I’ve been covering Jai Musiq since February 2018 and every season he evolves beyond any expectations I had of him and anyone currently on his same playing field in the music industry.

Across the world daily, aspiring artists by the truck load forward their peers new music they create. For the record, shout out to each and every artist putting time, finances, meticulous marketing and countless amounts of effort in multiple fields towards being a creative in this modern age. To be financially and socially successful by the standards of yourself and your peers, friends, and family is an impossibly arduous task–more than non-creatives would know who aren’t heavily invested in the world. Making music is no exception.

However, on the local level, for every music artist putting out content, there is a considerable portion of lackluster musical content being put out that mirrors mainstream generics in terms of lyricism, composition and overall presentation. When artists send out their content to those peers, the zeal the artist has for their content is typically not reciprocated because people can innately feel the effort and innovation in a track or lack thereof.

Local Rap artists gets flack for this a lot, especially in the modern age. ‘Soundcloud rapper” becomes a “boomer” type of accurate, but stinging slur to one’s identity. People get tired of hearing the similar trap beats talking in detail about how much cake you’re stacking and how many thotties from ’round the way are sucking you off. It becomes tiring and a waste of time. If your music is indeed different, then it would be wise to take the effort in the execution to showcase that to those you hope would become your growing audience; at least sauce it up and make it real for me.

All of these thoughts come from the newest visuals from Memphis artist Jai Musiq. Last week on his birthday he debuted a music video for his recently released song “It Is What It Is”. I can’t help but feel inspired by everything displayed in this video both directly or indirectly.

I covered two releases of his, with “It Is What It Is” being my least favorite out of the two. It didn’t mean it was bad, but it did not compel me like the others. In no time, the music video changed my mind. In it, Jai Musiq addresses his insecurities, baggage and growth as a person and artist. The music video is an unambiguous portrayal of himself and the range of his content. Any person could view this and see that this is who he really is, this is who he really represents, and this is really how hard he’s coming into the game. There are a plethora of tableaux to be gained from this video, with great shots of his multiple selves and aesthetic in the middle of the road. The presentation alone gave me an appreciation for the song more and more appreciation for a local artist this much invested in the execution of his career no matter what the budget. That’s what I call greatness, that’s what I call Jai Musiq.

Artistic excellence comes in different shapes and forms, as all art does. However, it does show more about yourself when you make a commitment to present that content as intentionally dynamic as possible.

Keep up with Jai Musiq on his social medias and watch for his continued meteoric rise in 2019 and beyond.

Instagram and Twitter: @jaimusiq