We were lucky to catch up with Jester Beats recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jester Beats, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Has your work ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized?

From my perspective, a lot of today’s rap music is often misinterpreted. I express this in the intro to my most recent project “Undefeated”, which is out now on all streaming platforms. I notice a lot of people look at today’s rap music as glorifying a lifestyle of money, drugs, violence, and women; in reality, to most of the artists making the music, it i much deeper than that. For a lot of artists, including myself, music is a way to express how they view what is going on around them and in their lives without sugarcoating anything, telling it as it is, without leaving out the cold, and often hard to accept truths. Of course, a lot of people listen to the music for the energy it gives off, without paying much attention to the lyrics, maybe because that’s how they listen to music, or maybe they haven’t been through those situations themselves to understand it, and perceive it just for the hype. However, for a lot of artists making the kind of music I make, it is a way to cope and make something good out of the negative things in their lives.

Jester Beats, 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 provide music production services: instrumentals, recording, mixing, and mastering. I have also started working with artists as an agent/manager, to help an artist who might not have a firm grasp on the business/industry side of things develop their career.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Something I think most artists can relate to is going through the first year or two or however long it takes for things to start taking off, while still keeping the passion to create music and practice your craft every day. It takes a lot of passion to be able to continue that work ethic through what for most is years of either not creating work people appreciate or find commercial success in. I have been there and have worked with a lot of those people, some have made it to their goals, while some are still working to reach them. While that period can be tough for some, a lot of people including myself did not let it stop us, because the commercial success or money was not what we were doing for; it was just something we did because we enjoyed doing it.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Many. I have read many books on these topics. Some good ones are “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie, “The Art of War” by Sun Tsu, and earlier books written by ancient Greek and Roman philosophers, If it’s been around that long and people are still reading it, my thought is there’s probably something there. The first title mentioned could help someone learn networking, as well as understanding how people work and social situations. The second, while not based on business, business is cutthroat these days and to make it as a commercial artist you have to compete with a lot of large corporations in a game that is constantly changing, and it’s important to understand that and approach your career strategically.

Contact Info:

• Website: hyperfollow.com/prodjester
• Instagram: @prod.jester

Image Credits
All Image Credits: Nate Grubich