A 20-year-old dancehall artiste is using social media to his advantage to promote his music. Quacey Welcome, popularly known as Jay Supreme hopes to become an international dancehall artiste. In an interview with The Scene, Jay said he started writing music when he finished High School in 2016 but only became serious about it in 2019.
He related that he decided to take the step after doing a song called “Future” in 2018 and being surprised at the response. “After I did the song I saw the feedback that I got from it and I was like surprised… so I was like this is a real talent, I just got to keep working on my craft and don’t give up on it, but I still wasn’t serious,” he said. He added that putting his all into his music and becoming 100 percent serious only came after he released his most popular music video to date for the song “Double O7” which has garnered over 18,000 views on his YouTube channel.
The official audio for the song was released in late 2019 but according to Jay, it only got buzz after the video was released earlier this year. “I shot the video in February and I held it. Then coronavirus came around, so I was like I’m just going to release it when everybody’s at home and don’t have anything to do,” he added. Jay told The Scene that when the video was released for the song, the response was overwhelming. He excitedly expressed that he also gained just about 2,000 subscribers within two days.
“What really was breaking my vibe is the people that talk and say that Guyanese don’t make money in singing and those things. So, I didn’t really consider it as a career but now everything is flowing in the right direction,” Jay said.
He noted that he always had a love for music and one day just decided to write a song to give it a try. The young artist expressed that he discovered his talent for writing songs at an early age and kept doing more as he got older so as to perfect the skill.
He has been taking advantage of the numerous social media platforms to promote his music and to keep his fan base up to date with what he has coming next. He frequently posts about his new music ventures on social media and even has groups on both Facebook and WhatsApp to hear from his supporters. He has gained a following of almost 5,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, where he officially releases music.
He described the music industry in Guyana as a circle. He mentioned that it is really hard for upcoming artistes like himself to promote their work and become successful. But he is aiming for international success as he believes that the support he receives from the public can push him to those heights. Jay went on to say that in his view there is a code to making it on the international scene and he is working to crack that code.
Meanwhile, he noted that in Guyana more people gravitate to Dancehall, which led him to stick with that genre though he expressed that he could fit into the Rap genre. He said the creating process is one he loves and while knowing that audio and production quality is up to standard the other piece of the puzzle would be the video-making process for the music. He said he tries as much as possible to include a story in the videos that somewhat relates to the music. “I do that so people can enjoy watching the videos. It’s not just the song they will be listening to but they will be enjoying the video at the same time so it would be something that they would want to share,” he said, adding that this will bring a wider audience.
He revealed that the writing process for him involves what is going on in his environment at the said time. Detailing the process of writing the song “Future” which was his first official release, he said that at that time he was going through a lot as he had just left high school and was not yet working. “Sometimes I try to put myself in someone else’s shoes and try to think about what someone else is going through and that experience and write about that, whether it’s something good or bad,” he said.
His main goal is to perfect his craft and break into the international market. “That’s why a lot of people don’t get into music in Guyana. But if I’m the first person to do it, they can see that and have the confidence to do the same thing,” he expressed.
His message to younger artistes who are hoping to make it in the music industry in Guyana is that they stay on the grind and continue to believe in their message. “Rome wasn’t built in day, so just keep believing in yourself if you really love it and you really know that you have that talent, keep building yourself to know that one day you will actually break that barrier,” he urged.
