We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jajuan Castro a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

JaJuan , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I’ve always had a deep love for music just from a listeners standpoint. Like, I literally can’t go through the day without listening to music my day just won’t feel right. So just from the need to hear it I’ve always known that I could do something professionally with music. I just had to find what that THING was. All of my cousins are into music rather it be a VP/A&R at a music label, recording artist or an instrumentalists. So just being around many of them and seeing some of it firsthand really made it easy for me. My first actual moment when I decided to become a music artist was when I was managing my brother at the time and we were at a studio session I had booked for him. I came to the realization that rapping was something I thought I could do just from seeing the process of it. After leaving the studio that night I wrote a song, booked a studio session for myself and the rest was history !

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.

My name is JaJuan Castro aka Juan Ca$h. I am a 29 year old music artist hailing from Baltimore, MD. I found myself in the music industry just based off of my sheer love for music and due to it being a in my eyes what I view as an inherited hobby from many family members. In my music I bring raw, authentic energy with a sound that blends gritty storytelling and smooth flows. My lyrics capture the hustle, struggle, and triumph of life. Painting vivid pictures of survival and ambition. What sets me apart from others is that I want to use my art/gift to spread love & positivity. I want to show those that come from where I come from & that’s been through similar situations that I’ve encountered in life, that there is more to life than what we see on a day to day basis. The thing I am currently most proud of is the evolution of my music and how I am constantly/consistently finding ways to perfect my craft. Also, my journey on breaking generational curses & healing mentally. The main things I want my followers/fans & potential fans to know about my music is that this is only the beginning and I will always bring real, genuine, & lyrical music with substance.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Sometimes I sit back and reminisce about the many obstacles I’ve encountered throughout my life. Things weren’t always bad but they weren’t always good either. I grew up in a household of a single mother raising three boys & one daughter. Even with the tough situations we were dealt my mom always found a way to provide for us and make sure we knew we were loved. My father was arrested a day after I was born and sent to federal prison for about 16-18 years. For a single mother raising four kids in a crime & drug ridden city that can be quite the task. My grandmother passed away in 2000 and soon after my brothers jumped in the treats. My mother a few years after became sick and that made things a lot tougher for us. My mom was in and out of the hospital & we even had to stay in two homeless shelters. It was at the last shelter where my life turned upside down. In 2008 my mom passed away and my whole life as I knew it changed. All of these things taught me that no matter the hand you’re dealt in life we have to keep moving forward. Analyze each situation and realize where you have to heal but also where failures become lessons.

“He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions.” – Louisa May Alcott

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is just seeing how it has forced me to step outside of my comfort zone. I’ve never been a person that likes attention or wanted to be in the limelight so this has been very different for me. I also thought I could never sit down and compile some verses, I just had so much doubt in my pen game. Also, it’s just such a refreshing feeling when those people who do connect with my music they hit me up with there reactions it just really motivates me and pushes me to continue making music. It pushes me to continue to put out quality music that feeds my people and not starve them.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juan1cash/profilecard/?igsh=MW9vejR4cTlhNTVsYw==
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@juancash3655?si=4MApnEec3Fawys93
• Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/RZ4g8VSrdQZGD3qG7