The Art of Words: J O E L

"Life. Everyday we wake up and we're exposed to trials and tribulations, lessons and blessings."

- J O E L

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Interview

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Who are you and where are you from?

Joel: I do my art through the name of 'J O E L'. I'm a U.K based artist, who prides myself on my word play and unique outlook on life, giving out musical vibes in hope to inspire, motivate and capture the ears of the people. And sometimes I just like to go ham on a beat.

I'm really curious about London's music scene. I've been many places but I never get to tune into the music and I know that's a big component of the culture. What's it like? And how has it impacted or influenced you?

Joel: The U.K industry is rich and it always has been. We have had classic artists such as Dizzee Rascal, Wiley and Craig David that took the country by storm and now we have a load of new talent taking it worldwide such as Stormzy, Giggs, Stefflon Don and Jorja Smith just to name a few cause I could list for a long time the talent the U.K is producing. The scene is rich and only getting richer and is not to be slept on.

Music has been a factor in my life since I was born. My father was a guitarist and a lot of my family members either made music or were Djs. The scene had an influence on how I grew my skills as an artist. I went to an all boys high school, where breaks were either sports, fighting or rapping. We would spend a whole hour battling on the playground and then we would battle after school against rival schools, so if you didn't have the bars, you could wear shame for the rest of the day and sometimes the week, so you had to come hard. It gave a you constant drive to want to be better.

What genre is rather popular for you? Are there any artist from the U.S that you listen to at all?

joel: I'm a big fan of Hip-Hop as you may tell from my music, like Big Daddy Kane, Big Pun and Pac kinda vibes as well as the new classics such as Jay-Z, Eminem and Lil Wayne (Up to the Carter III sessions) they were all a big influence on my art from the flows to the beats, it's all mixed in me to create my style. I'm a big fan of Kendrick at current, always love a musician with a message, plus I'm a big fan of how he uses words and because the industry is stacked with wave I always appreciate someone who uses both and is in a high position in the industry and with the people, cause that's what I want for myself.

What inspires you to create?

joel: Life. Everyday we wake up and we're exposed to trials and tribulations, lessons and blessings; some of these carry a story and some carry a message, that might be what another person needs to hear to make it through a day. Moreso, music is my gift, I've always been a guy who observes, gives good energy and has a good honest opinion of the world and people, but I couldn't always get the words out. Drop me a beat and I'll have people that have known me all my life amazed at what comes out my mouth.

Something that you live by?

joel: Nothing is given. In this world the only two things you're gonna get as a definite are Life and Death. I've watched good and troublesome people leave this earth by no will of their own and all you notice when that happens is that all the stress and fear you feel you need to drop it, cause time doesn't wait and you have to go for what you want. You can't hope that girl/guy will notice you, you can't just wish you knew another language, or wait now cause you applied to 50 jobs in the hope you'll get one. You can't hope your day comes you gotta make it, you gotta get up and go for it right now if that's what you want. Nothing is given but today so make it count, be better.

Let's talk about "Baby Don't Cry", 15 seconds in I was AMAZED!!! It was the complete opposite of what I anticipated. You have such a distinct sound and the sample was genius! What inspired this?

Joel: I'm happy you liked it, it's one of my favorites. It encapsulates some of my thoughts of the people whilst trying to motivate , whilst keeping it short and sweet. One thing I see is we spend a lot of time pushing each other down, there's a lot of negative outlooks on life. I wanted to be one of the voices to show a better outlook, someone that might make a person in pain maybe want to push on. Yeah the world hits hard, but there's things you can do to soften the blow for yourself and others, hopefully that energy goes around and has a good affect. Too many gain their success at the expenses of others, I believe I'm strong enough to help others and do my thing.

Art of Words is out now, how was the process of this drop and was the outcome for you expected? from the viewers etc.

Joel: Art of Words, is a project I wrote a little while ago with a lot of music i believe would still have an affect on people today and give them insight on what kind of artist 'J O E L' is. The release was good, I didn't really have expectations, I just believed I had something worth sharing and I wanted people to hear, with that being said the response was great and is only growing since the release. Now it's about getting it to all ears and continuing to make an impact.

What is something that you would like to add to your platform?

joel: Couple things I want to do to upgrade my art ; work with more artists and producers both local and worldwide and also get my hands on the keys, make more beats for myself and pick up playing the guitar. I feel like that would help push my creativity to new places.

If you were to blow up today or tomorrow, what would be the first thing on your list to do?

Joel: 3 Things; 1. buy a house in LDN, JA and St.lucia (Each homeland) 2.Build facilities in certain areas in LDN and abroad for young ones to play sport, make music and fully explore their creativity in other ways, because I remember not having it and how it probably would have helped a lot of people. 3. Travel. I would go see other places and people learn about the cultures this world holds.

What should we be on the lookout for the remainder of the year?

Joel: For the rest of this year you can expect a lot of new content, video and music alike. Another project this summer, it's recorded, mixed and mastered so just waiting on the last few bits like the cover art and tracklist finalization. I'm going to be visiting Los Angeles this month and plan to film a couple videos there and hopefully meet up with a few like minded people and make more beautiful vibes, get a couple more shows under my belt to keep pushing the music that's out and maybe one more project in the latter part for the year. Also there's gonna be more unreleased music in between that's just been raring to go and a few newly filmed visuals to look out for. It's gonna be a busy but productive end to the year, and it's looking good.

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For more on the artist tune into his website, click here for further links. Also check out the clip below for JOEL's Baby Don't Cry.