Self made artist Jay Fred waits for no one with the release of his new EP

 As we continue to move towards a globalised, more connected world, the lines that divide and categorise music are getting ever blurrier. Music artists today can draw from a seemingly infinite amount of inspiration and as labelling music becomes more irrelevant in an online world, some artists are choosing to make work without the limitation of genre. One such musician is independent artist Jay Fred.

 

Jay Fred is a promising upcoming artist from New Roads, Louisiana. The dream of becoming a famous musician seems unlikely for a kid born into Jay Fred’s circumstances, raised in a foster home with his siblings while his parents struggled with illness, in a small town with less than 5000 people. Jay Fred took inspiration from Lil Wayne, who grew up in an impoverished neighbourhood in New Orleans, had an absent father and a young mother and still made it as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation. Jay Fred has similar dreams, saying that he wants to “be immortal and live forever in people’s hearts.” No one from his small hometown has been successful enough to make it on a national level, and Jay Fred is determined to change that and bring his perspective to others “I wanna reach the world with my real life story,” he says of his work.

 

Jay Fred is a self starter: he produces and writes his own music and plays the instruments himself on his recordings. His artistic voice touches every part of what he makes right down to the music videos that he shoots himself. He has realised there is a power in having other people on your team though, and has involved him in collaborative projects with other emerging artists from Louisiana such as Joe Scott, Tweeday, GeauxYella, Doodie Savage, and Shon Thang.

 

His newest solo project, and EP entitled “No Autotune” was recently released on streaming platforms Spotify and Soundcloud, along with iTunes. “No Autotune” includes the tracks "Intro," "War Ready," "Keep a Pump," "G-Shit," and "Pressure Got Applied."

The 5 song EP features 5 tight tracks with slick production and each with a distinctive tone. Each song keeps it short and sweet; with the whole EP running at 10 minutes, every word is considered and without fluff. The EP was released through Jay Freds own label Self Made Individual (SMI). Jay Fred has put himself fully into his work and is responsible for the writing, recording and production of this record.

 

Truly a self made individual, Jay Fred has proven with this release that he has the will and ambition to succeed as an artist without having to wait for someone to come along and validate his work. He is committed to letting his work go in whatever direction results in good music, priding himself on not being confined to a single genre. Jay Fred has already performed at shows in Atlanta, Mississippi and Texas along with his home state Louisiana and with this being only the start of his career, his dedication to his work is sure to take him to many stages around the world.