We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful RJ CHASE. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with RJ below.

Hi RJ, thanks for joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

I graduated high school from Lower Manhattan Arts Academy in June of 2017. I hadn’t applied to any colleges and had no plans of doing so. The only money I was making on my own came from playing keyboard & organ in local churches. Around the fall of that same year I had started producing my own music for the first time. I was pushed by some of my high school teachers to go to community college for music production in January 2018. I was never really enthusiastic about school & having to travel over an hour for classes I felt I didn’t really need or want to take wasn’t an incentive for me to continue. I lasted about 2 weeks in that school before I stopped attending and 3 months before I officially pulled out of all my classes. Besides teaching myself how to produce music, I had tried a couple different customer service jobs to help bring money in. In 2018 I reconnected with a former middle school classmate, an artist named Blkchrist who is also a creative. We both were trying to forge our own paths in the artistic world & had begun working together on numerous projects. In March of 2019 we were joined by my brother Tré The Artist and formed our joint artist group called DVUS. We took our separate creative energies, combined our love for photography, videography & music and made a group that allowed us to express ourselves. This was one of my first major steps into establishing myself in the artistic world. Later into 2019 & 2020 we started focusing more into music by recording music, doing shows and networking with other artists at different events under the group name BROKELAND. I had learned the basics of music business from my traveling with some of my older brothers who are professional musicians on their gigs. I took up a managing role in the group and by 2021 I had devoted myself to music full time. It was a huge risk for me, at this time I was financially independent & making money in the music world is not an easy thing to do. Since then we’ve done over 30 performances together, multiple music videos/photoshoots for ourselves & other artists, recorded vocal work for commercials and established ourselves together and individually as creatives. I never imagined when I graduated high school or when I dropped out of college that I would be where I am now in my career. I believe that it pays to take risks especially as a creative. You never want to be stuck wondering what could’ve happened or regretting not accomplishing a goal. I’ve learned in my journey that having a plan is always a good idea but sometimes you can get the best experiences just by taking action and doing things.

RJ, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My full artist name is RJCHASEBANDS007. I grew up playing music in church starting on drums but learning to play the organ/keyboard at the age of 12. My upbringing in the church surrounded me with some of the best musicians in the world. That combined with my diverse experiences growing up in NYC seeing different forms of creative expression cultivated my love for the art world. In middle school and early in high school I wanted to pursue a career in visual arts because of my love for drawing comics. In my high school Lower Manhattan Arts Academy you go through a cycle of Visual Arts, Music, Drama & Dance your freshman year and declare a major at the end of the year After learning to play piano I was more inspired to pick music as my major for the next 3 years. My older brothers are professional world class musicians who taught me my instrument, how to be a musician and a businessman. After graduating high school me and some of my elementary/middle school friends Blkchrist & Tré The Artist decided to form our own artist groups combining our separate talents and passions for music, photography, videography & whatever else we put our minds to. Our group “DVUS” & Blkchrist’s group “BROKELAND.” both have given myself and other artists who work with us an outlet to express ourselves and share our love for art with other people from across the world. Our groups main goal is to give everyone aligned with us the freedom to create whatever they want without being held back by any rules. Together we hope to inspire people to chase their dreams and live a life without regrets, especially the youth. We have released multiple songs together, shot music videos and I am currently working on my first solo music project.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I love inspiring other people to chase after their dreams and create art in any form that they love. No matter what the format is music, photography or visual art, I feel like everyone has something to offer to the world. I had a great support system around me growing up. My family, school teachers and friends all had different creative passions that they followed and they always encouraged me to do the same. I hope that one day I can impart this same drive into people from all over the world and inspire a new generation of creatives.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I’ve always been private about my obstacles and issues I go through in my life. I feel like if I can get through something myself without having to open up to any one or lean on others for anything I would. I have a couple of close friends that I go to from time to time with different things I might go through but even they sometimes feel like I’m very closed off as a person. This became an issue for me when I decided I wanted to write music for myself. I started facing severe writers block from not wanting to put my own personal life & experiences into my music and lyrics but still wanting my music to feel as authentic as possible. I had to realize that I would continue to be stuck if I didn’t start to open up and let people know more about me and who I am. Currently I am working on a new project and I plan on opening up a lot and letting people get to know me the best way I can, through my music.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/007.rjchase
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/RJCHASE007
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@brokelandbaby
• Other: https://m.soundcloud.com/user-884624683 https://www.instagram.com/dvus__

Image Credits
Blkchrist, Shookeez, Josh Allah, Taj Singh