JOSE JAY

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Born on the 3rd of December 1996, in a family of 6 (3 boys and 3 girls) as Joseph Japheth. Jose Jay (the gospel giant) – as known to his fans – is an award winning Kenyan gospel artist, dancer, choreographer, instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and actor. Being the 5th born, Jose Jay attributes his success and love for music to his family especially older siblings whom he grew up watching. Jose Jay‘s family is a Christian family, his mother is a pastor – Pastor Esther of Redeemed gospel church inner core. The whole family is talented in different ways – 1st born (Betty) she is an evangelist, 2nd Born Vee the One is a singer, actor, script writer and director (movies and songs), 3rd born, and 4th born (Daniella and Denise) are both singers and last born (Benjamin) is a drummer.

Jose Jay started off his music career as a rapper at the age of 5 years, at this moment the market was flooded with a lot of rappers. For this reason, Jose Jay decided not to go with the wave and singing was the rightful option for him. His mother being a pastor, also played a very crucial role in Jose Jay‘s beginnings as from a younger age his mother would allow him to perform in different crusades before she would go on stage to preach. This increased Jose Jay‘s love for music, his confidence, ability as a musician and at the same time this gave him a big platform of him forming his own fanbase as a gospel artist.

Jose Jay draws his song writing inspiration from the Bible which according to him its the biggest guide Christians have. Solomon Mkubwa is also his biggest admiration because he is very blessed, and his way of living is a true reflection of a gospel minister. Jose Jay also looks up to Moji Shortbabaa, Guardian Angel, and many other gospel artists in and out of Kenya. Jose Jay defines his genre of music as Afro-pop, but he is open to any other genres of music and to many this is one of his strengths that makes him stand out (flexibility).

Discography

Jose Jay’s journey began at early age and in 2007, Jose Jay recorded his first song, but he never released it siting the fact that he was not ready, and the audience also were not ready for him. Recording music was always part of him because he would appear on different artists projects as a back up singer.

In 2012, Jose Jay decided it was time for him to break out as a solo artist and he recorded his first solo project, a song by the name “Narejea”. The audio was done by Bizz B and the video was directed by his brother Vee the One. Jose Jay pinpoints his revolution to Masterpiece King, who played a very big role in encouraging him to pursue his dreams. The reception of the song was charming, and the fans were yawning for more from Jose Jay.

In 2014, Jose Jay joined Sauti Academy – one of the biggest music schools in Africa that trains learners with the art of making and selling music – where he learnt how to write songs, how to perform and how to connect with your fans.

In 2018, Jose Jay and his brother Vee the One joined “I can Sing” competition where he emerged first runners up and Vee the One emerged second runners up.

Jose Jay followed up Narejea hit by being part of a collaboration song called “Mtafute” which he was featured by Shammah and Denise Japhet (Jose Jay‘s sister).

In 2015, Jose Jay came back from a break away from music and released his second song called “Mama” which was a message to all mothers saying thank you to them for playing a very important role in our lives. The song was produced by spotlight media under Eric Omba (now pastor). This was a big lesson and growth for Jose Jay as working with different people in the gospel industry changed a lot for him as an upcoming artist.

In 2016, Jose Jay released “Holy”, which was his third studio song. The song was audio only and showed a very big growth of Jose Jay in terms of his vocals and song structure. Many relates to Jose Jay‘s work and Holy was a turning point for him as now he had defined his way of doing music.

Not winning the I Can Sing competition affected Jose Jay‘s mentality and for this he took a break off music for a while. It was during this time that Jose Jay met Kingpheelze (they stay in the same estate) who convinced him to do a song with him. According to Kingpheelze this was the right moment for Jose Jay to showcase his talent and prove those who believed in him during KTN’s I Can Sing competition wrong. Kingpheelze paid for the audio and video. The name of the song was called “Furaha”. The song raised some eyebrows from different group of fans because Kingpheelze was a secular artist, yet Jose Jay featured him on his song.

“Furaha” opened so many doors for Jose Jay and he was seen performing it on different stages and platforms. Interviews were following him from different radio stations, Tv stations and even different online content creator. Its safe to say that “Furaha” blew Jose Jay to stardom.

After “Furaha”, Jose Jay released Nikupee cover which was from Nikupee the song of Masterpiece King and Khaligrah Jones. The project was Masterpiece King‘s idea and he paid for all the expenses.

In 2019, Jose Jay recorded yet another banger “Mwema” which was a praise to God how good he has been in Jose Jay‘s Life and all his fans life. The Audio was produced by Kingpheelze and Kthomas shot the video. During the making of “Mwema” Jose Jay admits that funds for recording the audio and video were a challenge, for this he decided to start a small business to support his venture. Jay stores is an accessories business that sales different male and female accessories.

In 2020, Jose Jay released “Achana Nayo” featuring Solomon Mkubwa. The foundation of this collabo was based on Jose Jay‘s and Solomon Mkubwa‘s relationship which begun from the first day they met. This was the second song the two had done, the first was called “Umeni Sukuma”. “Achana Nayo” opened up a new market for Jose Jay as Solomon Mkubwa‘s fans got to know about him.

In 2021, Jose Jay dropped a banger called “Aje” featuring Guardian Angel and it was rhetorical question answering the trend that many gospel artists have been quitting gospel for secular. “Aje” continued to open so many doors for Jose Jay as he went to headline different shows and when it comes to interviews he toured different media houses.

Jose Jay followed up Aje with the release of “Commando” which was produced under Uplift Music – Dj Lebbz – and the video was shot by Kthomas.

Under Uplift Music Jose Jay released “Tenda” which he was featured by Dj Lebbz.

In 2022 December, Jose Jay joined a singing competition called The Rough which was sponsored by Hope Media. Jose Jay was position six after months of performances, song writing and competing amongst over 400 contesters. Jose Jay is working on more singles and videos. All this is in preparation for a debut album.

Awards

In 2016, Jose Jay was Nominated for Xtreeme Awards for “Narejea” bongo song of the year, and he went ahead to win the award.

In 2017, Jose Jay was nominated for Xtreeme awards song of the year, but he did not win the award.

In 2018, Jose Jay was again nominated for Xtreeme awards for the category of Bongo song of the year “wamama wote” which he went on to win the award.

In 2022, Jose Jay was nominated for for Fema awards as song writer of the year which he emerged as the first runners up.

In 2022, Jose Jay was nominated for Fema awards under the category of male artist of the year where he won.

JOSE JAY

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