Hip Hop Reality: Interview with Jay Vinchi

Jay Vinchi is an 18 year old Hip Hop artist from the area of Metro Detroit, Michigan. His musical style is very unique and diverse ranging from hardcore Hip Hop themes to Boom-Bap and very experimental sounds. His career began seriously in 2013 with two mixtape releases while his professional debut was placed during the year of 2014 with the release of his debut commercial Single “Everything” and his debut mixtape titled “Reality”.

Interview with Jay Vinchi

Tell us about your music. What does it represent and what is your message?

Jay Vinchi: My music is all about creativity and being who I am. Both it and I represent positivity and difference, you can't be negative or try to copy others if you want to succeed. I want people to see the real side of Hip Hop in my music, but I also want people to see I am just a fun, energetic person who chills with my homies and parties like everyone else. Many different styles of music come together on my newest project and I'm excited to let you hear what I mean.

A lot of rap artists have created this stereotype of rapping the same style of lyrics with the same beats over and over. How is your music different than the rest?

Jay Vinchi: My music is different because I can switch up the style of the beat and make something creative out of it. Anything from Boombap influence, 90's influence, rock influence, all the way over to EDM influence can be heard. I also have a mainstream influence because related to what you said, some people just judge artists off of their mainstream music. Sure I can do that style just as well as the next guy with my own twist on it, but I want you to see my music that I use my unique ideas to create. It's just better that way. Don't get me wrong though, a very catchy hit isn't a bad thing at all.

Does your music have a common theme throughout all of your songs?

Jay Vinchi: My music is always evolving and adjusting to the topics and ideas that come into my head, so I can't say that there's a common theme through ALL of the songs. If we're talking a similarity throughout all the songs, it could be heard that I like to bring up being happy and positive and not letting the negatives get you caught up. That's wack and to be honest, just dumb. Be yourself, just remember negativity is where the evil breeds.

The word is that Hip Hop is stuck in the underground scene and is dead for the most part. In your opinion, how do you think Hip-Hop isn't dead? Do you think it's making a come back into mainstream or are we stuck with Eminem and Jayz?

Jay Vinchi: In my opinion I don't think Hip Hop is dead at all, especially with my generation coming into the game. All these new artists are bringing it back to real, down to earth hip hop that speaks on real topics and has great lyrics. This genre of music is the modern form of poetry and all these new artists are really representing that.

Who was your idol growing up?

Jay Vinchi: It's funny you ask cause in the last question you brought him up. I still remember being 6 or 7 and watching my first Eminem video, haha man did that stick with me. He had such a unique sound and clearly didn't care what anyone thought about him, and that stuck with me in a positive way while growing up. It wasn't until I got into hip hop in middle school that I really branched out farther from the small group of artists I knew, so eminem had a huge impact on my early days.

Did this artist or these artists influence your music?

Jay Vinchi: He didn't really directly influence my music, but it definitely influenced the way I view my image and creation process of music. That individuality drift I caught from him really stuck, and for the better to be honest.

Where does your inspiration for your lyrics come from?

Jay Vinchi: My lyrical inspiration comes from all sorts of places. My heads always running with lyrics of all types, when I say that I mean all different song formats. I have cut and dry hip hop thoughts all of the time, but my mind is also always running some more poetic and deep thoughts as well. It really makes me pumped when I hear a good beat because everything just naturally clicks. When I get heated up in a long studio session, I could literally get a beat and just flow on it off the top of my head speaking deeply and I don't think a lot of people would notice any difference. More on that later though.

With the exception of "Twist That", all your music is less than 7 months old, so it's still very current. Are you hoping you’ll get some solid recognition by a major label or have you been shopped by one already?

Jay Vinchi: I've had a ton of music before "Twist That", which was actually just something I made messing around, but all the music after that point is unprofessional so I don't think the majors will enjoy those much. I'm actually working with a very highly placed A&R firm with direct relationships with Universal, Sony, and Warner so it's more of a choice on my part of when my A&R wants to shop me. I'm on artist development, so were making it so I have the best offer possible when he goes to their front door.

According to your website, there isn't any history of live performances on your resume. Do you plan on performing live? If so, what areas are you going to target and how soon can people expect to see you at a town near them?

Jay Vinchi: Oh I've played a ton of live shows, it's always a fun time and I love hyping up a crowd and playing my music. I plan on doing a TON of live performances once I break into the industry pretty soon here, and I'm going to be targeting major cities where Hip Hop is the most popular. People can expect me at a town near them within the next year, and I'll be sure to fufill that!

Do you prefer to freestyle or do you like to write down your lyrics then hit the studio to record?

Jay Vinchi: I write my lyrics for all the recordings I do forsure, that's the way to make the best music. I love to freestyle though, and I do freestyle when I get the inspiration on a track. Freestyle sessions with the homies is the funnest thing to me.

Is your EP or songs for sale anywhere? How can people pick up a copy of your music?

Jay Vinchi: My debut commercial single is being released in August, you can catch it on every service and site that has music. We have some awesome distribution, so you'll be able to catch me everywhere from ITunes to your Xbox to Pandora.

Of the music you've recorded, what is the song that you're most proud of?
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Jay Vinchi: To be honest, I can't pick a single song from the music I've been recording recently. All the newest music from this point on is going to be professionally done, so I put my heart and soul into it all. I love all the songs cause they all have either a different topic or a different style. I love my mixture and wouldn't change it for anything.

What is on the horizon for Jay Vinchi? A new EP, a tour, a music video?

Jay Vinchi: My debut single comes out in August along with my debut Mixtape on August 10th. The single is titled "Everything" and the mixtape is titled "Reality". Those are both going to be dope so be ready to grab them!

Do you want to add anything before we end this interview?

Jay Vinchi: Thanks for having me for one, and everyone come join me on your favorite social media! Twitter is @JayVinchi and instagram is @Joemohney. My facebook fan page is Jay Vinchi as well! I'm everywhere else you could imagine too so get at me.

Find Jay Vinchi on his website at www.joemahoney.com