We recently connected with Julian Brown and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Julian thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

When I was a kid, I was always mesmerized with the fact that there were people who weren’t cartoons that would be highly praised by my family for the entertainment they provided for households from sports, to music, to movies, all of those specific categories did one thing in common which was entertain. One inspiration was Bow Wow. Seeing that he was a child and playing a big role in music history was one thing that made me a fan. Even as a child before my grandmother (bless her soul) had her daycare class join ballet. So as a kid I was already tasting the joy of being on stage not knowing that in the future that it would be something that I put my all into. As time went on I would find myself reciting lyrics from various artists that captured my ear. Names like Lil Romeo, B2K, B5, Nelly, Petey Pablo just to name a few. I would start to get into band in 4th grade, and that was something I fell in love with and continued my band journey throughout college and it was there that I shot my first music video which I believe was really great for the school because it was the seed that was planted to make me say “you know what? I could really do this if I took it seriously.” Then the rest was history from there. Came back home to Hawaii that same year in 2016 and strategically made my decision to be in the bright lights of entertainment within the music category.

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.

The first time I ever got a bit of what I would be like in the industry was in high school. My teacher at the time Mr. Freitas was my peer education program teacher and we held a “Stop the Bullying” campaign at the school filled with music and food, you know the typical bring everyone together type of vibe. Within that event I was the MC and I captured the attention of Student Council teacher Mr. Goto. He wanted to talk to me and his word was LAW I tell you lol. He had his students guide me to his office and we talked about being the next MC for the school as a whole. One thing led to another and I was trained by great friend Rob Rideb who at the time was graduating that year I believe. Junior and Senior years in high school I was the main MC for the events being held by the school. Truly an honor. One night at our high school homecoming bonfire our football team were on the stage and it was the end of the night, a small company known as 808 DJs was in attendance and I happened to MC for a small portion of the night in more of a hype like atmosphere and the representative of that company pulled me to the side, gave me his card and now I find myself apart of weddings, birthdays, grad parties as an MC and getting paid to leave school halfway throughout the day just to have fun and learn. My mentor Kuldip (yes that’s his actual name) was the one who showed me the ropes and also guided me in the right direction of what it was like to be an MC and mainly the voice of the people as he would say. MCing also led me to meeting my cousin Welo on the island and from there we became a dynamic duo I would say. This also led to me having a as you could say residency at Nextdoor Nightclub in Chinatown where the staff and I for years have had some of the greatest moments from events to even the slow nights. This led to me having the privilege to open up for big time artists that would come to Hawaii. Names like Lil Pump, Ski Mask the Slump God, Chief Keef, G-Eazy, Shwayze, 6ix9ine, DaniLeigh, DaBaby and many more. The music flowed in little by little where I would test the waters on songs, and built my mini catalog of music. Green in the game and learning as I went along. Now I’m signed and had the pleasure of meeting and working with amazing people throughout this journey so far.

One thing about me when it comes to this profession that I learned from the greats that I watched on tv is although the moment within the time is yours and everyone may be talking about you because you’re the main event of the night, the one thing that matters the most is ensuring that the people who bought tickets to see you perform, or to hear you speak must go home happy. If they are not happy by the end of the night then you have failed and I hold that near and dear to my heart. I always preach that it’s not about me, it’s about the people in those seats, the ones who didn’t have to be there but chose to be there and spend their hard earned money to see you and want to be apart of a moment. A very sincere moment which many don’t realize that there someone in those seats that has dreamed of seeing you put on a show and know every lyric word for word because they truly believe and see themselves in you. That’s why at every show I take never hesitate to take a picture, shake a hand but most importantly say thank you. Thank you for believing in me, thank you for being apart of the journey, and thank you for putting your trust in me to keep you entertained for the amount of time I have on stage with you.

If we’re talking about proud, I am extremely proud of myself for not giving up when the opportunities and the moments were there. The amount of self doubt I had a was very heavy. Depression, lack of faith, disappointment, the constant questioning, it was like the world was controlling me and I was allowing it to happen. I never want to go back down that path again to leave myself vulnerable to the world. So I’m very proud that I kicked out at 2 1/2 with all my might to be able to stand tall, continue the fight and win.

To my future fans, clients, or whomever you may be I would like to say this, when you hire someone like me to be part of your project please understand that you will get the best version of me. I will guarantee that by the end of the night you will want to hire me again for whatever event you have to offer. I’m not saying that I’m perfect but when it come to putting on a show and utilizing possibilities that are 100% capable, it’s only fitting to give the people what they paid to see and that’s a show. I’ve opened up for many artists and as time goes on you have to separate yourself from the pack. Many didn’t pay their money to see someone walk back and forth to perform a song. Even as an actor I’d love to be able to be apart of major scenes and play my part when needed. I knew entertainment was my go to and many have tried to steer me away from my main goal at hand. I fought through it and now here I am. If you see something that you don’t like I’m always willing to adapt. I come from an island where opportunities are minuscule so when the door knocks and opportunity is standing right there, I let them in and make the best out of it. To agents looking for someone to represent, I’m your guy. Believe in me and I’ll show you why the whole world should Acknowledge Me.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

So to me, society is always what it’s going to be. I look at it like this, not everyone is going to be accepting to the word NEW although we love new things but only if it fits in the liking of the consumer. That will never change. What needs to change are those within the industry that hold power to change lives. I’m not meaning just big moguls like record labels who do play a role significantly in my argument, but one thing I’m mainly pointing to are those who control city festivals and fairs. Yes there are opportunities for artists to have their moment to shine love in front of their hometown audience, but there needs to be more with much more significant earnings which could be opening slots for big shows, features, news representation. I could bring up many things that I can say that Hawaii could do to better their entertainment investment because it’s my home and I’ve seen everything being the scenes and on the scene. From acting, to modeling, to music, to advertisements. There’s a lot that can be done and I believe that even if cities that hold festivals allowed upcoming artists a chance to be on their stage it would mean a whole lot more. At the end of the day it is a business but sometimes realization and realism could play a very important role in longevity and status along with money if you know how to make the right moves, and have a vision.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Wanting to be one of the greatest entertainers as a whole is one, but the main drive is for those men and women who are gifted in their talents of entertainment that have nowhere to go. Don’t know who to talk to and never have resources to really change their lives IF they don’t want to do what they do as a hobby. It’s like the saying “I’ll do it myself”. If nobody in the world who has the power to make certain things happen then I’ll be willing to do it to show that it’s not hard to make things happen. Starting with giving back to my home and then expanding. People have dreams and aspirations, that’s nothing to play with in this day in age.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jujuthequi/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/MCJMBJUJU/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/jujuthequi
• Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCLkEgzYrTWshVJDQmtf5Odg
• Other: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/juju/1504602971