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

Jalen, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

When I started to see producers like Lex Luger and Hit-Boy produce on albums I was obssed with like Watch The Throne. I had just started producing and seeing them made me want to professionally pursue music producing. Around this time when the album came out, 2011, I had just started producing that summer and Kanye and Jay were my favorite artists so when the album came out and looking through the credits (I’ve always loved looking through credits in albums to see the lyrics and who made what) seeing they had produced some of my favorite songs and then finding out they produced many other favorite songs I produced, it was like I felt I can then produce for favorite artists and create the music I love to hear.

Jalen, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m mydreamsisvivid, from Baltimore, Maryland. I started producing at 13 out of just curiousity and being on the computer. I graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a Bachelors degree in Music Technology and that expeirence was a blessing being I was able to in depth learn about something that I enjoy doing on my own time. I produce music, can engineer, and have recently started getting into dj’ing. I think what sets me apart from others is my taste and my ability to provide something very left field but still fresh, futuristic but with a classic feel. So far, there’s 2 things I’m most proud of and that’s the two recent projects thathave come out that I was apart of which was Kenzo Cole’s Red Lights Take Time and my new project that was released on January 11th, 2024 titled A Vivid World Vol. 1: The Net. I’m most proud of red lights because of how Kenzo and I let the creativity lead us the whole way of creating that project which then led to so many people recieving and connecting with the project and all of the shows we did because of that project. I’m proud of A Vivid World because throughout this process I learned so much about myself and there were so many trials and tribulations with getting it out into the world whether it was creative blocks or self doubt or collabs that fell through but I’m glad that I stuck to it because it’s an indescribable feeling putting your art out into the world. The main thing I want potential clients/followers/fans to know about me and my work is that I deeply love the music.

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

Being able to transmute any bottled up thoughts and feelings I have and put them into the music. It is so catharic and it allows me to make sense of what I’m going through. Also being able to then create my own worlds and then put them out into the world and people resonating with it.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

This is an amazing question! I think the something is how unconvential my journey is. For a long time I questioned why my journey wasn’t so linear and eventually through self reflection and in talking with god I came to understand how much of a gift it is to have an unconvential journey where you have to really be in tune and follow that creative spark. The interesting thing is that as a creative, my whole life I’ve just been following the creative spark within without even knowing it which is why I feel things have worked out miracously as they have. The creative spark doesn’t use logic a lot of the time so it can be hard and feel weird to continously follow it while non creatives are looking at you crazy and questioning every step of your way. I think growing up in western society it has become normalized that everyone’s journey goes in a “a,b,c,d” kind of format whereas a creatives journey is very complicated due to creating when only called to, having so many ideas and figuring out how to execute them, making sure one has the right tools to properly execute ones vision, and having the courage to put yourself out there being I’m litterally putting a vulnerable part me out into the world.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mydreamsisvivid/
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/mydreamsisvivid/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/mydreamsisvivid/

Image Credits
images 1,2,4,&5 taken by kenzo cole image 3 taken by Sydney Allen image 6 taken by aakarolo image 7 taken by mazanalog