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

Alright, Dri thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Have you ever had an amazing boss, mentor or leader leading you? Can you us a story or anecdote that helps illustrate why this person was such a great leader and the impact they had on you or their team?

During my final semester at Georgia State University, I had to intern for a music venue or music executive for the last credit of my degree in Music Management. I had the pleasure of interning at City Winery Atlanta under the booking manager, Rodney Stammel. He has been the most influential mentor in the music business I have had thus far. Although I love working behind the scenes, I was still very adamant about performing and never let Rodney forget that. Rodney encouraged me to not feel torn with wanting to know both sides of the entertainment world and helped me dive into both. He taught me the ins and outs of the production side which included booking talent, building shows, creating pitch decks to introduce new artists to booking agents and most importantly speaking on what I believed in. While also still showing that he supported my recording career by giving me opportunities to open for various artists that needed support for their shows. His support and encouragement gave me another perspective of how an independent artist could support themselves with a “real job” but also fuel their dreams in the same place.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I am Dri Jack, The Princess of College Park. I’m a recording artist, postpartum doula, and all around creative. I got into the music industry after performing in musical theatre in high school and had the inspiration to start making my own music. I started releasing my own music independently my freshman year of college at Clark Atlanta University and started making a name for myself in the city of Atlanta since then. Throughout the years, I have had the opportunity to sing background for some of my favorite artists such as Dej Loaf, EarthGang, Teyana Taylor and Tiny from Xscape. I believe that my perseverance and dedication to the business of music has set me apart from others and has equipped me to know where I want to take my career and what I need to get there.

This past year, my music landed me an amazing opportunity to work with Raedio and Google through Raedio’s Creators Program. It awarded me the chance to work with Grammy nominated producers, The Breed, to create a brand new EP with music videos to match! Landing this program was a reminder to me that my hard work was not in vain and that someone is always looking so its better to be prepared when they call. For anyone who is in the music industry or pursuing a music career, remember that your ideas are the blueprint to your reality so keep dreaming, it’s right around the corner!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Being an artist, many things can give you the “this is what I do it for” moment. For me, I think the most rewarding aspect of being an artist has been seeing the impact my music has on people I’ve never met. I pride myself in my live shows and most recently, I performed for an audience in Philadelphia! I had never performed there before, let alone perform my own music so I was a bit nervous but confident that I could win them over. I sang a few new songs off of my EP, The Other Side, that talks about healing from past relationships and moving on from things and people that no longer serve the person you are today. After the set, I was talking to some audience members and this one woman walked up to me with tears in her eyes saying how much she needed to hear my songs. She didn’t want to say too much but she expressed that she was going through a hard breakup and that she was discouraged about the process of moving on. It was a beautiful encounter that I’ll never forget because when I wrote those songs, I was in the same position that she was in. It was a full circle moment for me to know that I encouraged her to keep pushing to the other side. And not only did she love my music, but she was also a creative herself and shared her cinematography business with me! I hope to be able to connect and work with her soon.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

In my opinion, I feel that society can do just that! Simply support artists and creatives so that we are able to fully thrive in a creative ecosystem. I mean TRULY support!! Buy tickets to our shows, purchase our music that we release instead of just streaming it, watch our music videos that we spent money and countless hours perfecting. It takes a lot of preparation and teamwork to produce what society sees as the “final product”. As an independent artist, just like many of my peers, we spend our own money and resources to make any idea come to life but we don’t always see instant gratification. It may take months, sometimes years to see the affect our creativity can have on a group of people. That’s why I believe that it starts with the communities we live in first to start the awareness and it grows from there. Furthermore as an artist, we need a home team we can depend on so that regardless of what song gets 1,000 streams or 1o, we know that special group of true supporters will lift us up and root for us to keep pushing forward.

So my call to action for all my readers out there is to support your local artists! Let them see that they’re working toward something bigger and you will be along for the ride as they climb the ladder.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.Drijackmusic.com
• Instagram: @DriJackMusic
• Twitter: @DriJackMusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/drijacklive

Image Credits
La’Day Digitals Ashe Monique Starr James