We connected with Waukegan, IL based rapper JayKari for an exclusive interview to discuss his recently released single “Hold Tight”, which features Sundaze and Venti Jacob. We also got a chance to pick JayKari’s brain about what inspires his creativity as an artist, the music scene in the 847, his musical goals for 2020 and much more.

After reading our Q&A with JayKari, be sure to connect with him on social media, stream “Hold Tight” on Spotify, and check out more of his DOPE music on Soundcloud.

What are some things/people/places that inspire your creativity as an artist?

I get inspiration from everything in my life. Sometimes it can be the smallest thing or the slightest feeling that inspires you to write a song. It’s just like everything you’ve encountered in life makes you who you are and so that’s what makes your art unique.

Congratulations on the drop of your track "Hold Tight". Tell us about the development of the song, specifically how Sundaze and Venti Jacob ended up on as featured artists.

The way the song came together was just very natural, me and Sundaze had just been kickin it and he told me he was joining the army. He kinda just dropped this bomb on me that he was going away so I was like alright shit we gotta make some music before you leave then. At the time I had this beat so I was like fuck it let’s make this shit. So we just sat down and wrote hold tight that night because it really just fit the mood. At the time for me personally at least I was just fucking up so that’s kinda the main theme of the song is that idea of knowing your fucking up but not being willing to change even in the face of people who care about you telling you to change for your own good. Venti came on the track later, after Sundaze left I played the rough cut for him and automatically he was like yo this shits hot let me hop on it. So he wrote a verse for it that I really liked so we went and got it done.

What do you look for in the instrumentals that you end up writing to?

I never really set out looking for a certain type of beat. It’s like whenever someone sends me a beat or I stumble across one when I listen to it if it sounds good and it inspires any emotion in me I just sit down and start writing. All my songs are just a reflection of how I was feeling when writing them so whether they are happy or sad or somewhere in between I just find a beat I like that matches my mood and start writing. I feel like that makes it all far more genuine.

Tell us about the music scene in the 847; would you say that locals are supportive of homegrown talent there, such as yourself?

The music scene in the 847 is awesome man. People out here have been really receptive and supportive of the shit we’ve been doing from the start. It goes without saying that there’s people who don’t wanna see you succeed no matter where you are and the 847 isn’t any different, but the love they’ve shown us out here is awesome and I’m super thankful for it.

Sundaze has done a ton for the music scene out here which I don’t think he gets enough credit for because he organized most of our early shows and up until that point there really wasn’t many shows going on in the area and I think us doing all these shows and having local kids come out and have a good time and be able to express themselves really showed people that it can be done.

Do you have any plans to drop a visual for "Hold Tight"? If not, what song can we expect to hear next?

At this point I don’t think there will be any visuals for Hold Tight. That being said I am working on a music video right now for another song that will be coming soon so I urge everyone to stay tuned for that.

With 2019 pretty much a wrap, what are some of your goals musically for 2020?

2019 was cool, the goal for 2020 is just to take all this shit to the next level. I’ve been working really hard and have a bunch of unreleased music that I think is gonna make waves and I’m excited for the world to hear that shit.

Stream and Share “Hold Tight” on Spotify

Connect with JayKari: Instagram | Soundcloud