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

Joi, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

Once I realized I wanted to do music, I just started applying myself and learning and teaching myself more. I started teaching myself the piano at twelve and from there I began to get lessons on the piano. I also starting researching and learning how to keep my voice trained. I grew up in a single parent household, paying for things like singing lessons and piano lessons simultaneously was not ideal, so I had to teach myself. Looking back, the journey of teaching myself and training myself made me the strong, independent artist I am today. It taught me perseverance and persistence, It taught me to never give up on myself which is why I would never change that process. If I could though change anything to speed up the process it would be to expose myself more than I was. I had some insecurities because I was teaching myself most of the time, I did not feel up to par to tell people what it was I did or even show others the things I have worked on. Exposing myself more in the beginning definitely would have allowed more judgement in to help me know where I mostly needed improvement and how I could improve. Once I finally learned how important it is to expose myself and my efforts towards my craft it elevated me as an artist, which led me to more opportunities. Drive, Integrity and hard work are what I believe to be the most essential skills to learning the craft that you want to learn and be successful at.

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

I grew up surrounded by musicians and souls who loved music of all types. Music has always been an important part of my life, taking me through every shift and change. I knew creating music and singing was something I wanted to do because how it made me feel and all the different emotions you go through when listening. I knew I did not only want to be on the receiving end of those headphones, but I also wanted to be the one giving and helping people through those different shifts and changes of life. I am most proud of every project I get out into the world, because I know that even though I may not have many people listening, there’s still someone out there I am touching and uplifting. My music is meant to encourage men and women to love, and truly love again, like how love used to be. I strive to speak from my heart when writing while also trying to reach people in a rhythmic, lyrical way that is catchy and fun to listen to. I know that without love and true love, I would not be here. After listening to my music, I want my listeners to feel inspired to want more for themselves, from a man/woman and just from life in general.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist or creative, is the growth. For me it is the growth in my voice, how stronger it gets over time, the growth in expression of my lyrics. Song writing allows me to express my ideas and empower men and women to feel and want to love again. I love taking the time to write, developing an inspiring combination of words that won’t just mean something to me, but also to the person listening. It is rewarding to know that the time and effort I am putting into myself as an artist is paying off by the outcome I see in my work. We always get so caught up in numbers and how quickly things are done, but once we take a step back and look at where we started, to where we have come, well that’s where the inspiration and motivation to keep going comes from.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn was being way too hard on myself. I grew up being told to always stay on top of things, never settle and strive for the absolute best. So I applied those ideas in my school work and my art…I always strive for the best, expecting only the best out of myself. Sometimes this huge expectation would lead me to also being very disappointed in myself when I did not see the outcome I expected, or it may be taking more time and trys to get to the goal I wanted to reach. I am an high achiever who is also very highly sensitive, so when I fell short of reaching those impossible high expectations, I fall into self-recrimination. I had to unlearn being too critical and hard on myself and actually give myself grace and gratitude for the progress I have made, and look at what I learned through the process that will help me to rise up moving forward and not bring myself down.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://songwhip.com/joinajae
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joinajae/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/home
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFemjF5e9dY

Image Credits
Davinci Kitsune, Joi Najae