We recently connected with Jon Rubio and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jon thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us 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?

Learning how to rap and write music is the basics when it comes to doing it professionally. At first I watched interviews of my favorite rappers talking about how they started music and drew inspiration from them. The next thing I did was learned how the vocal style of Rap is different compared to singing RnB and Rock. Although most might not know this, rapping actually is a form of singing and knowing what notes to sing according to the particular beat your rapping on is essential to writing rap music. Just like signing off key in your car listening to your favorite pop songs, you can hear when a rapper is off key within the “music scale” of the song. The hardest thing most people experience while learning to rap is finding their own style and also figuring out how to use their unique voice as an instrument not just as a tool to speak. For anyone out there who wants to get into hip hop music as a rapper I suggest doing research on finding your own “Rap” voice and practicing how to use it on beats. It’s been a pleasure elaborating more on the learning process and also being able to help other upcoming artists by doing so.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I’m a multifaceted music artist who sings, writes lyrics, plays multiple instruments, and produces my own music. Listening to hip hop as a youth inspired me to want to start writing my own lyrics. Around this time I already studied piano, drums and self taught myself guitar for years but hip hop lit a different spark in my creativity with music. I went to college at the Metropolitan State University in Denver Colorado where I studied music theory, Jazz drums/performance, and sight singing. I eventually left school to pursuit a music career with my Latino band “Los Mocochetes” as their drummer and also compose my own Hip Hop music as a solo artist.

Something I hear a lot in the music industry is, “what do you have to offer that you can’t find somewhere else?”. I have always had an eclectic taste in music and you can hear it’s influence in my style. The thing about being a music artist is that uniqueness is what defines you in the eyes of the industry. Your own style is something you have to find within yourself to become marketable to the industry. My particular style is versatile, catchy, and original. I also incorporate my Mexican heritage a lot in my music which you can hear in a couple of my releases “El Camino ft. (E Montoya Music)” and “Labios Rosados ft. (Katiria and Yugs)”. The fact that I’m bilingual speaking English and Spanish, gives me a broader platform expanding from the US, EU to Latin America. Not many Hip Hop artist like myself are represented in the industry and that’s exactly why I can find a market for my music.

I’m most proud of my growth as an artist and a person. Writing your own music is fun to experience in itself. You can literally hear your own growth as a person on a recording. My sound changed a lot from my former years and am proud to now be more focused on writing positive music representing my indigenous Mexican heritage and influencing more people of color to pursuit their dreams as well.

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.

Drive and discipline is something that creatives need to survive in their field. What most people don’t understand is why we would choose to starve as an artist for so long. We trust the process. We refuse to quit and will do what we need to become successful in this industry. I’ve sacrificed a lot for music and when people would say, “Why don’t you get a job or something to fall back on?” I always responded because I love what I do and I trust that the money will come eventually. Most people quit pursuing their passions because mainstream society doesn’t create entrepreneurs. They create workers for the major corporations. It’s easy to get caught in this mindset of survival where you decide to change career paths instead of sticking with the hard work it takes to make it as a music artist or any art industry for that matter. But no matter what you want to pursuit in life, you can only achieve that goal with discipline and consistency.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My goal is to build a legacy for my family and fans. What am I leaving behind for the world? Just an inheritance for my kids? No, my goal was always much more bigger than just my self and my family. I think so deeply of the world and remind myself that the world is always gonna be bigger than you and I. The best thing we can do as human beings is use our skills to bring happiness and peace to others. Something that drives me is remembering what music has done for me as a fan. It’s saved my life hearing how relatable my favorite musicians are. It’s actually what’s inspired me to chase my music dreams and now that people hear my music, the most motivating thing is hearing fans say that they are inspired by my music and want to start chasing their own dreams. It’s truly a blessing to be able to use my platform for something positive and give back to the community with my art.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/JonRubioMusic
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonrubiomusic/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/therealjonrubio
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@jonrubiomusic
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1uDmke8Etyzo9hPa2XhVRu

Image Credits
Photo cred: Herman’s Hideaway