We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful SLEEPONJAY. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with SLEEPONJAY below.

SLEEPONJAY, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

I’ve been singing since I was 2 years old and writing music since the 7th grade. However, I neglected to take it as serious I do now up until I was 21. By “taking it serious,” I mean taking it upon myself to invest in my own home studio equipment and VSTs, attending networking events and actually reaching out to connect and collaborate with other creatives, etc… So, to answer your question, sometimes I do wish I had started earlier. In way, I did… but a part of me also feels as if maybe it was supposed to happen this way; I really like where I am within my creative prowess, and It’ll only get better from here.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My official stage name is SLEEPONJAY, but everyone calls me Jayway.
I’m a 23 year old singer-songwriter, engineer, and radio personality (ThePlugMeInShow) born and raised in Georgia. I was raised by a praying family and worship(singing) was always afoot. I started off just singing in school programs and occasionally at church, and eventually even started writing my own original songs before a school friend, whom also happened to be an aspiring artist (King Nuu), opened my eyes to a whole new realm. I never imagined how easy it was to just curate music and release to most, if not all, streaming platforms right from your own home! This is where it all started.

I’ve mostly worked and been in the studio with rapping artists, so I was able to pick up on punchier cadences and rhythm just by being in the studio with them. This is one of the many ways how I further developed my sound. I believe this to be what sets me apart from other artists -though, I am no “rapper.” I like to think of my style as R&B/Pop, or that bridge between R&B and Hip-Hop. Most listeners primarily tell me that my sound resembles that of Chris Brown. Personally, I don’t see it, but I always appreciate the compliment; I grew up listening to Breezy.

Once I submitted myself to making music, I began to invest in my own equipment, and eventually reconstructed my bedroom to have space for a small studio. I even went as far as blackout curtains for my window so I could use the full potential of my LED strips any time of the day. This is another way that I found myself developing my sound. It was in isolation that I felt comfortable enough to try just about anything. In fact, I talk about it in my song “20/20” on my new album.
“With the lights down low, I can see everything that I am right now. In 20/20, no overthinking.”

Presently, I’m able to do my own recording and engineering. I didn’t have anyone to each me, so I began by just doing it by ear. It was somewhat easy because I knew how I wanted myself to sound, but I do want to start engineering more new artists. I feel like working with different tones and dynamics will really give me some insight and even spark new ideas.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I tend to primarily use Instagram. I see it as my “virtual portfolio.” Y’know, when you go to an IG page you have a bio, photos and videos, any links, it’s all right there.
My advice for anyone trying to build their social media presence is simply to keep posting. It’s very easy to get tied up in every day life (trust me, I’m guilty of it myself), but even 3-4 story posts a day can go a long way. The trick is familiarity. When people recognize your name, your face in other places.

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

There was a moment in time where a lot of things just started happening, right at the cusp of 2022 heading into 2023.

First my Instagram page was hacked in Fall 2022. I had just dropped an EP that year, and worked really hard for 6 months to rack up my followers up from 1800 to almost 3k, and one day I woke up and it was all gone. Believe me when I say a part of me was ready to give up. But how could I? I like what I do, and the music made me feel such a way, it was only right that others hear it too! I decided within myself that I would just do what I had to do and start over.

Then, literally ON Christmas in 2022, the fam found out that my grandad had cancer. And then he passed in March of 2023. It was almost a blur. Anyone with a human heart can imagine how it feels to have someone so important and vital to your every day life to be taken from you in such a short time. I had fully stopped making music for months because I couldn’t write, and even lost my job for taking too many days off to go see him once they told us it was terminal.

Just to name a couple, these are the two that had the biggest impact on my journey as it stands. But it also pushed me to go harder. Losing my grandfather was my wake up call. I always dreamed of both of my grandparents seeing me make it, and now I only have one.

June/July 2023 is when I got back to making music, performing, and when I started building my new album, “R.E.M.” The outro, “This Place Ain’t Home,” is dedicated to my grandfather.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/sleeponjay
• Instagram: @sleeponjayofficial
• Facebook: SLEEPONJAY
• Twitter: @sleeponjay1
• Youtube: SLEEPONJAY
• Soundcloud: SLEEPONJAY

Image Credits

@777yert
@lasonteofficial
@thornyrose.ent
@dreamscapeprod