We were lucky to catch up with Javion Bishop recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Javion, thanks for joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

To be completely honest, my career as a musician has been full of risks. A constant flow of risks and failures, all for the sake of something I believe in. My life & career have been a constant unbalanced playing field of give & take, and managing to only see fractions after giving everything. In 2019, I invested thousands into making merch, physical copies of my album, and throwing events. I did the same thing in 2021, plus ads and marketing in the budget, working a warehouse job to fund it, and feed myself. I then quit that job about 6 months later so that I could focus on the next body of music I was making, and also to give my mental health the time and attention it deserved. But even with no money coming in, I still bet it all on me. People around me encourage me to think of it as a “Leap IN Faith” rather than a leap OF faith, which is something I have to remind myself of every day. This isn’t an easy road to travel, and it can lead you right back down to having nothing to your name, but if it’s really worth it to you… the answer is always going to be “keep going”.

Javion, 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?

My name is Javion Bishop. I rap, produce, mix & engineer, play instruments. I do photography as well, edit footage for my music videos. Most of my cover arts were shot and / or edited by me. I went to college for theatre after having a successful run of show seasons at G.W. Carver Magnet High School, and years of experience beforehand. I’ve made my own merch in the past, for which I created the designs from scratch. I started all of this in 2015, just producing. That evolved into writing, and I began making music with friends in 2016. Over the years I’ve thrown events, collaborated with people far & wide, and put out 7 solo albums. In 2022, after the release of my 7th project this month, I can truthfully say I’m more focused than ever. There’s a certain level of finesse, and degree of mastery in the work I put out. I spend unrealistic amounts of time refining and rebuilding my work before it ever sees the public.

In my own eyes, the thing that will always set me “apart” is my ten thousand hours. In everything I choose to do, you can see that this isn’t something that came to me overnight. The 10,000 hours I had to put in, just to make a legitimate case that I’m undeniably talented in the public eye… That’s where you see my heart. The absolute refusal to lie down and be whatever whoever wants me to be, is something I just cannot do. I will simply Be. I am, and I’m fully present in anything that is meant for me to be. And even that took an insane amount of work on myself personally, to be able to get to a point where I felt the things I contribute to this industry or even this world are important. Another 10,000 hours getting my soul right before the mic even gets involved, you know ? All of these things are present in my art, and in my being. It’s something you cannot deny when you see it.

Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

Honestly, I love the sentiment of the NFT being at the forefront of artist’s seeing change in the way we produce the things we make, via cryptocurrency. Smaller / more local artists are finally making real sustainable money off of the things they create, all in a digital space… It sounds ideal. But in the grand scheme of it all, there’s so much room for things to go wrong. The Metaverse is already racist, lmao.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

The goal has really always been to give abundantly to the Black Youth. Whether it be creating art that let’s them know they aren’t alone, and someone sees them, or literally just giving money back to the kids playing on the same sidewalks I did. To let the young Black Children know that they are masters of alchemy. Real Gods.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/javionbishop?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/javionbishop?s=21&t=2dsrhy2oYh24uSsUhD4Csw
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCYMrK_M7lV0q8EeNybmxeGw
• Other: https://linktr.ee/JAVIONBISHOP

Image Credits
Svnthltr Kevvthecreator