Meet Jaycee, the rapper dropping a new song and music video every week for six months

We've heard our fair share of big-picture projects over the last few years, whether it be names like SG Lewis recently releasing his debut album in three parts Dusk, Dark and Dawn, or Australian house titans Set Mo, who teased a song a month every month for 2018 in the lead-up to their debut album, Surrender. Sometimes they work - like both the examples above - and sometimes it can see artists biting off a bit more than they can chew, but regardless, they're brilliant in showcasing the diversity and versatility of a musician stretched out across a longer time period, giving you more chance to digest the work included rather than them all dropping at the same time - like an album.

Enter right frame Jaycee, a Perth-based rapper who starting next Monday, is undergoing one of the more ambitious projects we've come across. Over the next six months, he'll be sharing a song - and an accompanying music video - every single week, building off the success of his two 2018 mixtapes - Modern Day and Because It's Summer - with a run of singles set to showcase his versatility as a rapper and his ability to swerve between R&B, hip-hop, funk and soul, and how he incorporates elements of trap music, reggae and latin-fusion into each of these sounds. There's a lot to come, but it comes at a really exciting time for Jaycee with Groovin' the Moo and One Day slots behind him, so before it all kicks off, introduce yourself to the rapper below, and stay tuned to see how the endeavour pays off across the next six months.

Tell us about yourself?

I’m Jaycee. I’m a singer, rapper, producer and multi-instrumentalist from Perth. Music has been my passion for as long as I can remember and is without a doubt the thing I want to do with my life. I love to create beats and use words to translate whatever is happening in my reality and describe it in musical form. I love not only to perform, but to entertain. I’m a showman, and whenever I jump on stage I always bring the energy!

I’m also a son, brother, boyfriend and loyal friend. Like most people, I am many things (and wear different hats at certain times), but for the context of this interview, you could just say I’m going to be one of the biggest artists to next come out of Australia.

What’s the vibe music-wise?

My style is predominantly hip-hop and R&B, however, I often like to venture into different genres. On my first mixtape Modern Day, I have songs that have a real funk rock feel to them, slow jams, pop hits and songs that have hard bars as well. Generally, I like to produce Hip-Hop beats and beats that naturally make people move. As I continue to grow through my musical journey, my goal with this becomes clearer - I just want to entertain, make people dance and feel good through music. I started off in bands, playing the guitar and writing psychedelic rock. I was also the school drummer and played a lot of radio songs. Now I’m a solo artist and only release original material.

Sometimes with music, I think we can get trapped into a certain genre/style and forget that it’s all just frequency and about creating something that makes people feel. I don’t like the thought of limitations or glass ceilings when it comes to genres etc. This is why I’ll never stop pushing the boundaries and innovating.

What's your process for creating music?

90% of the time I’ll start with the beat. When I'm making the beat, I’ll first look for a sample - something that catches my ear. I like to sample a lot of old school soul, dance and funk music. I am always researching, going deep into the history of music to find something dope and rare to use for a new song. If the beat starts to naturally come together and is nice, I’ll get on the mic and start scatting gibberish until a melody I vibe with comes out. I know I’m onto something when I get goosebumps or I can feel it in my gut. Then I’ll go back and listen to the “scatter” and put words to it. However, I’m feeling at the time is generally what I’ll write about.

The biggest inspiration for my music is my life. That is the process. Life is the process. Whether it’s a heartbreak, travel, self-belief, goals, meeting new people, creating new friendships, building businesses, the haters that will always try and bring you down, hanging with friends and family etc… it all goes into the music.

You'll be dropping a song and music video every week for the next six months. What was the idea behind that?

That’s correct. Starting July 1st I’ll be dropping a new song + music video EVERY WEEK for six months straight! The idea for this project came very organically. I’m a creator, and there was a period of time where I was literally making a song a day. I was in the pocket; starting in the morning, making the beat, laying the vocals, mixing it and bouncing out a demo that night. I did this for days on end. I started to bag up a bunch of songs that I really loved, and the next step was to think about how to release them. So my managers (Nic and Julian) and I started to cook up some ideas. I like a challenge and I want to always be pushing myself, so when we realised that no other Australian artist has released a song and music video a week for 6 months straight, that’s exactly what I wanted to do! And to be honest, I’m not even sure if any international artist has done exactly that. So I let my good friend and videographer know what the plan was and we got cracking.

Andrew McIvor aka JustPlay Media is a true prodigy and without a doubt one of the best to do it. He’s been my personal videographer since last year and is the man behind all my recent music videos. He and I just gel perfectly when we’re shooting. We get to a location, get the equipment going and then it becomes like a little dance between us. We see eye to eye with the vision of what we’re trying to achieve and he has never failed to amaze me with what he creates. I want to be the biggest artist in the world and I want people to know me for me. I know the amount of work this is going to take, but I am ready! No one is going to put you on. It’s all on you. I’m building everything from the ground up. I don’t have a record deal, I’m as independent as they come. All I have is my self-belief, my loyal fan base the Young Team and my music.

What can we expect?

Expect me! You can expect a whole lot of vibes. There’s a lot of “in the pocket” melodies, bars and hard beats. There’s a lot of energy that has gone into all of this - well over 10,000 hours since I began this journey - so expect to hear and feel that through the music. Everything you’re going to hear is true and authentic to me, from the beats to the words. It’s a new sound that I’ve been working on and I feel like it’s something that Australia needs right now.

Any tour dates coming up?

My next show is at Boney Nightclub in Melbourne on July 13. There’s more info on my website if you’re in Melbourne and reading this and want to come down. I love Melbourne and I’m really looking forward to heading back there for this show and seeing the Melbourne Young Team. As for a tour, nothing has been announced at this point, but we definitely have something in the pipeline that we’re working on. I went on my first Australian Tour earlier this year in January/February and it was truly amazing to meet and perform to fans around the country, so I can’t wait to get back on the road again in the not too distant future.

What does 2019 have in store for you?

2019 has already been a big year for my team and I. From headlining the One Dayers festival in March, to then playing my first big festival - Groovin The Moo in Bunbury - it’s been a whirlwind! I feel things are only going to speed up and get crazier in the second half of this year. As you know I’ll be dropping a song and music video every week for six months, so that’s already at least 26 new songs and videos for you. It’s been a big year for me as a person in general. I feel like I’ve really stepped into my authentic self. I’m super comfortable with who I am and I can see my vision very clearly. I have an amazing team and environment. The family is really building and the passion is there.

Where can we find more of your music?

You can find my music on all leading platforms: Spotify, Apple Music, Soundcloud etc. YouTube is probably the best place to go to because you can see the visuals to the songs, and behind the scenes videos and vlogs etc. To connect with me personally, you can follow me on Instagram. I post pretty frequently. I read every comment and try and respond to every DM so feel free to say hi! You can also check out my website where you’ll find more info about me, upcoming shows, merch and general updates.

Follow Jaycee: FACEBOOK