The 1TakeJay Interview: The 1TakeBoys, Machine Works, and His Upcoming Album "Goat"
“Still to this day there hasn’t been a moment when it’s occurred to me that this is my career, it’s more just me and the homies having fun”
Photo by Jeff Yumi
Los Angeles’s El Rey Theater was hot, sweaty, and packed with locals the night I went to see red-hot LA rapper 1TakeJay in concert. While I tried to enjoy my backstage view of the openers, my mind was occupied with one pressing question: Where is 1TakeJay? Every minute that passed I became less sure that our interview would happen until I almost relinquished myself to GA. At that moment I got a text from his manager saying he had arrived and quickly ran up a flight of stairs and pulled open the door to the green room. The room was packed and as I entered, every attendee looked at me and wondered who I was and what I was doing interrupting their pre-concert turn up. That is, every attendee besides 1TakeJay who smiled at me and called me over. The nerves and stress that plagued the previous hour instantly eluded me and we began to calmly chat about Jay’s high school football career.
1TakeJay was born and raised in Compton California. Through his high school years he was a football star but frequently changed schools before suffering a career ending injury. Growing up, Jay frequently listened to jerkin’ music, a style that is deeply rooted in Los Angeles culture. This musical influence is apparent in Jay’s music and his club trap certainly feels like a natural evolution for LA jerk rap.
Jay quickly exploded onto the rap scene in the fall of 2018 with his viral hit “Hello” which sampled Apple’s “Marimba” ringtone in the instrumental. Fans were instantly drawn to 1Take’s unique delivery and was frequently described as “Blueface but he can rap”. He followed up the smash hit with his debut mixtape Wait Hol Up which showcased impressive features from other LA all-stars such as AzChike and Kalan.FrFr while simultaneously introducing us to other members of the 1TakeBoys like 1TakeQuan and 1TakeTeezy. The tapes lead single “Arco” quickly became Jay’s signature song and another viral hit. This summer, 1Take dropped his latest smash “Drip Walking” which we can only expect to be the focus track off his upcoming album.
Ever since Jay’s first record, Los Angeles has known he was hot and has rocked with him every step of the way. While I loved turning up to his music the past year, I wasn’t sold on 1Take’s longevity as an artist until I watched his enthralling live performance where he almost brought the El Rey Theater to the ground. My conversation with 1TakeJay, lightly edited for content and clarity, follows below:
Photo by Jeff Yumi
Spencer Lobdell, StereoVision (SL): I read that you had a pretty impressive football career throughout high school and even had multiple Division 1 offer. Can tell me a little about 1TakeJay the football star?
1TakeJay (1TJ): Well I played QB in high school but that was honestly just because we didn’t have anyone else. I really liked playing cornerback - that’s what I always thought I was the best at. I was thinking about going to play in college but I got hurt and that was that.
SL: When did you start rapping and how did that come about?
1TJ: I probably started in 2014. The homie 1TakeTeezy had the studio and the whole crew would make songs all the time. One day they just kept telling me “get on, get on” so I hoped on the track and from that point on I was fuckin’ with it. Still to this day there hasn’t been a moment when it’s occurred to me that this is my career, it’s more just me and the homies having fun.
SL: How did you guys come up with the name 1Take?
1TJ: Low key it came from competition. At first it was just like “let me do this better than the homie” than it turned into “let me do this better than the homie and in less time” and we ended up at 1TakeBoys.
SL: How does it feel to come up with the people you’ve known your entire life?
1TJ: Honestly shit just feels regular because nothing changed. We still do all the same stuff haha.
SL: What can you tell me about The Machine Works label?
1TJ: Yeah Machine Works is brand new this year shoutout TK and Picaso (The founders of Machine Works). Basically it’s a new record label under Atlantic Records that represents me and AzChike. It’s all the same people I was already working with, they just got an imprint to make it an official thing and to make sure everything stays in house.
SL: DJ Mustard dropped one of the albums of the year this summer with Perfect Ten and you kick the project off with your high energy banger “Intro”. How did your relationship with Mustard begin and did that track feel any different to you than your other hits?
1TJ: I’ve been fucking with Mustard way before we did a song so it was never like “Bro let’s get in the studio” he just sent me the beat one day and asked if I liked it. The instrumental was hard so I did the track and he obviously liked it because he put it on his album. It didn’t feel any different because I was just talking shit. Mustard told me “Don’t even try and make a song, just gas it like Arco” so that’s what I did.
Photo by Jeff Yumi
SL: Since it’s release I’ve been listening to your new EP Over Like October a ton. Is there anything you want your fans to know about the new project?
1TJ: That shit was just a warm up! Honestly I just threw those songs together so my fans could have something to listen to until the album comes out. I’ve got over 100 finished songs so I just picked some I liked but didn’t make the project and dropped them.
SL: What can you tell us about the new album?
1TJ: The album’s done, I just need another month to shoot videos and wrap everything up. Expect it to drop mid-November. It’s 13-tracks long and called Goat.
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