Detroit, MI born, Champaign, IL raised rapper Jay Walker, also known as Jay Moses, has been perfecting his craft since 1998 at the ripe young age of 8. His first inspiration musically was Jay-Z’s Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life, since then his flow, cadence, word play, content, and rhyme scheme has been largely based on East Coast Rap/Hip-Hop.
It wasn’t until his sophomore year of high school at the age of 16 that Jay decided he wanted to take music seriously as a career option though. It took the recognition of his peers to convince him to pursue this new path seriously. Thus, he began his new training regimen. Every morning after he woke up, he would lie in his bed and freestyle 16 bars before he would get himself ready to start the day. “That was the routine to me. I didn’t want to be the best, but I for damn sure was gonna be nice at what I did,” Jay says.
In 2007, Walker adopted the surname Moses for his stage persona, becoming known as Jay Moses. At this point in his life, Walker felt that Hip-Hop was in a state of disarray and needed someone like Moses, who “walked by faith and led his followers, brothers and sisters to freedom.” The Moses portion of his name became a symbol of what he hopes to do as not only an artist, but as a person in Hip-Hop.
He’s currently majoring in Mass Communications at Parkland College, mostly to learn about advertisement to help advance his career. He feels that good promotion isn’t easy to come by and is seldom affordable.
But, Jay’s rise hasn’t quite been a fairytale. In the 3rd grade, soon after he started rapping, Jay’s mother stumbled upon one of his notebooks filled with rhymes. It was not long after that all Rap and Hip-Hop was banned from the household. Jay spent much of his time sneaking in a listen here and there, or even relying on the cassettes of his older brother to catch a few of Eminem or Jay-Z’s rhymes when his parents weren’t around. Eventually, his teachers and other adults brought to his parents’ attention just how talented he was becoming. The ban was lifted soon thereafter and Jay’s parents have been supportive ever since. Make no mistake though, this wasn’t the last time Jay would face opposition, even after establishing himself and releasing his first solo project, The Journey, he was told to his face that the music he was making wasn’t “what it took to become successful.” Although that same night, the person who told him this, ended up taking a copy of his CD, so Jay never really took it to heart.
Jay cites Rovi Rokmore of TheGr8ThinkaZ as one of his biggest helps during his musical career. He says Rovi is like a big brother to him, has heavily influenced his lyrical style and is also always there to tell him when his stuff just isn’t good, but also always there to cheer him on when he gets it right. Most of Jay’s current work is done with other local artists from the Champaign-Urbana area, though he has worked on a larger project with artists Blink and The Boy Illinois in which the song “Light Show” was written. The video for which has spread worldwide over various blogs.
Most recently though, Jay has found inspiration in Dubstep and Indie Rock music. Being a lover of music in general, he plans to incorporate parts of each in upcoming songs and shows.
As previously mentioned, his musical style branches out quite a bit and he is convinced that even if someone isn’t a fan of Rap, they will find something to like about his performance. His first album, for which he has yet to release the name, will be, barring any complications, released early next year.
Jay Moses is the true definition of an MC. One who moves his crowds, the controller of the mic, the master of ceremonies. As he would put it “Jay is who I am, Moses is who I strive to be. And there you have it, Jay Moses.”
You can find Jay Moses’ music along with his solo project “The Journey” at swafimusic.com and youtube.com/jaymoses217
