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

JaaLa, appreciate you joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Welll… this story has been a long time coming for me to even realize what the mission was! Lol. I’ve been singing for as long as I could remember and it brought me such great joy, but it wasn’t until a few years ago when I finally realized that the joy I experienced was not only meant to be experienced by me, but to be shared with the masses.
It wasn’t until I was able to verbalize the joy I was feeling EVERYTIME I performed and boxed it up into a song to spread that same joy, hope, peace, and love to my listener’s ear. I sing about all things love! There are so many sides to love and I want to express them all. I believe that love… real love, conquers and heals all. My first love is the love of God and that filters into my music and the way I sing. It’s so reaffirming and beautiful to hear from my supporters how my music brings them peace and light. It is very encouraging to know that my mission is being actualized and touching hearts. I’m grateful to God for it all!

My mission is to spread light, love, and inspiration through my voice by sharing my music.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

My artist name is JaaLa. I rebranded with this new name in February of this year. I was previously known as J Latoy.

I’m a singer/songwriter originally from the Virgin Islands, and residing in Georgia. I’ve been singing, recording and performing for over 17 years, starting at the age of 13 years old. There were MANY long studio nights, where I recorded, wrote, and absorbed as much as I could at that time. I’ve since been through 2 artist names (this is my third and final name change), recorded countless material that I never released, finally released my first EP “Sides to Love” in 2018, (under the artist name J Latoy,) sang on Wanya Morris of Boyz II Men’s Instagram vocal competition, making it to the top ten of the competition, was flown out to Vegas to meet him and the other contestants, became a family now known as the WanWedFam, and now I’m here! Whooo that was a lot! Lol! New name, same voice, more confident, more wisdom, and more intentional with staying in line with my vision and mission; my brand. JaaLa is all about love! The very name “JaaLa” means love in the Ethiopian language of Oromo, so even the name change was intentional.

My artistry is my voice, but I’ve also picked up playing the guitar so I’m often accompanied by my guitar. I love to sing and perform and use my gift to spread light and love.

I’ve recently been blessed to grow my following on Instagram by consistently posting my #lunchbreak sessions. I’m a middle school Choral director by day and I post a live singing clip with me and my guitar during my lunch breaks and people really seem to love it! The traction is great and I’m just grateful to be able to widen my audience so that more light, love, and inspiration can reach more people.
As a result of my ‘Lunch Break’ sessions, I’ve been able to perform in front of a few well known artist in the industry and my hopes is to be well known in the industry as well! All in God’s timing of course.
I’m excited and honored to be chosen for this journey and I wouldn’t have it any other way. From performing to private events like weddings and birthday parties, to public shows, to online performances, I’m grateful for it all! Because it’s another chance to spread love! Like the Beatles said, “All you need is love…” and I stand by that.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Yes! I experienced THE hardest thing I’ve EVER had to go through! And I gave birth to two children and I’m still raising them as a single mom. As mentioned before, last year 2021, I was apart of a vocal competition on Instagram hosted by THE Wanya Morris of Boyz II Men. This competition stretched me and pushed me to be my best self! I was so grateful for the opportunity yes, but mainly grateful for the realization that hey, I’m pretty dope! Lol! It helped me to gain confidence in my craft and in my abilities once I focused , studied, and prepared! I did all those things and it got me into the top 10! Almost made it to the top 6! But I was grateful to have made it that far out of about 266 people. The top 10 was then flown out to Vegas to record with THE Wanya Morris and spend some time getting to know him. He’s an amazing and humble guy. I’m honored to know him. But the journey took a turn for the worst upon my return home from Vegas’ dry air. My voice was in serious trouble. I could no longer sing without my voice going out or without releasing high, unintended squeals when trying to sing higher notes. It was BAD! The falsetto I used to so gracefully obtain were a thing of the past! My singing voice was essentially gone! The one thing that was like breathing to me was now in jeopardy! I tried to push through. I still went to gigs and had to adjust the way I sang after trying to sing higher falsetto notes at one gig and squeals just came out! I was so embarrassed, but kept the show going by continuing to sing, constantly adjusting my voice. My voice was dried out in a way that I NEVER experienced! I still had to teach my chorus students with a limited range and voice, which was a STRUGGLE because I couldn’t model well, so I constantly had to adjust again. And I still had vocal orders to record for my other music jobs, which I had to finagle and push through to complete! I dealt with this for an ENTIRE YEAR!!! An entire year of not really having my singing voice! And did I mentioned I was the worship leader at church who HAD to sing because we’re small in numbers and there wasn’t really anyone else to lead? I fought off depression on a regular basis and constantly prayed to God! If I didn’t have God and my spiritual sisters, I would’ve lost my mind and wanted to quit! Why didn’t you just rest? Is what I’m sure you’re wondering. I didn’t feel like I could. I had to put food on the table and maintain my household. I had to show up for my church, I had to complete the vocal orders and show up to work for my students. Resting, full rest, wasn’t an option. I would rest for a week here and there, but it wasn’t enough. My jobs demanded me to sing…so I did. It wasn’t until I was recording a vocal order one night, pushed through by pushing my voice, and at the end my voice was COMPLETELY GONE! I couldn’t even speak! Not only was my singing voice gone, but my speaking voice that I was able to maintain was now gone. It seemed like rest was inevitable at this point now. God had to sit me down! I absolutely freaked out and set up an appointment immediately with an ENT (ear nose and throat specialist). Upon my appointment I found out that it was just minor swelling and nothing serious to the point of surgery, thank God! I found out that it was a common occurrence with singers who used their voice excessively. I did have to go to vocal therapy and it was tough and discouraging at first not being able to produce sounds in those vocal exercises the first couple visits, but I stayed the course and it slowly got better. I kept up with my regime, did my exercises, steamed my vocal chords, rested when I could and it wasn’t until May of THIS YEAR, a full year later, that my voice is completely back. That was the toughest year of my life, but I made it through! I didn’t give up! I couldn’t give up! I learned a lot and my voice is stronger for what it went through! It even seems to lend itself to whistle tone notes every now and again (thanks to the squeals lol!). I can sing again! Like me again! I still have a little ptsd and I can feel myself making adjustments like I did before because I’m not always trusting that the notes will be there, but I’m beginning to trust my voice more and more as the days go by. I’m grateful for every bit of the journey! I came out wiser and stronger!

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

The way my audience was built on social media was all in God’s timing for sure, but also in utilizing what was being pushed by the algorithms! My main platform right now is Instagram and Instagram pushes ‘reels’. I knew about reels for a while but never really used them because it was overwhelming trying to figure out how to even make one when everyone else’s looked so perfect! It looked like a lot of work. But what finally set me off? Doing what I naturally do! Being myself! Once I let go of the crazy narrative that I had to have it all together and perfect before I posted, I unlocked ME! I posted my first reel of my singing after confessing how much I was in my head and that was the catalyst for my now ‘Lunch Break’ sessions! I posted a clip of me being myself, no makeup, no production team, just me and my guitar during my lunch break CONSISTENTLY, every work day for about 2-3 weeks then I started to blow up! I went from 3000 followers to 10k in 2 weeks, then a week later it was 20k, then 2 weeks later it was 30k, and now it’s a slow and steady growth. The key is CONSISTENCY! Find out when your peak hours are with your followers on your insights and post consistently at those times using reels and an Instagram feature such as captions or a sticker. Find what makes you, You, and post it consistently! Your people will find and support you! Best wishes! You got this!

Contact Info:

• Website: Coming soon!
• Instagram: @officiallyjaala
• Youtube: @officiallyjaala

Image Credits
Christopher James of Montyangelo Productions