His Voice
By Hailey Stangebye
Photos by Marshall Shorts
His father was a musician and his mother was a dancer. Jayswifa jokes that, growing up, he didn’t have a choice but to practice an artistic craft.
In his childhood home on the north side of Columbus, Jayswifa’s father always had a music studio in the basement. His father was also heavily involved in their church, where he was lead musician.
“I went to this church where pretty much every rapper in Columbus went to or came through at some point,” Jayswifa says. “I couldn’t help but be around it because we were young, like 12 or 13. That’s where I started meeting my rhyming friends and I later formed a group. I just couldn’t help but join.”
“I couldn’t help but be around it because we were young, like 12 or 13. That’s where I started meeting my rhyming friends and I later formed a group. I just couldn’t help but join.”
In high school, music transitioned from a hobby to something more for Jayswifa.
“From there, I just never looked back. I always knew it’s what I wanted to do,” Jayswifa says. “When I came to high school, I played sports but then, as I turned 14 or 16, I kind of abandoned all of the sports I was playing and went full time rapping. And making sure I had good grades, too.”
“From there, I just never looked back. I always knew it’s what I wanted to do. When I came to high school, I played sports but then, as I turned 14 or 16, I kind of abandoned all of the sports I was playing and went full time rapping. And making sure I had good grades, too.”
Jayswifa says that music was his sport and his release. After a lot of hard work, his group, Fly Union, rose to notariety. Following the release of their debut album, TGTC (The Greater Than Club), Fly Union rose to the top of the iTunes New Hip Hop chart and worked with artists such as Kendrick Lamar and Pusha T.
About two years ago, the group Fly Union (Jerreau, Iyeball and Jayswifa) decided that it was time for them to focus on their solo careers. Jayswifa assisted Jerreau in production for his debut album “Never How You Plan.” One of the songs from that album, “Really Got It,” gained national attention and was recently selected as part of the NBA 2K19 soundtrack. This year, Jayswifa released his solo project, Enigma.
“Dropping my most recent project was really just about finding myself and getting my feet back in the game.”
“Dropping my most recent project was really just about finding myself and getting my feet back in the game,” Jayswifa says. “I’ve definitely found my voice. But that took a while. I’ve been doing music for this long and never putting out a solo project, and people know me as more of a producer than a rapper. I really wanted to showcase all of my skills.”
This project is just the beginning of Jayswifa’s solo career. He says that he plans to continue honing his craft moving forward.
“I feel like everybody, honestly, does something important,” Jayswifa says. “Whether you affect one person or five people or a million people. I just feel like I have insight to add on the world today.”
Jayswifa is among five, local artists who traveled on a trip from Columbus to Harlem to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance. To commemorate that trip, we’ve created a docuseries that traces the journey of each artist. To see Jayswifa’s trip to Harlem, reserve your seat at our big screen premiere at the Gateway Film Center on November 30.
