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There are very few rising artists as dazzling as Jamz. With songs that luxuriate in a wholesome fusion of styles; lyrics that are piercing without ever feeling overwhelming; and a voice as graceful as a feather floating in the wind—Jamz is a breath of fresh air in an industry which can sometimes feel set in […]
There are very few rising artists as dazzling as Jamz. With songs that luxuriate in a wholesome fusion of styles; lyrics that are piercing without ever feeling overwhelming; and a voice as graceful as a feather floating in the wind—Jamz is a breath of fresh air in an industry which can sometimes feel set in its ways.
Her journey towards professional music-making started to take shape in 2020. Stuck at home, like the rest of the world, she started cover songs she resonated with. It would take a year before she’d build the confidence to start posting them on social channels. But when she summoned the courage to start posting monthly the following year, fans of her distinctive indie-pop riffs on popular hits slowly started to trickle in.
In 2022, she moved to Lagos, from Benin City, for an internship, but also to get closer to the entertainment nexus of the country. “I made sure I was going to do my IT in Lagos, because I needed that connect.” She says. Shortly after moving to Lagos, she caught wind of a recording camp advertisement. It was there she opened the chapter of her professional music career.
Jamz spoke to Culture Custodian about navigating the music industry as an ingenue, her new single Sober, and her plans for the near, and not so near, future.
This conversation has been edited for clarity.
A common cliche among music artists is that certain elements from their childhood, wittingly or unwittingly, set them up for a career in music. Does that hold true for you?
Yeah. So the element’s name is Asa. Growing up, I remember I always loved to sing, but a lot of it boils down to the fact that my parents are very musical people, so there’s always music in the house. Like, the radio is never off. Even to this day, with the advancements in technology, there’s a radio in my house, and it’s always on. Then my siblings were very MTV Base coded, Trace too. They watched all the music videos and all those music awards. Music awards used to thrill me.
Who would you say are your music influences? By this I mean artists you look up to. You already mentioned Asa
There’s Jorja (Smith). I find Jorja very inspiring. There’s SZA. In our own airways, we have Tiwa (Savage). Tiwa is so inspiring particularly because I know she turned her life around, into music. Tems too. She was working in corporate for a while. For the girls that are a bit younger in the industry, I’ll say Fave. I love the way she moves, she inspires me. There’s nobody that you really call that I don’t have something that I admire about them. Because now just starting my own journey, I can honestly see through a lot of it and into the back end and what they must have gone through to do certain kinds of things.
Navigating the music industry is hard enough but it’s especially harder on women. Over the years, artists like Tiwa Savage have spoken on the institutional hurdles women in the industry face. What has the experience been for you?
I’m not gonna lie on anybody’s head, I have not walked into any situation that, you know, left me feeling like, oh my god. This is what they say about the industry. Oh my god. Do you get what I mean? I’m so blessed that the people that I pitched to my tent with are very grounded in their ways.
Let’s talk about your debut single Sober. How did it come about? In the song you paint a vivid portrait of heartbreak. Is this inspired by real-life events or is it fictional?
It’s a mix of both. So the thing here is that I’m somebody that feels very deep. So while I was writing that song, maybe what I was feeling in it was like …, let me structure this well. If the song goes up to a 100, what I was experiencing at the time was probably, like, 40, 50%. But because of the way I feel things, it felt like it had to come out as an outpouring of emotion. At the time, I was feeling very disconnected in my then relationship. That was 2020.
You wrote this song during the pandemic?
Yeah. It actually started out as a poem because I was still learning how to write songs. That’s why it seems like the verses are so full. In 2022, after that camp that I went for, I was with my producer in the studio one day, we recorded the demo, and then I sent it to my manager and he liked it. They rearranged a little bit of it. Yeah back to your real question. I was feeling like maybe 40, 50% of the emotions, then I had to expand.
Your verse on Kold AF’s no Pity is scintillating, to say the least. How did that come about?
They reached out.
Did you guys know each other before?
We knew about each other. So, as you can tell, we basically run the same circles. My manager was somehow on the whole board of the thing they were doing.
What’s next for Jamz? What should we expect?
Definitely more releases. Currently, I’m working on a lot of recordings because at the end of the day, that’s the work I signed up for. We’re trying to pick the next thing, the next single. It could either be a single or a 2 pack. I’m not sure yet, but there’s material. By the time we have, like, maybe, like, top 3 or 4 contenders, I’ll probably send to you just to hear your own opinion too. For now, it’s just gonna be more content also.
About your sound, I’m judging from a small sample but it’s mostly RnB, but there are influences from Afro and Lo-fi. How did you arrive at that fusion?
So the reason why there’s something that you can now even call maybe a sound is that there are some elements that I like to hear that I keep infusing in everything I do. It’s not as if I just work on only Rnb. Any beats I hear that I like, I’ll find something to put on top of it, and I feel like it helps me a lot. So it’s not like it’s consciously cooked. You know, the way Asake now has things he consciously adds to most of his songs just so that he can have that signature on it. Maybe I’ll get to that point. The way I am now, there are few different things I like to hear. So if I feel like, oh, this particular kind of song can go with this particular kind of thing, I add it on. If not, I find another thing in my arsenal.
If you could pick any three Nigerian artists for your imminent project. Who would they be?
First of all, I think, Bloody (Civilian). I love Bloody so much. There’s this guy, Jay O. I think Jay O and I would do a really nice song. And then I’m trying to pick between Rema and Burna. Rema would be nice based on even the Benin factor. Then, Odogwu is a legend. I’ll do Rema for the culture.
On a parting note, where do you see yourself in the next five years?
I would have liked to have gone on at least one tour. And when I say tour, I mean, outside the country, Europe, America. I’m not talking like arenas, but you never know. Also, I want to do a campus tour in Nigeria. I could probably do that within the next 5 years. Also, international collabs. Then, my own property. So those are the little things that I can look forward to now. If the awards come, that’s great. I’m not really into awards.
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