We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Traishaun Johnson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

TraiShaun, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I remember listening to Mary J Blige, Boyz II Men, Joe Thomas, and Dru Hill in the 90s as a kid. At three years old the first song I recall singing was Mary’s rendition of “I’m Goin’ Down” originally by Rolls Royce. It was then my parents knew I could sing. I also later got into songwriting at the age of eleven when I discovered Shaffer “Ne-Yo” Smith as well as the many penned records by Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds. These two and several other artists/songwriters inspired me to embark on this journey.

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

I started heavily pursuing music in college as I would record demos for myself and a group I was in at the time. By this time I had written hundreds of songs and was hoping to break at least one record. In 2018 I recorded my very first single “Make It Better ft. K3” and released it the following year. In present day i have released three music projects as well as several singles and features. I’ve not only written for myself but also several other artists such as Kāmo Xlārk. i am proud of the catolog I’ve curated over the past 5 years. In such a short time I’ve been told the exponential growth in my music as well as the approach I take evolving over time. The main focus for me is always growing and being willing to take risks sonically as creating music should always be an experiment. Also when I work with other artists on songs I always think about how the song embodies said artist and visa versa.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

One of the most important thing is engagement. Social media is a powerful tool and many of us scroll through the apps mindlessly for what can be hours. My challenge to those who are friends of creators/business owners is to share their content and posts they make on social media. Whether you have 10 followers or 10,000 followers any engagement will go a long way. Also when artists have shows please attend if you can. You typically will end up spending a small fraction of the price that you would to go see mainstream acts you might like and support as well as getting to support friends.

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.

The misconception is how much time really does go into it, especially when you plan on doing it at a high level. There are many layers and moving parts as an artist, especially those whom are independent. Those who plan to do all this at the highest level will often make so many sacrifices with time, money, sleep, and even time with family. Recording music is very costly and can run you into thousands of dollars easily.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://inktr.ee/Jtraishaun
• Instagram: @jtraishaun
• Facebook: TraiShaun
• Linkedin: TraiShaun Johnson
• Twitter: @jtraishaun
• Other: Email: [email protected]

Image Credits

Photo credits: Michael Crawford, Michael Busby, and Jamal White