Ja'Gape' Perspective on This Ain't Love

Transformation.

I suppose I would also say that I equate "Artist" to "Music" with this response because Music is a very powerful art form. It can create moods, influence ideals and generally shape our society in ways that I think many listeners may not even consider. 

Music is just as powerful as Hollywood movies. It is simply a medium of sound instead of sight but still equally as powerful.

With that being said, no one can control the narrative of any Artist but their roles are the same.

But as an Artist, my personal focus of a positive message of Love, Hope, Happiness and Inspiration

A connection. It doesn't matter if the connection is with one song or several. It doesn't matter if it connects the listener with hope, a feeling of relaxation, a chill out moment or whatever. As long as it connects and sends a "positive message and or feeling" 

Its what I expect when I listen to music, it's what gives music a purpose and I believe it's what any listener would or should expect.

Mostly life challenges and lessons, love experiences and the constantly changing dynamics and landscapes of our ever evolving society.

The Heart Beats release plays into the R&B classics type of genre. My intent with this release was to re-capture the real roots of R&B before the current times. At it's core, it truly reflects my interpretation of the original organic R&B style

I am a real advocate and firm believer in an "organic sound" & style especially when it pertains to vocals so I attempt to remain very original in this respect. I feel this component of music has been lost out a bit in the advent of current technologies that allow artists to effortlessly bypass their true voice. Yeah, I'm definitely old school for sure when it comes to that.

At age 8..... yep, I can definitively say I was 8 years old b/c my childhood wasn't the typical that a majority of kids my age had. While most kids were watching cartoons, playing outside and etc. I was more or less forced into a Musical environment that consisted of a home radiating the sounds of John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, James Brown, Otis Redding, Nancy Wilson and WOW just an explosive plethora of diverse music everyday. So music has shaped my ideals, diversity and character from a very early age.

Oh and when I say "Everyday", I mean "Everyday".

My father played Sax and my mother a pianist. And I spent a lot of time listening to her play the same piece of music over and over and over perfecting each note everytime. When she saw my interest, she was the one who taught me piano, theory, harmonization, the importance of perfection through practice and the rest is somewhat history from that point forward.

After my college years attending the HBCU Florida A & M University, I was still very involved with cultivating my musical talents but I believe it wasn't long after, maybe a couple of years later that I realized I wanted to bump things up a notch or two.

I had done a lot of freelance music production work as a side gig for other rappers, artists and performers; some of whom passed through the central Florida area. I created backing tracks and demo material to covers and sometimes reworked originals as they sometimes these for performances at local clubs or Disney and etc

Within time, I began receiving notable recognition for my Production and Arrangement work to the point I began questioning myself as to why I didn't devote just as much time to produce for my own music. That's what much kicked things off.

I was born in Daytona Beach, FL (The popular place for Spring Breakers and a mecca for Bikers all over during annual Bike week). But most of my life actually spans across 2 states. Namely Nashville, TN and Akron, OH.

I am a R&B vocalist and musician whose primary instruments are Synths, Piano, Vibraphone, Drums and "almost" just about every percussion instrument you could probably name ranging from a Kalimba to Congas. I also have had formal training with Sax and Guitar as well. But I typically leverage my primary instruments most often.

I have spent years performing with a diverse group of Bands to include Reggae, Pop, Jazz & Funk since the early 80's which has allowed me the ability to develop different styles that easily flow across those particular genre's.

Lastly, I am also a Software Engineer & Architect which has given me the flexibility of taking my time to produce Music that I believe in, send positive messages and not rely so heavily on the pressures associated with making monetary gains. Which I really enjoy. I make music for the sake of the music, not the money.

During my life I've experienced many different types of relationships ranging from casual dating to trying to find a long lasting serious love. And I've found that many times the concept of a Real Love is oftentimes miscontrued with Lustful Passion; and I personally believe this is because we live in a Society where these 2 very different ideals are oftentimes merged so much in the Movies, Songs and other media until the lines of distinction have emerged into a blurred reality.

So when I wrote this song, it was my effort to somehow emphasize that Love and Passion although can be rightfully associated as one. Each is clearly distinct. In other words, you can have Love for someone and yet lack the element of Passion. Similarly, you can have a strong passionate desire to be with someone but lack the true elements of Love.

It's very important that we as a society consistently remind ourselves of this and remove the Hollywood stigma that "I wanna make love to you" is somehow linked to "I Love You"..... But very very different indeed!