Though he hails from the Bronx, rising R&B singer Jae Hall has always had his sights set West. One of his newest singles, "Hollywood" is a lyrical conflation of his two greatest desires - love and success, and it's all wrapped with a bow of beaches, sunlight and Los Angeles' nightlife. Yet when it comes to Jae Hall, nothing is as it seems - the song, which acts as an intro to a larger project, leaves us with the unsettling feeling that the place the singer envisioned as a playground for his dreams is actually quite the opposite.
"Hollywood" appears on Hall's forthcoming album, Wish We Felt Nothing. As a whole, the project acts as a personal temperature checker of Hall's wellness, with the artist constantly asking himself if his desires are actually what he needs, and if feeling is even worth the trouble. The album is set to release this summer, in anticipation Hall exclusively released the first four tracks to Highsnobiety.
Take a listen below and read our Q&A after.
What got you into music?
Essentially, it was my family. My uncle, Dave "Jam" Hall, was a pretty successful R&B producer in the '90s. He was also the first person to bring me into the studio when I was 9-years-old. He would play me beats and ask my opinions on them. Being around him and seeing Mariah Carey plaques hanging on the walls and his bathrooms being bigger than the bedroom that I shared with my two siblings, that shook up my world at a young age. His house that was filled with music and seemed like the greatest place in the world. I never wanted to leave.
What was the inspiration behind the project?
Initially the project was titled How to Make it In America, loosely inspired by the HBO series about two aspiring fashion designers coming up in New York's creative scene. I really wanted to express how that paralleled to my own life. Not the fashion designer part, but the notion of waking up every day trying to make something, anything happen that's progress towards your dreams. While recording the project the tone changed. I started losing everything. I lost two grandmothers, a sister, lost a best friend due to just growth and growing apart, lost a little cousin, lost a place to live and lost a girlfriend. I felt it all, but at times I wish I didn't have to. So, I buried it all within the music. During that process, the music evolved and the project became Wish We Felt Nothing.
Quite a few of the songs touch on relationships - were they inspired by personal experiences?
All of it. It's all real. I've tried to use my imagination at times in the past. And that never sat well with me. I always feels like I'm cheating the listener when I would say things that weren't entirely true. So I stopped, and started telling the whole truth. As an artist I feel that's my responsibility.
During the time I was writing this, I'd just gotten out of a relationship. It was a relationship I thought would last forever; that definitely played a part in inspiring the emotions in the music. So, I touch on that on the project as well. Also, I started dealing with anxiety for the first time, and I was trying to cope with that while going through the motions and dealing with all the loss I experienced while working on this project. My emotional state was a wave of ups and downs. One week I was opening for Nas at a show in front of a thousand people. Next week my grandmother doesn't know my name. So, yeah, waves.
What should we look out for in the future?
You can expect a full-length project, Wish We Felt Nothing, releasing Summer 17. That’ll include records I'm releasing today and more. And there are some thoughtful visuals and live shows on the way that are gonna give you more to the story. In a time where everything's fake, I pray they appreciate the Real. Till Next Time.
Also see why Atlanta R&B singer 6LACK lives more colorfully than you think.
