Meet Foreign Jay, the Hottest Act Currently Coming Out of the Midwest
In an industry saturated with so much of the same, Foreign Jay is a breath of fresh air. The young Cleveland MC is energetic, different, and the next big thing to come out of the midwest. Jay has been slowly gaining traction since releasing the visual to his eerie cut “Choppa Go” almost a year ago. There is a lot to love about the plethora of singles the young rapper has released since. Jay seems to draw inspiration from a number of regions making his music incredibly diverse and widely appealing. While his up-front flow and provocative punchlines remind me of the rap renaissance currently taking place in the bay area, his cool and unique dialect and bass heavy instrumentals are reminiscent of Drakeo the Ruler and the Los Angeles underground. Jay seamlessly connects these styles as well as many others to craft his own distinct sound that will carry him to stardom in the near future.
Foreign Jay first caught my attention when a friend sent me his EP Lil Jet Pack last fall. This three-song tape begins with the hard hitting “One Take Shawty.” While this song has received more attention than anything else in his catalogue, it was the second track, “Flashy” that really made me a fan. “Flashy” is menacing, purposefully ignorant, and home to one of the catchiest hooks I’ve heard in recent memory. Jay’s flow throughout the chorus manages to emphasize every punchline perfectly and the rattling bass in the instrumental makes this cut an essential for every joyride.
Jay followed his EP up with one of my favorite songs he’s put out to date, “Keyshia Cole.” The Cleveland rappers delivers a worthy vocal performance but ultimately it’s the ominous instrumental with a powerful ascending bass line that steals the show. With this being said, Jay yet again brings his insanely fun energy to this track and again uses unique flows to make his most critical bars unignorable. There is something different about “Keyshia Cole” that is somewhat difficult to place, but I believe to be foreshadowing for the new lane I see Jay carving out in 2019.
Currently my favorite song by Foreign Jay (and one of my favorite songs of the year) was the late January release, “Bad Guyz.” On this groovy cut we see Jay tackle a new kind of 80s-inspired instrumental that few rappers are currently spitting too. This risk paid off in full as “Bad Guyz” is infectious, high-energy, and so much fun. A portion of this can be attributed to the unique beat but majority of the credit belongs to Jay’s witty word play that never comes off as anything close to corny. The Midwest MC dropped a dope music video for the bop that perfectly captures the care-free vibe of this song.
In one short year Jay has crafted an impressive catalogue of singles, gained a following of loyal fans from his hometown and the rest of the country, and has created a buzz for himself by receiving frequent attention from the music publication Elevator. The young rapper is now in perfect position to release his breakout mixtape, which according to his instagram, is exactly what he plans to do next. Last week he posted the following picture on his instagram announcing that his debut mixtape should be arriving very soon. In the post, Jay proclaims that All Graved Up will be his biggest piece of work yet and needless to say here at StereoVision we are beyond excited for the release. With Jay’s mix of influences, unique flows and dialect, and prolific release strategy, 2019 is bound to be a hell of a year for the Cleveland MC.
