jaykin

While Toronto is recognized by music fans as a Hip-Hop hot spot, on the other side of the country, Vancouver doesn’t seem to have garnered that same distinction. It makes sense, seeing as T.O. has produced some big stars. However, regardless of how many (or few) rap success stories Vancity has, there is something happening on the West coast of Canada you need to get up on.

Vancouver is not only a port city, it is the gateway to the Pacific. The largest immigrant population in GVA (Greater Vancouver Area) is Chinese, while the Japanese and Korean communities are also significant. So, even though JayKin comes from Guyanese and Grenadian parentage, he has a healthy appreciation of East Asian culture. With albums titled Sneakers and Video Games 1 and 2, it should be apparent that he has an affinity for Japan’s pixel prowess. But even further than that, Jay has lived in both Tokyo and Seoul and participated in both cities’ Hip-Hop scenes. He’s done a mini tour of Japan and got a chance to rock with Onra in Fukuoka. What’s more, he was in the mix with Korea’s Hi-Lite Records, the home of Keith Ape, when he was holding it down in Seoul. This was during the formative years of the label when Keith was still going by Kid Ash.

Jay has a distinct deep voice that is comparable to some of Hip-Hop’s Southern greats like Scarface and Trae the Truth. Fittingly, he tends to flex a laidback cadence that masks his highly developed bar game. However, Jay’s level of skill is evident in his versatility. After appearing on Onra’s Fool’s Gold EP, Deep In The Night, he started experimenting with a broader range of artists.

For the last few years he has been back in Vancouver working on his opus titled BONUS. This body of work includes collaborations with Jay Worthy (Compton), RayKincaid (Mississippi), Trip Pony (New Zealand), Shash'U (Montreal), Sik-k (Seoul), U-TERN (LA), N.D.T. (Vancouver), Villa Beatz (Toronto), and more. Once you hear tracks like Weak, New Tribe, Neo Geo, and the lead single 100K, you’ll realize this emcee has been perfecting flows over everything from futuristic funk, to ‘90s R&B, to ‘80s pop, to ambient synths. Jay is ready to be one of the artists you discovered and told everybody about in 2018.