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Near the tail end of October, I wrote about Jerelle who is an up and coming artist from Toronto. He’s currently preparing to release his debut EP, “Undertow.” He released his first single from the tape a while ago and that was the song called “Ryder” and I recently wrote about his song, “Tidal Wave” like I said. Now at the time I wrote about the song, “Tidal Wave” the EP hadn’t had a release date and now it does, the tape will be out November 24th. With the tape coming out soon, Jerelle let me ask him some questions about his career and his music life. Also, Jerelle has dropped a new song called, “Swimming” but before you can listen to his new single, learn more about the artist.
When and how did you first become interested in music? How long have you been playing music?
I was first introduced to music by my mother who played all the old school hip-hop and r&b classics. Had me in love with the culture and movements since i was still too young to understand. I began to really become passionate with music in general in the 6th grade. I was the kid with music always in his ears. I began to take my career seriously in high school when it was all i could think about through all my classes and would wait till my momma would leave in the morning to just walk back home to record. She will thank me one day.
What are your musical influences?
My musical influences can come from anywhere really but mainly this new music and the music we have released was influenced by just our vibe in the room.. We all take our skills and individual influences and blend them together.
What does it mean to be from Toronto to you and how has it shaped your music?
Being from areas around Toronto always influenced me because of the music that has been coming out of that city. Now, we are always in Toronto and it’s even more inspiring. The sound is always changing but always making not only city waves, but industry waves. It’s influenced me to take my creative influences in all aspects of art and mesh them.
What can you tell me about your team? Colton Maddigan, Eduardo Guerrero, Mat Breiner, Courtney Rose, Sofie Monaro, Nick Cassidy, Shelby Randel and Greg Bradley
Colton, Sofia, Shelby, Greg and I) Our team has been nothing shy of amazing. These guys and gal work so hard. They want this dream to become a reality just as bad as I do. That’s what i have always been looking for. Don’t mean to sound cliche but this team isn’t just a team, we have become a family.
Why do you feel that your upcoming project, “Undertow” is your first commercial push in the industry?
I feel like this is our first push because it’s our first project together as a team, we have actually been making many industry contacts this year and things have been moving well. We have been able to do a show a week now just with these songs.. It’s been a wild and busy few months and we are excited for the future and what we believe this project can bring us.
Why have you decided to release the singles in the way you have starting with “Ryder” and the upcoming single with “Swimming?” Does this properly give off the picture you want to paint with the project?
We decided to drop “Ryder” first as a single because we felt it was a song with a good feel of what the project had to offer, and it was one of our favourite records.. we seriously just wanted to get that one out quick haha. “Tidal Wave” was next and is our favourite records still to date. This song was the song that created the whole vibe of the project. We had to release this as a single. “Swimming” was our best record commercially we felt. We decided to use the others to gain the attention and then releasing “swimming” right before the project release to keep them hooked and stay relevant.
Tell me what it was like to perform with Fat Joe and Yo Gotti and how that came about?
Performing for Fat Joe and Yo Gotti were shows I got from reoccurring promoters. I mean they were fun to perform at but the turn out’s weren’t that great, Ran poorly but i mean it was good to be in the same room of two industry artists who have been doing and have done so well.
What are you plans after releasing “Undertow?”
We actually just got an opening on Sonreal’s tour for his Waterloo show the day before the drop, so we are excited to have a wild time there. Then we have other shows ready for the new year. I want to sit back and finish up the second project we have been working on in our little window of time off.
What does it mean to be an independent artist in 2017?
Independent artists have the power. I feel like you can speak whatever you want into exsistance. You have to put the work in, of course, and stay focused – especially in this industry. You can make the rules these days with all these music and social media platforms, you can build your own brand.
Stream “Swimming” below
Thoughts?
MY MOTTO IS: IF YOU WANNA WIN THE LOTTERY, YOU HAVE TO MAKE THE MONEY TO BUY A TICKET!
From The 6ix,With Love
Thank You For Reading
Sincerely, Kid From The 6ix
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