Jay Kim reflects on 2020, name change & new music!

What have you got planned for 2021?

For 2021 most importantly i'm ready to release the best select few from the songs i recorded towards the latter half of 2020. i rebranded myself from jay2thekim to jay kim so a lot was pushed back music wise. other than that i plan to shoot music videos which i've been having a tough time doing partly due to covid but also due to struggling to find the right director and crew, i want my music videos to be in contention with any artist's videos for visual of the year.

I can see from your Soundcloud you have collaborated with Dayrick? How was that experience?

I think Dayrick reached out to me through instagram around december of 2019 after he came across my soundcloud. It had actually taken a few months of him sending me pack after pack of beats until he sent the beat that would eventually turn into HxH Jacket. From there him, me and Effie made Selfish which is one of my most favorite collaborations to date. He's a insanely talented guy and has an insane work ethic, we have a few more songs in the works as well.

Who would be your dream collaboration?

My dream collaboration would be Frank Ocean who's one of my favorite artists of all time. o also ppgcasper who i think is one of the best artists in the underground scene at the moment. Also on the producer side i'd like to work with take a daytrip one day.

What has been your most exciting song to make?

that's a weird question for me because most of the songs i make i barely remember making them, i like to work fast, once i start on a song my mind is set on nothing else but finishing the song and implementing the ideas i have for it. if i had to choose id say first class, i had an adrenaline rush the whole session after i freestyled the line " first class with the leg room, too bad couldnt be you 

Are there any plans to get your SoundCloud material onto any streaming services?

Yeah of course i'm most likely not going to be doing much more soundcloud exclusives, conversations and outtatown were just loosies i wanted to feed the fans while they waited for me to prepare for official releases.

What inspired you to make music?

music has been a part of my life since i was 8 or so when i learned how to play guitar. I play a lot of instruments and even recorded a rap song when i was in the 5th grade, my mom sang in church and my dad played classical guitar but regardless of that music has been my passion for as long as i can remember.

What is on your bucket list for this year?

My bucket list for this year is to have my first show (post covid ofc) with the fans that have supported me throughout the last 3 or so years. I really want to meet the people who've believed in me all this time that's something really important to me and i hope i get to see that come to fruition.

How did you keep busy throughout COVID?

a lot of netflix and hbo max i cant believe the office isnt on Netflix anymore that shit is so trash

I hear you are releasing new music soon, what can we look forward too?

It may or may not be out by the time this goes live but I have a a single " first class " releasing January 15th that feels like the culmination of a lot of work behind the scenes.

What music have you been listening too recently?

Lately I don't listen to too much music besides my own as cocky as that sounds, but when i do i listen to mostly underground artists like glaive, ericdoa, ppgcasper, tommy ice, 909memphis, summrs, osquinn, etc. also machine gun kellys album tickets to my downfall is insanely appealing to me which is weird bc i have never been a fan of him until this pop punk masterpiece.

Are there any music videos on the way, I notice you have been teasing a MV for ’Seeing Stars’?

So the music video for seeing stars is delayed at the moment because I didn't like the finished product and thought my first music video should be a bit more special, so that's on hold for now..

What was the reason for the name change from jay2thekim to Jay Kim?

It was a culmination of a lot of things, to put it simply I wanted to reinvent myself using my actual name and i kind of grew out of the name jay2thekim, it was derived when i made my Instagram account in middle school and i had just gotten kind of tired of it, that along with my managers and peers telling me that i should just use my real name for years and i wanted to keep the music ive made as jay2thekim with the exception of a few songs. I wanted head towards a different direction musically and aesthetically, just to be completely myself. it just made sense.

From your Twitter I can see you started doing music full time, how was that especially given the current circumstances?

I'm not rich by any means but i had worked this shitty day job at a cell phone store for 3 years while i did music with whatever spare time i had and just saved up as much as i can to be able to quit the job and live comfortably focusing 100% on music. My managers are also helping me to do this so shoutout to them.

What was your favourite album cover to make?

My favorite album cover is probably the picture for first class, the photo came from a photoshoot i did with an insanely talented photographer named Christian Lanza and i just love that photo along with other ones which will be incorporated into future releases.

I'd like to thank Jay Kim for taking time to have this interview, you can follow him on his socials which are linked below!

Instagram: @jaykim 

SoundCloud:  /jaykim1