J.C.I.T.Y Interview

J.C.I.T.Y. Interview September 23^rd 2010

By Ryan Whitfield

I have now worked with J.C.I.T.Y (Jason Simon) for almost 2 and a half years. I heard the Boston rapper for the first time when I began Rescue Music in the late Spring of 2008. He was in fact the first rapper I began promoting and is now the only original Rescue Music Artist left. Now 2 and a half years later both of us have gone through a lot. I have grown my company and experienced a lot within this industry. In fact the only common denominator between now and then would be J. Now I sit here writing this interview for New England Hip Hop which was just a dream when we began working together. And as for J.C.I.T.Y, he has grown, grinded and released 2 new albums with the third dropping soon. This new album is called “Sky Writing” and already gaining a buzz around the Bean. From the tracks hes leaked onto newenglandhiphop.com it is clear that J.C.I.T.Y has artistictly reinvented himself again with another strong new sound. So a week ago I interviewed the up and rising artist from Boston about his new album “Sky Writing”. We talked about the album, what it's about, what the name “Sky Writing” means, and even the business side of how he plans to market the album and what it means for his career. It is clear that when “Sky Writing” drops everyone will be paying attention.

What does the name Sky Writing mean?

It means the Sky is the limit to my writing creativity. I feel free to write about anything I want to while still keeping it real with myself and knowing and providing what people want to hear; Dope music.

What is Sky Writing about?

Nowadays I feel like a lot of artists all rap about the same thing or they find their lane as an artist and never move out of it. Many artists are afraid to take risks with music and go left sometimes. Meaning they never try nothing different like switching up their flow, subject matter, style of beat they rhyme over, look, or just overall vibe or sound. It’s almost like you know what to expect from many artist before you even hear a new song because you know they’re probably going to do the same thing you always hear from them. As an artist I feel that you need to be able to take risk & go left sometime in order to grow and become better. You keep feeding people the same thing over and over people become uninterested with you.

When you write and record do you have any rituals or routines or ways to get you in the zone?

Naw I don’t need anything special to write or record. All I need is a dope beat and the rest is history. Many times it starts off with a few lines in my head. Usually the first 4 bars of a verse, then the other 12 bars come when I get a pencil & paper. Usually once I get the first 4 bars in my head the full 16 bars comes pretty quick. If I hear a beat first that inspires me to write I start thinking of lines or I might start writing. If it’s not flowing like I feel it should I stop and come back to it hours later or sometimes even days later. I never like to write my first thought. I like to explore all the possibilities of a line before I finalize the line or full rhyme: Therefore I know it’s the best I could have done wit that verse or song.

How will this album differ from your past records?

Before I started recording for this album a friend a mine said to me “Jason you always rhyme over the same style beat, I’m starting to know what to expect from you; try writing to beats with different sounding instruments then what your use to.” I used this statement as inspiration of making “Sky Writing”. Overall, and specifically sonically this album sounds different than my previous albums. A lot of people know me for rhyming over east coast style beats with soul samples in the hook or a heavy bass southern beat. Although I gave people want they want on a few tracks I tried to stray away from that on most of the album. That’s why you’ll hear songs like ‘Wanna Feel it”, “Skywriting 1 & 2”, “God Made me Funky”, “Venting Pt 2 and a few others. These songs I felt I went left because you never really heard me rap over beats like this. Granted I didn’t force anything or just did a track because it was “different”. I wanted the songs to sound natural so I still kept it J.C.I.T.Y on the tracks and provided ya'll with that lyrical creative art people love.

How do you plan on marketing this album?

I plan on providing a free download link and passing out thousands of hard copies to people in the streets and stores. The free download link will be on any and every hip hop website I can put it on. Of course newenglandhiphop.com will be one of the first to have it.

Whats Next for JCITY?

Shows, radio interviews, videos, tv, road trips, then ultimately a record deal. Yeah Yeeeeaaaaaah!

Its been a long grind in this game for you, would you change any part of the path you've taken?

Although I have made a few mistakes a long the way I wouldn’t have changed anything because I’ve learned from every mistake and have become a better artist because of them. With every album, show, video, song, event or opportunity I’ve had in this industry I’ve always think of ways I can do it better the next time around. That’s why you see my music is a lot better, sound quality is better, my graphics are better, my videos are better, my performances are better. It’s all been a good, fun, and entertaining learning experience. I’m fortunate to have this gift.