J-Money$ @ The Empire in Tampa Bay, FL. 6/18/08
Detroit born, Champaign-Urbana raised artist Jay "J-Money$" Walker, also known as Jay Moses, "The Young Leader Emcee", is one of the few M.C.'s (Mic Controler, Mover of Crowds, Master of Ceremonies) attempting to bring back the essence of Hip-Hop. This mid-west rapper since the age of 8 years states that "If Hip-Hop is dead..., (J-)Money$ be the E.M.S." He's well aware of how heavy the weight of saying that is, but feels it's needed to be said, and the revival of the culture needs to take place soon.With that said his mission in the industry is to bring back the respect Hip-Hop once had from every genre/culture in the world.Jay got his start in Hip-Hop at an early age. He was actually in the 3rd grade when he started rapping. "A lotta people don't know that about me, but yeah..I was about 8 years old when I first started writing lyrics. And I kind of blame it on my older brother" laughs Jay as he recollects his early rapping days.Robbie Walker who shares the same name as their father, a.k.a. Ne.C.Oja, or "New Era Neece" is a down south rapper residing in Tampa Bay, Florida but has a mid-western flow to him. He's opened for several major artists (including Genuine) and has released a succesful mix-tape titled "The Campaign vol. 1"Jay says "When I was younger and would get to spend time with Rob he would always have a Jay-Z tape or c.d. on him, and he would always play it around me. So I was exposed to Jigga at an early age, this was back when I didn't even know who he was. I think he had just dropped "Hard Knock Life vol.2" when I really started paying attention to what he was saying in his songs, and how he was saying it." "My dad never really wanted me to listen to Jay 'cause I mean, this is tha same dude who made at that point in time "Nigga What, Nigga Who", "Can I Get A...." ect.., which in the end only made me want to listen to him more" laughs Jay, "Which I ended up doing.."Jay then started writing his own lyrics, not for any particular reason, just to do. Something he did for fun he said. But at his age no other kids were doing that type of thing, so when he did write lyrics, he kept them to his self. He hid them from his siblings, his friends, and especially his parents. He carried on that way for several more years until a movie came which inspired Jay to take his talent to the next level, and allow people to actually hear him spit."Yeah man, when "8 Mile" came out I was in the 7th grade, and EVERYBODY thought they was a rapper after seein that. So I took my chances and started flowin in front of audiences, battlin and stuff. That didnt really do me any good, dont get me wrong, I was nice wit mines ya know? It's just tha type of stuff I was kicking in my rhymes wasn't me at all. I aint never cursed so much in my life. And we used to battle in broad day light at school in front of teachers and staff, and once word got to my parents bout what I was sayin and doin.....they pulled the plug on me."Jay says his parents made him stop writing rhymes as soon as they read some of his early lyrics."They used to trip hard" chuckles Jay, "It got to the point were my moms wouldnt even allow me to listen to rap music... That didn't work at all for me, music is my life, and I realized that then, so as a act of rebellion I would like.., write 16's in my school notebooks (where my homework should've been)"Before and after all of this took place, in school Jay was always known as "the quiet kid", he never spoke much, he kept to his self, and would only speak when spoken to. Once his sophmore year of high school came around...all of that changed for the better.Jay is now a matured Hip-Hop artist who has very recently along side his partner in crime Nick G. "Tha Boss", released his very first project "Marino Vs. Moses vol.1". Jay states that there will be an album following that release. No info was given about the album (title, features, release date..etc.), except that he hopes to have an L.P./album in progression by August '08.
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