Meet University of Lagos Upcoming Music Star,PJay who recently chatted with Salient Times Newspaper he spoke about feedback from his latest single title “THANDA” and how his family influence him into music with Esther Egbe.
My name is Peter Josiah aka” PJay”. I am from Imo State.The first born and also a student of University of Lagos.I am a young Nigerian singer, rapper and song writer.
What got me into music, firstly my ability to effortlessly come up with melodies at very young age,freestyle back in my secondary school days in class,i started off as a dancer I didn’t really have the source to go into the studio, i used to dance along side Lil Smart we were partners crazy story,I really love the craft so I decided to take the journey into music.
My Father played the drums and the keyboard, he had a band called “Divine Clique Band” , he’s crew always have rehearsals back at the house and my Mother sings as well so basically it’s like a bloodline type thing, basically my surroundings was music related.
I can describe my music as Afro-concussion, I feel my sound is a combination of different genres of music,I express myself through my music , singing, rapping,get inspiration from anything,my surroundings ,myself what goes on in my life, people around me etc.
My creative process can be really weird, sometimes the lyrics comes before beat and sometimes it’s reversed and sometimes the melody comes before the lyrics . I can be anywhere and get ideas and record on my phone then send over to [Ciss or Smvkebeats] the producers I work with, if they feeling the music they will just cook up something and send it back to me .
The list of Musical artist I will love to work with Skepta, Tems, Burna boy, Dave, Ariana Grande,but the one I’m really looking forward to working with Chris Brown “the guy don use style dey collect Afrobeats”, but one thing I know for sure is music to me must be organic to be sweet.
I would like to open a Burna Boy show honestly I think that’ll be great, Wizkid as well, Selena Gomez so many others.
One message to my fans “Don’t be afraid to dream big & chase that big dream of yours and focus it’s not going to be easy, but it’s definitely going to work out .I will say again live life to the fullest and most importantly, trust GOD in every situation, trust the process. Keep on doing what you all are doing for me.
The most useless talent I got it being “annoying” I feel it’s a gift to be honest finna need to monetize this talent.
I think everyone sings in the shower, the shower is like where I do my imaginary live sessions .
If it wasn’t for music I’d be a basketball player cause I love the game. I actually got a team ,but I just play for fun .
I have performed in Nigeria where I’m based , different states and cities. My favorite venue was Summer Fest the love there was amazing, I don’t really like club performances.
I’m definitely going to have my first headlining show really soon, I’ll let y’all know when it’s time .
The Internet has really impacted in the music business. I mean right now you can reach out to a large number of audience or spread your craft with not too much cost. It’s that easy.
My favorite song to perform is “Smile” which is my first release in 2020 always a shutdown .
Burna Boy is someone I admire so much, I love how he believed in himself and worked hard even when people doubted and underrated him, he never switched, kept doing him till everyone woke up to what he’s been about. Same goes to Rema that jigga real as good.
In this life no matter what you are going through,never give up, always be consistent, don’t think twice before posting and it’s been going really great.
What I will like to change about the music industry is how everything is based on money, from Radio stations, to DJs, influencers etc, talent rarely get you anything, just money money money! I’d like to change that.
What’s next for me is greater things, I got new music coming out soon,got so many songs recorded, I will release as much as I can, I haven’t even started, “My Abido Shaker still dey ” It’s going to be an interesting journey I know.
So, I first of all it’s been two years since I released music, and I’m super excited about this release, THANDA is Zulu for “I love you” in South Africa. “Thanda” is special record, not gonna lie I had this particular girl in my mind when I wrote the song,recorded Thanda under 25 to 30 minutes as SMVKE just played the beat, Smvkebeats produced Thanda,he played me a couple other fire beats, but I found this particular beat really interesting, connected with it immediately and delivered.
We didn’t believe we were gonna achieve that though to be honest, cause I was actually supposed to record a cover that very day. The song is literally on everyone’s playlist, I get DM’s everyday from different people across countries as well telling me how much they love the song, and it’s encouraging because I make this music for the people and I’m glad they view my sound. Let’s just see how it goes, but I know for sure that it’s going to happen.I’m not going to force it.
