The Universal Records building always keeps a crowd of artist surrounding it but there are only a few that get to take the elevator ride into the heart of the empire. After checking in, once I got to the floor where Ja-Bar Universal Records new acquisition was located, the halls were flooded with posters and photographs of the entire Universal family who have made huge impacts on music. Ja-Bar the 19 year-old rap artist, fresh out of Atlanta, Georgia has been making some huge moves early in his career as one-third of the SOD Money Gang, he has linked with the right team for his musical expression. Already established artists, Soulja Boy and Arab are the other components to the group.
Ja-Bar’s hit single “Daze” featuring Soulja Boy has drawn a growing fan base for the young artist. Sitting inside waiting to do the interview on limited hours of sleep and a tight schedule he already has the business mind frame to understand what must be done in order to become the next young superstar like his good friend Soulja.
With a lot of his musical influences being from the south Ja-Bar still looks to collaborate with artists from all over the globe. Meeting Soulja Boy through a mutual friend and remaining tight throughout both their careers it was easy for Ja-Bar to make the decision to sign with Soulja Boy, but when looking for a major, Ja-Bar took his time to pick a place he would call home. With a bidding war between E1, Universal, Atlantic, SRC, Interscope and J Records, Universal seemed to be the favorite and later became the home for Ja-Bar by the end of the battle.
Working hard on his musical introduction to the world Ja-Bar writes all his lyrics to his songs but also tries to be as flexible as possible with his production. With a schedule full of studio sessions radio interviews and live performances he hasn’t forgotten the small moments that’s keeps him driven like hitting the Summer Jam stage with Juelz Santana and being jolted by the roar of the Hip-Hop fans hypnotized in the music by all the artists that day.
With major production from Soulja and a collaboration with Keri Hilson, Ja-Bar still looks to make music with some greats. With names like Erykah Badu, Lil’ Wayne, Outkast,Three-6-Mafia and pushing to get hit maker, Ludacris on a track Ja-Bar is restless when it comes to his music.
In addition to the music, he also has a clothing line, which he has owned since the tenth grade Ja-Bar Cupid Clothing which has had a good response from the people and allowed Ja-Bar to put music on hold for a short while. That’s not the only business venture the young star has up his sleeves, Ja-Bar is also trying to create the milk chocolate and caramel, “Ja-Bar Bar”! His production team is trying to get it to the store shelves a soon as possible.
 On the music side, Ja-bar wants to expand by aspiring to play the piano and produce his own music he expects to be the next big hit in his camp and others seemed to be convinced as well with the major treatment he has been getting. Changing climate every two to three days recording in major studios or just promoting for his album Ja-Bar seems to be enjoying every minute of his success with smiles from ear to ear when mentioning past performances or future events to come the young star rides every roller coaster in his theme park. With the energy of a teen and the persona of a established CEO, Ja-Bar plans to run laps around the music industry putting himself to be mentioned with all of the artists whose music he loves.
Learning the game from some veterans has also helped Ja-Bar rise to where he is so far making music he feels bests represents him. He doesn’t let the negative affect him, rising over every doubt and obstacle put in his path, he has learned how to use the haters to his advantage as fuel to his fire for creating music. On the road to much more success and a whole lot more money Ja-Bar will have a strong influence on his fans from his candy bar to his clothing line and with the work ethic he possesses it’s just a matter of time before he becomes a stand out artist over at Universal. Be on the look out.
images by Christian Ortiz
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