Interview w/ Jay Mills

I got a chance to sit down with a good friend & a very talented artists JAY MILLS & really get to see where her head is at in the game. Enjoyed my interview with this talented young lady who currently resides in The Washington DC area. If you haven't heard about Jay Mills you need to hear about her today. With that said let's jump into this interview.

The Lab!:

How did you find out that you had a love for music?

Jay Mills:

Well, I’ve loved Music all my life. I was a musician first lol

I started playing the piano at 4years old and I still play to this day.

As far my lyricism I began as a poet. I've always had a love for words. The first piece I ever wrote and shared was in the 3rd grade. I considered all that Poetry. I didn't consider myself a rapper until SummerMadness dropped lol.

The Lab!:

So you play the piano....do you produce any of your works?

Jay Mills:

Not officially. On my first project 9Teen I did produce "Eye Contact"

and I did vocal arrangements for "Really" and "RunWay"

The Lab!:

Have you produced for others?

Jay Mills:

Not yet

The Lab!

Who/what inspires your work?

Jay Mills:

I am inspired by honest hiphop & reality rap in all its forms. I'm not one of those folks that only listens to the most lyrical lyricists. I LOVE Devin the dude, I love project pat, as much as I love Jay-Z , Pac, Big & Nas

I don't write for the radio. I don't write for fans. I write for my sanity.

Shout out to Scarface. I love artists that are true to themselves. They inspire me

The Lab!;

Speaking of radio the first time I heard you was on WHUR in DC about 5 or 6 years ago

Jay Mills:

Yeah, I was avidly against being considered a rapper at that time

The Lab!:

Why?

Jay Mills:

Well at that time there was certainly no room for reality rap/honest hiphop.

Even common had to kind of sell out and do commercial music

I’ve been approached by several labels that wanted me to rap. I’m talking MAJOR labels with MONEY. (I.E Interscope, J Records & Island Def Jam)

ALL of them had a cookie cutter image of what the next female rapper must be. This Barbie that is Nicki Minaj has been the goal of these labels for ages

The Lab!;

That's sad

Jay Mills:

Going to Howard where we had a STRONG poetry community and DC where there was a big spoken word scene...I didn't think i needed to "Rap" to share my lyrics.

The funny thing is that the Poetry community really didn't like me too much. They said I wasn't writing poetry I was just spitting rap lyrics LOL Bar Nun had a house band that accompanied me, I realized that Yes, my Poetry DOES sound better with Music behind it. So I'm a Lyricist but NOT a RAPPER. I swear, I didn't call myself any kind of Rapper until last year

The Lab!:

Well all I can say is keep rapping lol!

Jay Mills:

Thanks!

The Lab!:

No problem. Who have you performed with, or opened for in your career?

Jay Mills:

I recently opened for Lola Monroe during her batteries not included tour. I've shared the mic with Raheem Devaughn (WuTang Jam Session) Wayna (09 DMV Awards) Rah Digga (07)

The Lab!;

That's what’s up. Well last but not least where do you see yourself in five years?

Jay Mills;

In 5 years I see myself traveling world wide sharing my music and the culture of the DMV

Comfortably living off of my craft sharing the mindset that I have of Artists taking responsibility of their own careers...

I see myself being involved in TV/Film Productions in front of & behind the camera

The Lab!:

Well thank you for your time.

Jay Mills:

thank you!!!

(check her out at http://www.therealjaymills.com/)