Review Fix chats with singer/songwriter Jay Elle, who discusses her new project, The Notorious J.A.Y, as well as her creative process and goals for the future.
Beautiful and multi-faceted, Elle, armed with an appreciation for old-school hip-hop, as well as Notorious B.I.G, definitely has a different flavor than other modern-day artists.
Review Fix: What inspires you to perform?
Jay Elle: Life inspires me to perform. It’s a part of my DNA. I’m an entertainer by nature. I love doing it.
Review Fix: Talk about your affection for Biggie Smalls and how it plays a part in your style.
Elle: I love Big as an artist, but it’s not just Big though, it’s hip hop all together. I love the urban edge that exists in hip hop so I incorporate that into my sound. It’s a rawness, a realness that I love to tap into.
Review Fix: Make makes you different from other artists?
Elle: Nobody can tell my stories, but me. Nobody can tell it the way I can. I like to tell heartfelt stories over rugged tracks and although that idea of hip hop and r&b is not new, the way I put my words together is definitely a whole new style from anybody else who’s done it before. I try to use my hip hop pen on  r&b records.
Review Fix: What do you think you’ve learned from The Notorious J.A.Y project and how will it affect you moving forward?
Elle: I learn something from every project. There’s a lesson in everything you do and the biggest lesson is: always keep working and keep perfecting. But specifically on this project I learned that you give the people what they want. People love this project so much that I had to give it to them again with The Notorious JAY: Deluxe Edition that’s scheduled to drop February 2nd on SoundCloud, Datpiff , Live Mixtapes, 24K Mixtapes, and on my blog JayElleMusic.blogspot.com
Review Fix: What did you grow up listening to? How has it affected your creativity?
Elle: I grew up listening to all sorts of music; hip hop, r&b, soul, rock, pop, country, blues, salsa just a lot of different genres and it has definitely shaped my creative views on music. For me there is no box to be in creatively.
Review Fix: Where do you expect to be in a few years?
Elle: In a few years I’ll be everywhere. I’ll let you decipher that.
Review Fix: What do you do when you’re not performing?
Elle: When I’m not doing music, I’m usually researching ways to be more successful and when I’m not doing that I find myself on the phone a lot. I don’t live near my family so I’m usually communicating with them as best I can and when I do have to time to be around them we spend our time playing around. I’m a really silly person, I love to laugh and joke around a lot.
Review Fix: You are a beautiful young woman and are extremely photogenic. Do you think that will help you as a musician or make people look at you more as eye candy?
Elle: Thank you. Being physically appealing is always a plus in this industry. Most all successful female artists are seen as eye candy in some way, shape, or form otherwise no one would bother doing hair, makeup, and having a stylist. Looking good is all part of the mystique of an artist.
Review Fix: How do you think your music connects differently with audiences than other performers?
Elle: Honestly I don’t think my music connects differently from other performers. Music is a universal language and it connects all people the same way. It’s something that draws you from within. It almost connects to your soul. It’s all in how it makes you feel. My music is no different.
Review Fix: Tell us about a song of yours that you feel connects the most to your audience. What is it about. How was it written?
Elle: I have a record called Still. It’s written by me and it’s performed over the track for N****s Bleed by Big. This song is about lost love that’s hard to get over because everything reminds you of that person, even the smell of their cologne. This is a feeling. It connects people through the feeling. Most people have experienced this so that’s the connection. If they haven’t experienced it yet, the other connection is the emotion and conviction in the delivery of the vocal performance. It’s emotional.
Review Fix: What is your creative process like?
Elle: My creative process is very simple: I hear a track that I like, I listen to it for a little bit to get a concept, then I take it to the studio and I write the record while I’m recording. Most people sit down and write a record before they go record but I’m a little different. It’s harder for me to do it that way so I kind of freestyle all my records and then go back and fine tune certain lyrics and melodies, things like that.
Review Fix: How do you want to affect your audience?
Elle: I want my audience to feel every record. I want them to feel like there’s a Jay Elle record for every mood that they may in.
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