Posted by | Ray Cornelius
JoiStaRR wants to create some ‘Magic’ on the music scene with her new solo project as well as an entirely new music genre.
The season singer- songwriter who has penned hit songs for everyone from Chris Brown to Mary Mary recently talked to ESSENCE about her musical journey from singing in the church choir to working with the one and only Kanye West. Here are a few excerpts from that interview…
On being ‘called’ to connect the secular with the sacred…
I would ask, “How come I don’t feel connected with gospel music the way I was raised to? How come I feel the need to share this type of message with the people?” I believe I’m here to bridge the gap between people that will never in life go to church and will never in life believe in God, like atheists and people that weren’t raised to know God.
On creating a new brand of R&B music…
It’s actually called “Art and Beat.” It’s me painting the way I visualize it. It’s a blank canvas. Like for example today, I have a blank canvas and I’m going to paint a new picture. So that’s my art that I’m going to be painting over a beat I hear today. It’s not a particular genre. Some things sound a little more soulful. Some things sound more abstract. But it’s all part of me. It’s all coming from my soul. So I’ve basically been chosen to call it “Art and Beat.”
On finding ‘Magic” while touring with Kanye West…
I was touring with Kanye for five years and some months. It was great. I consider it like going to college or going to trade school because I basically dropped out of school to do it. It was like learning and relearning what I needed to know to be where I am today. I needed that five years to really understand what it really is to be an artist and to understand this choice that I was making to be a singer. I wanted actually to sing background for him for as long as possible. I asked Kanye if I could sing background for him forever, and he said “You’re too talented to stay in the background, I won’t let you do that, you can come out and be featured, but you’re too talented of an artist to stay in the background.” I found magic on tour. It sparked even more when I decided to do my own music. That’s where it sparked the magic in me. That’s why I named my album Magic.
