BY NADIRA JAMERSON / EDITED BY LOU SIFA

JayQ The Legend is one of the top afrobeat artists in the world. His debut single, Body Talk, hit the top of Billboard Digital Song and iTunes Charts in 2019. This song was later featured in the popular Netflix movie The App That Stole Christmas. Since then, JayQ The Legend has been on a journey of lasting success. His song, Amazing Girl, was featured as #1 on the Billboard Reggae Digital Song Charts in 2020. His single, Be Mine, amassed 10 million views on Youtube in just one month, and Be Mine has also seen much success on the radio. He has worked with some of hip-hop’s greatest African musicians and producers, including HoodCelebrityy and S0K07.

JayQ The Legend remains dedicated to his African roots in all of his artistic ventures. He was born in St. Croix, one of three U.S. Virgin Islands. His family is originally from the British Virgin Islands, and most of them are UK citizens from St. Vincent and places near the lesser Antilles. Because of this, the artist is well-travelled and has been exposed to many dynamic African cultures and musical sounds around the world. His lyricism and beat selection are influenced by different African cultures, and he is popular for his ability to combine afro-beats, blues, reggae and soul music in a sound that he describes as “afro-urban music.”

            Turning child abuse trauma into creativity

JayQ The Legend was first inspired to start writing music at the age of 11. He grew up in a troubled household, with an abusive stepfather who inspired fear into him when he was a young boy. Each night when his stepfather would come home, the young boy would hide in his room to avoid any beatings. As a result of spending so much time by himself in the quiet, he learned to listen to his own thoughts. This time of reflection, he said, led to him creating his first works of writing in the form of poetry.

Reminiscing about those crucial moments of his life, the now-famous afro-beat artist told The African Magazine in an exclusive interview: “When you are by yourself, you start to hear what is going on in your head. I did not know what was called ‘spirit work’ at the time, but I was doing spirit work then. I was writing poetry and trying to create a world I thought was beautiful and filled with love. That’s where my writing began.”

            Coming to America

Five years later, JayQ The Legend and his mother followed his stepfather to the United States, so that his stepfather could take a job as a worker in the oil fields. The youngster brought his passion for writing with him. Once in the United States, he was quickly exposed to hip-hop and rap music, and, before he knew it, grew deeply inspired by the ability of hip-hop artists to express their struggles in such a powerful and freeing way. He decided to shift from writing poetry into exploring and writing music. An artist was born!

Although JayQ, who came to the United States as a teenager, now lives in Louisiana where he owns a property, he has remained attached to his home in St. Croix, in the British Virgin Islands, where he also owns a property.

Describing the influence of the black diaspora on his music, JayQ The Legend said: “My sound is a fusion. It is original afro-beat. The afro-beat is what has spread throughout the world from the drumbeats It came to the Caribbean through the slave trade, and the actual structure of reggae music came from New Orlean’s Blues music.”

He added: “I was blessed to learn about people like Bobby Blue Bland who influenced Jamaican reggae because of the way the beat came across American radio in the Caribbean. His music sounded different—it didn’t have the base, it only had the one and the two—those two guitar rifts that we hear in reggae—the two and the four. It was a return of African music to the Caribbean. That is where my influence comes from.”

A dedication to promote black pride

JayQ The Legend derives inspiration from other popular black artists, such as Jay-Z, Meek Mill and Bruno Mars. Consequently, the messaging in his lyrics and teachings as an artist often speaks to the importance of black-community pride. His song “Amazing Girl” was dedicated to celebrating women everywhere, and especially black women, by acknowledging the importance of the care and wisdom women bring during uncertain times. In his lyrics, he mentioned important black women figures, including Serena Williams—who is widely regarded as the best tennis player of all time across the gender divide—and Misty Copeland, a renowned ballerina, as well as several others. His name, JayQ The Legend, is itself used as a tool to uplift his listeners. He chose “The Legend” to signify the importance of his life, and to inspire his listeners to accept themselves and their lives as legendary.

The following is one of the artist’s core beliefs: “The accident of each of our births is legendary. Out of all of the beings that could have been created, you are not a dolphin and I am not a fish. We are human, and I think that is legendary. You are legendary.”

            A rare Ivy League graduate in the U.S. music world

Throughout his career, JayQ The Legend, a Harvard University graduate, has created a unique artistic path for himself. He attended Louisiana State University for undergraduate, and Harvard for post-graduate education, where he received his degrees to become a Civil Rights and Entertainment lawyer. However, even while in school, he remained dedicated to his music. Upon graduation, he was offered a position as a lawyer for the recording label Breakout Music. JayQ The Legend, who was eager to pursue his artistic dreams but did not want to turn down the job offer, was willing to take the job only if the label also signed him as an artist. A few months later, the artist tells The African Magazine, Breakout Music agreed and hired him as both a lawyer and a musical artist. Since then, he has risen to be one of the biggest artistic names in Breakout Music, as well as becoming their Co-CEO, along with his partner Miriam Bravly.

When asked how he manages to remain focused on his music while also winning his legal cases, the star tells The African Magazine that he is inspired to continue writing and producing songs because creating art is the way that he taps into his most authentic truth. Although the entertainer is also an accomplished lawyer, his deepest passion lies with music and writing because these acts allow him moments of important self-reflection, which he uses to manifest hope and peace for his future. He described the importance of music in his life by saying: “If you want to get really good at making music, you have to speak your truth. I find that with music and the creative arts—whether it’s painting or writing movie scripts—you get to take your truth and cloak your truth in humor, anger, laughter, dance, color, and sound.”

Creating innovative ways to experience music

With Breakout Music, JayQ The Legend has been able to expand his writing portfolio even further. He pitched the revolutionary idea to Breakout Music to try to create a more dynamic and engaging way of experiencing music. This led them to creating movies which feature the songs of their artists.

In looking toward the future, JayQ The Legend said he is most excited to start touring again, and to start hosting premiers for The Drone That Stole Christmas in different cities. He plans to create a hybrid experience through his movie premiers, where his fans can watch his movies and experience a live performance of his music on the same stage. 

JayQ The Legend has a lot more to share throughout the rest of his long artistic journey. To other Black artists who are trying to make a name for themselves in the music industry, the mega star asks them to remember the magic in their own identities: “The blueprint is in your DNA. You just need to listen inward and let it out.”