:
Instagram / https://www.instagram.com/najeejaney/
Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/najeejaneymhk
Twitter / https://twitter.com/najeejaney
1.) What elements and/or characteristics made you say to yourself that you wanted to do music for a living? Who are your influences/heroes/role models?
Everyone around me was either playing basketball or heavy into their school work. Dancing was big as well, but when I finally realized that my knack for writing and being creative with storytelling was going to be my ticket out, I redirected my focus and energy into becoming the best storyteller behind music composition that I could be. Some of my heroes are Rick James, Prince, Malcolm X, and Kendrick Lamar.
2.) If you could compare yourself to an already established artist, who would that be and why? If you don’t like to compare yourself, then music-wise, what separates you from other musicians?
I wouldn’t compare my music to anybody’s, however it may sound familiar to you based off of my beat selection and flow. But I just feel like I pack way more of a punch with my content and I speak about things in a way that isn’t being done.
3.) Everyone in life goes through adversity of some sort. Is there anything in your life that has any influence on the kind of songs you write? What is the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure on your path to becoming a musician?
I write songs based off of what inspires me and how I’m feeling that day. Songs can spark from conversations with other people, things that are happening around me, and things that I’ve gone through or someone around me has gone through. I think the toughest time I had to endure on my musical journey was dropping out of college and having to deal with parents that felt that chasing my dreams should be on the back burner behind getting a degree. At that time I was living out of my backpack, crashing on couches, and not really talking to my parents. It made me realize how uncomfortable I was willing to be in the name of music.
4.) How do you prepare yourself to write certain songs? What is your song-writing and recording process?
I like to listen to the beat a couple times to see if I can visualize anything from it. Most of the time I just construct lyrics around what I’m seeing with the production and if I’m really feeling it and flowing, I don’t need a pen, nor pad , or pencil. I could just flow what I’m feeling. I make sure to get the best take on every track, and I’m a huge fan of dubbing and stacking vocals.
5.) Unfortunately the music industry is full of talented individuals who just don’t get any recognition for their talent and/or hard work. What do you plan to do to make sure you stand out and get noticed? Would you rather be on a major label or would you rather stay independent? Why or why not? In regards to the music industry itself, do you think that the traditional music industry model as we know it is dead?
I plan on being myself at all times in order to stand out from the rest. Independent as well, that’ll be the difference. I am the label. I can pool in as many resources I need to in order to get the job done. And plus I like to have total control and profit of my work. I would be giving up too much of that if I was signed to a label. Nowadays it’s like the music industry doesn’t care about the art anymore. All they’re worried about is if it sells or not. And typically the things that sell, are negative representations of normality and genius.
6.) Are you able to make a living with your music? If so, how were you able to attain a career doing what you love? If not, what do you do in order to fund your music career? What advice would give to someone who’s interested in pursuing a career in music?
Yes I make a living with my music and I do this full-time. Here and there I’ll pick up a side hustle just to make some extra cash but other than that, I mainly make my money through music. I would say the biggest and most important advice I could give to an aspiring artist, is investing in your brand and music. Find your lane and figure out the best possible way that you could market yourself and attract a large crowd.
7.) How do you think the internet and social media affected the music industry and how musicians are able to market themselves? Social media is obviously an extremely important element in today’s world, especially when it comes to business, branding, marketing, etc. With that being said, do you think an artist will be able to survive in today’s music industry if they’re not social media savvy?
Social media bridged the gap between the artist and the consumer. Now everything is so accessible and at your disposal that you connect to literally anybody at anytime just with the click of a button. A lot of the world uses social media, and even the record labels are scouting and signing talent off of social media content, and I think that if you don’t have a team behind you to help market and promote you, it’ll be very hard to put yourself out there. Especially since labels bank on how many downloads and following you have on social media before investing in you.
8.) Artists who try to make music for the general public and make more money are usually seen as “sell-outs.” Do you see it that way and if so, what do you plan to do to make sure your music stays true to your brand and make a good living at the same time without having to “sell out”?
I’m just huge on giving back to the community that helped build you up. If duty calls for you to leave a city in order to start a new life elsewhere, then by any means go ahead. However, I just think in the midst of that, it is your responsibility to never forget where you came from and to always give back.
9.) Professionally, where do you see yourself 5 years from now?
I see myself signing talent, putting out amazing album masterpieces, selling art paintings in galleries, acting in movies, and writing and acting in my own television shows. Performing all over the world as well.
