It's no small thing for a musician to be called the "next best thing to come out of Charlotte," especially when such praise comes from Grammy Award winner (and Queen City native) Anthony Hamilton. Without a doubt, those are high expectations, and yet Jason Jet continues to soar over them with neo-R&B music that easily calls to mind Earth Wind & Fire, Pharrell and even some Phil Collins.
"As an artist, it gives me a platform to express me, my life stories and inspirations.”– Jason Jet, performer/producer
Interview Highlights:
On his influences:
I definitely reference a lot of the old stuff I grew up on, and I just like to paint music with different types of brushes.
On his dad’s influence on his pursuit of music:
Seeing how much he enjoyed making [music] and how free it made him feel — that did it for me.
On what genre his music fits in:
I used to describe it as electric soul, but now I think it’s more alternative soul. My sound choices are very electronic, so I think what gives it that vibe is the 80s [influence].
On his song, “Been there before”:
That song is a very delicate song to me. I wrote it when I was in New York city. My mom was going through some hardships back here in Charlotte, financially speaking, and I felt like wanted to kind of dedicate that song to her. [I wanted to] use her situation at that time to allow other people to see you can change your mentality.
You don’t have to be a victim to your circumstances. You can move past that by changing your mindset.
On networking in Charlotte:
[My career] was very hard to build, and it still is because there isn’t an industry here. So, without having booking agencies or record labels at your disposal, it’s hard to stay motivated to reach out to people if you can’t actually reach out to people.
On leaving a mark on Charlotte:
As far as on a community level, it’s influencing the youth and showing them how to be artists — what it takes to write songs and create. So, that’s why I’ve created a summer camp — it's the second year I’ve done it — called “Young Icons.” They record an original song that they wrote by the end of the week.
On the one thing he’d bring to Charlotte’s music scene:
I would create a multipurpose facility that’s like a YMCA, but for music.
Music featured in this #WFAEAmplifier chat:
Jason Jet - "Forever"
Jason Jet - "Broken Black Faces"
Jason Jet - "Been There Before"
Jason Jet - "When I'm Gone"
Omari & Dekayla - "Success" (from Jason Jet's Young Icons camp)
Jason Jet - "Up All Nite"
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