JayKin
Photo Credits: Patrick Leung
Many years ago, I met JayKin, a talented rapper hailing out of Vancouver, Canada. I was impressed with his flow, his triplets, and his lyricism. So, I reached out to get to know him a bit more and understand his motivations and passions. In our conversation, I learned a lot about his motivations and his early beginnings. I’m sharing verbatim excerpts from our conversation, as well as resharing the photoshoot that we did with him in downtown Vancouver. One day, I’ll catch up with JayKin again to see where he’s at, but until then, here’s our conversation from 2009 so keep in mind that a lot has changed.
So JayKin Sensei, can you tell us a little more about yourself?
JayKin Sensei, yes, I'm 26 years old and born and raised in Vancouver. I'm an aspiring, not really struggling, hip hop artist, but definitely motivated. I've been rapping now for over 10 years. First time I wrote my lyrics was when I was nine years old. Recently, I've been in Japan for the past two years and things have changed a lot for myself, personally, and for the music. Now I'm back in Vancouver.
You have a lot of nicknames, from Jaykin Sensei, Vancity's Nicest and even Bashful and The Kid. Can you tell us which one of these nicknames you really go by and how you got the names?
Personally, The Kid, because I'm a kid at heart. That one kind of came from just the whole baby face that I have, just always shaved. People thought I was 16 when I was 18 or whatever and they just thought I was a young one tagging along. Vancity's Nicest is just something I threw out there, just to rep the city. If I go somewhere else, I can say that, rather than going around the city saying, "I'm Vancity's Nicest." When I'm in Vancouver, I don't really need to say that. Going on Japanese T.V., I didn't say Vancity's Nicest, but in the credits and the video, I put that for people to see.
Who is your one idol in the game?
Jay-Z or Nas, who is it? I guess I got to say Nas, because of his humble character. He's been able to make it this far, being so humble and focusing on the music, rather than the things outside of music. Jay-Z's got a lot of things to show and prove that he can be that hustler without that illegal work and prove to the world that he can make it in the business world. But Nas just kept it to the music and I look up to that a lot more. That lasts a lot longer than how much money you make because you can make $300 million, but the music will last longer.
You mentioned that people want to hear more of the personal side in your music. What are some of the things that you've seen that are recurring throughout your music?
Tempo. When I came back, I was talking to my DJ and the crew that he works with, The Freshest, Seko, Marvel, Rico Uno, and Kut Corners, we were talking about the BPM (beats per minute) and how that's important. We noticed that nowadays, it's a little higher around 115 or somethign like that. I went home and checked all the beats I was working on and they were usually around the same thing. That, I realized, wasn't something I planned on doing and it was just the type of beats that I like. As far as the topics I was writing on, I had to change it up and these things I was just doing becuase I enjoyed it. Now, I just have to open up a lot more and open myself up to more ideas and challenges.
Throughout this whole interview, I've noticed that the way you talk is very slow, thought out, and enunciated. But on your tracks, there are some really fast verses and fast and sick flow. Why is there this contrast, and have you thought about this before?
Performing now, the first show I did was 18 years old and I'm 26 now. Every time I go on stage, I just turn into something else and I'm on hype and the energy is going. I feel a lot more confident, definitely. But, I know that when I'm on stage, that's what I'm there to do and that's what I love doing. Personal life and outside, I'm a calm and quiet person - I don't say too much. There are a lot of other artists where when I go into the studio with them, it'll be a little bit of awkwardness. Maybe the first time they meet me, they're thinking, "OK, let's do this," but I'm actually a quiet dude.
Thanks for reading
