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

Jhai, 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 was a kid when I knew I wanted to pursue an artistic path professionally. I had to be five or six years old when my parents bought me my first guitar. I started teaching myself how to play and by the age of twelve, I was posting YouTube and Facebook covers online. It was then when I started to realize how passionate I was about music.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Jhai. I’m a twenty-five year old singer & songwriter from St. Louis, MO, currently residing in Atlanta, GA. Music has always been something that I was interested in because I grew up in a family of musicians and artists. Watching my relatives perform on stage and create music in the studio really sparked my passion and love for music. I guess you could say it’s in my blood. I’ve been performing and creating music since I was a child and some of the artists that influenced my sound are Jhene Aiko, Frank Ocean and Chris Brown. I think my authenticity is what sets me apart from other artists. I want potential fans to know that I have a deep love for music and will always release work that you can relate to on a soul level.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect about being an artist is being able to say and create whatever you want. If you’re going through something, you can write about it. If you need to heal from certain traumas in the past, you can write about it. Music is therapy and will always be something that I go to whenever I need to feel better. Creating and having fun while doing it is some of the most enjoyable work I have been blessed to be able to experience.

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

At the beginning of 2020, covid had just taken the world by storm and I had just moved to Georgia. I was only here for about 3 months when the world shut down and I was unemployed for six months. During this period, I would post singing videos on Instagram to network and eventually got the opportunity to sing in front of Eric Bellinger on IG Live. The lesson I learned from all of this is that if you persevere and stay consistent, you will meet all of you goals.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: instagram.com/jhaimusic
• Facebook: Facebook.com/jhaimusic
• Twitter: twitter.com/jhaimusic

Image Credits
Images taken by Bria Jae