Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Co Co Jones. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Co Co , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

In college I joined a hip hop outreach group that would go and give back to the community through music at community centers with children, local jails, homeless shelters and other outlets. It was in this group I started rhyming and met my longtime friend and producer, Roahn Hylton. After the group disbanded, he and I began to work on songs for publishing and placements. One day, I received a call from a friend that I was on the radio, but I did not believe it. I turned on the radio and she was correct! One of those songs, “Anticipating”, landed on local radio in Tulsa OK. That was my introduction to pursuing music professionally. Anticipating became the number one requested song in that market for months.

The song getting airplay the way it did really pushed me into seeing music as something I’d like to do professionally, not just a hobby.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

In 2006, I released My first project “SuperSoulSista’. It was recorded after my college group disbanded. The first single from the project, “Anticipating” gained pretty amazing traction, becoming the number one song requested in that market for months. The project and the song opened so many doors for me, like moving to ATL, linking with great producers like, Dallas Austin and penning songs that have been placed on shows like “Tia and Tamera’, ‘The Bad Girls’ Club’, ‘Franklin & Bash’, ‘The Fast and Furious DVD Release’ and others. I’ve also had the opportunity to do vocal work on shows like the reboot of the “The Wonder Years”.

I found my love for writing and performing with live music have been my greatest joys. So, I continue to rock live sets incorporating notes of hip hop, r&b, soul and funk.

The soul in my voice come from experience, and I’m sure set me apart and make my art unique.

I believe in being a conduit and channeling energy through song. Whether it’s love, pain, inspiration- I’m privileged to share that with those who I come in contact with. I’m most proud of the opportunities I’ve had to connect with with others and in my journey, finding my own freedom, giving others inspiration to do the same.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Honestly, I wish I would’ve understood the Business of music earlier in my journey. It’s a bit different now, as everything is available as a source of information…

Creating is generally what we, as creatives, do naturally. Back then, monetizing music, managing it, marketing it, organizing it- I was not aware of all that encompassed and found myself depending on others to manage those aspects for me.
Because of my lack of knowledge, I learned a great deal the hard way… and became a bit jaded in the process with continuing my journey.
I think that artists emerging now have so much access to information regarding PRO’s, sync/licensing/logistics regarding record deals, marketing and moving independently than was available back then.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is the feeling of connecting with others past the surface. The opportunity I get to meet people and have conversations about life, love, pain, hurt, their journeys…the times I’ve had the privilege of provoking raw emotion from words that came from my own experiences. Those are the most rewarding parts of creating for me.

There are people who reach out from years ago to reminisce on a moment my music created, to say thank you for providing what they felt as an outlet or a listening ear… someone to understand them through my songs. I have one young lady that remembers her mother by playing a song I’ve done. She’s now passed away.
I’ve watched people propose to my music, Celebrate their love to my music, walk down the aisle and marry their soulmates to my music… those are the rewarding aspects of this for me.

Contact Info:

• Website: thecocojones.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/iamcocojones
• Facebook: facebook.com/iamcocojones
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/IAmCoCoJones_
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgs4Bgdlc-OVN9cF-oN8_Dg

Image Credits
Brandon Washington Greg Rooks