With the covid pandemic wreaking havoc around the globe, emerging artists have been making do with what they have to remain creative and release work for their fans. There has been a surge of promising new artists you should be keeping your eyes and ears on. I had the opportunity to chop it up with Envy Ojay to find out more about his new single Above, his musical journey, and future projects
Lesi: Who is Envy Ojay and how would you describe yourself?
Envy Ojay: The name came from my old one not being unique enough. My friend Sam Moreland just threw it out there and we liked it, so I went with that. Envy Ojay is just a kid having fun, making music, and enjoying life and everything that comes with it.
L: How long have you been making music?
E: For about 5 years now but only recently made an Instagram account to release new music, so consistently about 5 months ago.
L: What inspired you to initially start making music?
E: It was when Justin Bieber and Mindless Behavior were first coming out. I remember watching their documentaries and music videos and just wanting to be like them.
L: Those are interesting picks! Justin Bieber being more clean-cut R&B and Mindless Behavior being party/fun type. Would you say they also influenced your style of music?
E: 100%, especially a lot of my earlier stuff. Right now, I am making a lot of melodic music so once I blow up I can drop some of those records. When I listen to my singing voice I think it sounds almost identical to Prodigy from Mindless Behavior, so they definitely influenced my style of music.
L: What pushed you to release music now?
E: When Lil Baby released his album, I was just driving around with my friends and seeing how they reacted to his songs. That energy made me want to make people feel the same way, so I just stopped thinking so much and did it!
L: Good stuff! In this industry a lot of times you just have to go for it and just trust the process, so I feel that. I have had the time to listen to your new single Above and I am not going to even lie, the song is hard! What has been your creation process for your projects?
E: I usually just listen to some music to get me hype and then look for beats on YouTube or get some from my email. Then I just freestyle bar for bar. I learned that technique from Juice Wrld. It helped me say what I feel in the moment.
L: That’s dope. Much respect for showing love to Juice Wrld in your work ethic. Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years in the industry?
E: Hopefully with many platinum plaques under my belt and having artists signed to me.
L: You want to start a label?
E: Yeah eventually, but not until I am at a place where I can have good connections and I can really help the people that I sign. I want to be able to help people like me. People that have great music and a vision and just need the money and connections.
L: That is a great idea honestly. We definitely need more people in the industry that care about helping mold the talent and visions of upcoming artist. Definitely commend you on wanting to pursue that. Do you have any projects planned for the upcoming year?
E: I have a lot of singles with videos ready to go, so they will be coming out soon. Next year though you can look forward to a lot of Soundcloud and YouTube exclusives and my first mixtape. It’s going to be crazy!!
L: Sounds like it!! Definitely looking forward to it all! Where can the fans find you on social media?
