Jay Balenci

Jonathan Palmer, professionally known as ‘Jay Balenci,’ was born on July 2, 2000. Being from the Bronx, Jay Balenci spent his earliest years as a kid in the Bronx, New York. For Jay, growing up was tough, as it was filled with challenges that only made life hard. Jay was raised by his aunty Dionne, who, alongside his [Jay’s] siblings, Jude and Miriam, saved him from a destructive path that nearly consumed him while growing up.

Jay’s mom was on drugs, while Jay’s father was frequently in and out of jail. Neither of Jay’s biological parents played a major parenting role in his life while growing up. Because Jay’s mom lost the right to have her kids in custody, she resorted to calling the Administration for Children's Services (ACS) on Jay’s father. This resulted in Jay and his siblings ending up in foster care where, according to Jay, things got really traumatic for him and his siblings. However, Jay’s aunty Dionne was able to take Jay and his siblings out of foster care and finally gave them a stable home.

Growing up, Jay was always aware of his voice as a musician. He watched his sibling Jude write many songs and admired the art of creating music. However, he never felt music was for him. He rather wanted to be in the NBA. In high school, after getting another week-long suspension, Jay’s aunt didn’t want to have him home alone while she was away at work, so she sent him to his uncle’s house. She told Jay the uncle needed help to set up for Thanksgiving weekend. On arriving at his uncles’ home, Jay got to realize that his uncle owns a music studio in his home. According to Jay, his uncle played a beat and told him [Jay] to “write something.”

Although Jay refused after his uncle unsuccessfully tried to persuade him several times to “write something,” Jay started mumbling a ‘little melody’ to the five minutes beat which was being looped by his uncle. According to Jay, his uncle asked “what is that?” and he told his uncle that he doesn’t know. His uncle told him “that can be the hook.” Jay was surprised and thought his uncle was kidding, but he responded, “nah foreal son, you got something”. Jay recorded the “little hook,” recorded a verse, and finished the song.

When Jay posted a little snippet of the song on Facebook, he was living in Mount Vernon at the time. Mount Vernon is a small town with only three high schools - a town where everyone knows everyone. Jay posted the song on his Facebook and went from the kid who got suspended a lot to the kid who got suspended and made an excellent song. The song amassed over 10k views and everyone started sharing it on social media. This was such a great inspiration and motivation for Jay Balenci.