labelled as the “Jamaican Chris Brown,” fast-rising Pop/R&B singer/producer Jovane “J’calm” Gayle had a chat with us to discuss making a mark in his “Niche” as one of the next big musical performers from Jamaica.
How did you get into music?
“[Music] has always been like a hobby, then when Covid hit and there wasn’t really anything to do per se, the obsession I got with music production,… I would just build like four beats a day and just like building, developing and learning more and more about music production,” He shared.
” I would say, like, a couple of months in the Pandemic, I started to record myself because I got bored of just making beats, since then [I’ve] just been experimenting with sounds and recording,” he added.
How long have been doing music?
Despite already having a confident and commanding stagecraft he has been doing music professionally for eight months.
“I’ve been doing music professionally for eight months now,” the 18-year-old said as he expanded on what has been a hobby over the years.
How would you classify yourself genre-wise?
“A very versatile artiste,” he joked. “You could say Pop /R&B mixed ‘Island Southern’ or R&B mixed with Reggae and Dancehall, it’s just like a mixture of sound. There is no way to classify it,” said the talented teen
“I would say around this time last year I did something on TikTok and it exploded” he explained, adding, “I released a snippet of “Tempted” and it just blew up.”
Solid family support
The Glenmuir High Graduate emphasised the 100% support from his family, especially his parents, who’ve remained nothing but encouraging of his path in music.
Being Jamaican, what’s the reason behind opting for an R&B/Pop sound as opposed to the expected Reggae or Dancehall?
“A lot of self-reflection and observation with how I grew up. I grew up with R&B music being a major thing in my family. We played R&B every day, at least every Sunday,” he expressed. “Reggae and Dancehall [were] still present as a Jamaican naturally, you’re gonna be influenced, but It was like a blend,” the singer added.
“It’s really me experimenting with what works for me and what I can do and what I can be comfortable doing” he continued.
Where’s your fan base located?
“Nigeria, UK, Germany France, Uganda, Malawi, Dubai,” [all over] are among the plethora states that are tuned in to the sound. What I’m building is like for a mixture of different people from different cultures and it’s exciting for me.”
“A lot of people call me the Jamaican Chris Brown” the “Roleplay” singer gushed while reflecting on the reception to his music thus far which has been overall positive.
Working with NotNice
“He’s a legend in Dancehall as a producer. I just got the beat and recorded from my home, so I never got to meet him until the video shoot, but he has been pretty cool.”
In addition to his NotNice produced “Easy“ on the ‘Street Vybz Riddim 2.0’, he has done work with iconic producer Stephen “Di Genius” McGregor and international hitmaker Troy Taylor, who has production credits with Chris Brown and Trey Songs.
Two Fun Facts about J’calm:
- A big gamer
- A fan of cartoons.
The well-spoken artiste shared that Sean Paul’s remix of his hit “Call My Name” is among soon-to-be-released projects fans can expect.
