Jai

Kelli “Jai” Mallory was born on December 4, 1983 to Kenneth and Cassandra Mallory in Washington, D.C. The majority of her upbringing was in Prince George’s County Maryland. The name “Jai” was street given. “Jai” is actually pronounced “jy”, which is a slang term that is used in the DMV area that means “kind of”. For example, “You jy blazing” meaning, “You’re kind of hot”. Her fellow artists and peers would compliment her music or presence on stage stating that she was “Jy Blazing”. Even though her modesty and humility was accepted, she downplayed the compliments. Jai figured it sounded much better than Young Trice, which was her previous name. She changed the spelling of it to make it her own and proceeded to make it a household name. Jai recently dropped the “Blazing” portion from her name to make it simply “Jai”.

When Jai was 13 years old, she realized she had a way with words. She was always a writer; from poems to high school English papers. A large vocabulary shows growth and to Jai it was profound and through it she believed it made her music more compelling. Jai played basketball in high school and before every game with her teammates she would make beats on the bleachers and freestyle to those beats. At that point she knew she could freestyle and this eventually drew a crowd. She began to compose songs when she was 15 years old, but for a personal pleasure. Amongst the many artists Jai listens to, she says Jay-Z, Common, Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, and Talib Kweli have influenced her the most. She’s an advocate for originality and those artists display those qualities in their music at all times.

Jai’s motivation for music is life. The things she visualizes through the industry, society, and personal experiences all feed her motivation. Jai’s motivation also comes from her family. Her family furthers her belief that she can be one of the best. Jai wants to be heard and if she can change lives through words, why not?!! Her first time performing was at the School Without Walls SHS in Washington, D.C. This was an event to motivate the youth into focusing on something much bigger than the streets. It was an attempt to further their focus on school and more positive activities. Bowie State University Homecoming Yard Fest has been her favorite place to perform thus far. This year was her 2nd appearance at the yard fest.

Jai understands that being a female artist in today’s industry is extremely difficult. She plans to further the culture by maintaining her self-respective, dignity, and artistic integrity. She speaks for the young ladies who are afraid to speak for themselves. She ignores the status quo and blazes her own trail. Before she puts her mic down Jai wants the world to know that music as well as life has no boundaries. The sky is always the limit.