MSC Jay is an artist on the rise out of South Carolina. Being that the Carolinas are most known for having a tons of talent, but not yet successful in the industry, we asked him about the Carolina scene, the origin of his name, what he's working on and more.
1. Introduce yourself to the world (name & where you’re from)
I go by the name MSC Jay, I’m from a small Island in South carolina called Saint Helena.
2. When did you start your music career?
I’ve been writing for as long as I could spell, it picked it up and I improved my skills in high school. But my career really started when I started investing money in myself a few years ago.
3. What’s the origin of your name, MSC Jay?
The origin comes from us starting this rap group called Mob Squad Carolina and that is where the MSC comes from. I’ve been called Jay all my life and at one point I went by Young Jay but that was too common so I decided to use MSC Jay.
4. What’s your favorite track that you’ve ever recorded and why?
My favorite track is “I Stay Focused” with my partner Stump D Rest in peace to him. That song just holds sentimental value because he’s no longer here. We might re-release it sometime soon just commemorate Stump D.
5. Being a Carolina artist, what would you say are your biggest frustrations dealing with the industry?
I feel like we are overlooked. I feel like nobody from South Carolina has really knocked the down door like that yet so it's easy for the industry not to recognize that. There’s a lot of talent over here but it's overlooked.
6. What do you think of the Carolina music scene?
I feel it's on the rise, a lot of talent and a lot of people who are working hard. But I do not want to limit myself to the Carolina music scene because music is so universal now. The internet has made it so it's not as much of a regional thing as it used to be. So you can really thrive and I see a lot of South Carolina artists thriving.
7. What do you think is keeping the Carolina music scene from thriving?
Just like I stated on the last two questions I don’t see anything negative at all. The state will definitely need somebody to knock the doors down. I don’t think much about limiting myself to one State though. I’m thinking much bigger than that, I have my sights set on bringing my Geechie culture to the forefront and to the world. I would encourage everybody else to think beyond the Carolinas.
8. If you could work with any artist, who would it be and why?
Actually I would like to work with a producer, I would love to work with Manny Fresh. He is a legend in my eyes who created the blueprint for the sound we hear today. Plus he was such a hard worker at one point he was the only producer at Cash Money and they were releasing multiple projects. I would learn so much from him about been a hard worker and also how to continue to create my own sound. I feel like my sound being that I’m Geechie would benefit from his understanding of how to bring a regional sound to the masses.
9. Tell us about what your working on. What can we expect for the remainder of the year?
I’m about to drop this new single and video produced by Dj Burn One called “Wait On You” and we are going to follow that up with the release of the Geechie Gospel EP. We will also to continue to work some more singles when the summer starts.
10. List all of your contact/social media info
https://www.instagram.com/mobsquadcarolinajay/
https://www.facebook.com/mobsquadcarolinajay
https://twitter.com/mscjay1
