Los Angeles native and Morehouse Graduate, Jermaine Carr aka Jadaci has had his own very unique introduction into the music industry. But from growing up singing in church to not being one hundred percent sure he could do this professionally, he’s never lost the love of his craft. I sat with him to talk about life, his current project “Thoughts & Feelings”, goals, inspiration and future comings for the latest feature of our Independent Artist Spotlight.
And let me say this: I’ve never been more proud of my little cousin than I was while conducting this interview.
AJ: Let me start off by saying, I can’t believe my little cousin has an EP out. How did this get started for you and where do you hope the music takes you?
Jadaci: Yeah, man…honestly, it started in the church. You know you grow up in church, singing in the choir and from there you start taking the lead every now and then. But when I really started getting into it between middle school and high school, I didn’t really think I could sing like that. I just knew I could minister to the congregation. Even in high school, I was in a group called Music Ministry and we would sing around for different things on campus. That taught me how to put together setlists, figure out different harmonies, and things like that. I even wrote a gospel song my senior year. But even though that’s where it started for me, I didn’t think I could really sing. I just thought I could hold a note.
And although he believed that maybe there were others at his high school who could sing better than him, his college is where his belief in himself truly took off.
“I did this program my senior year called Introduction to Music Production. I learned and began to understand how to lay tracks down, understanding how beats were made and from there, I just started writing to see where it would go. I let some friends hear the tracks and they asked me when I was going to drop. But I didn’t even think it was that good. I had confidence to do it in my circle but putting the music out where the world could hear it actually terrified me. But at a certain time in life, you have to take that leap of faith. Even if it doesn’t work out, you can at least say you did it and have no regrets about not trying.”
So Jadaci connected with Atlanta based producer GK Jones, and the rest was history.
AJ: So GK was a major key for you?
Jadaci: If it wasn’t for him hitting me up like ‘hey, I got a studio, let’s make something happen’, I wouldn’t even be here. That’s how it really got started for me.
AJ: What was it like hearing yourself on someone else’s production? Being in the studio and then hearing a finished product?
Jadaci: That was actually the moment I realized I could do this. When you’re in the studio with headphones on, you have to hear yourself. And hearing my voice made me feel so much more confident in what I could accomplish in music.
AJ: So now with that being said, what is your creative process on taking a song from start to finish?
Jadaci: Honestly, it’s different for each song. Each song comes from different moments in my life and different experiences in my life. Even though they correlate to create a project. My process is really just living my everyday life, taking experiences and then putting them into words. Sometimes it takes me four days, sometimes one day, sometimes thirty minutes to get a song completed. It just depends on how much of me is in that song.
When talking about his EP, Thoughts & Feelings, you could tell that the prior statement was true for every song on the project. From the lyrical content to the production, it was personal but it connected with the audience perfectly.
AJ: Talking about your EP, I have to say that Hold On Me is probably my favorite song and I feel like it truly embodies the title Thoughts & Feelings. But I think the one that caught my ear first was One Last Time.
Jadaci: Man! That song is getting A LOT of love.
AJ: What’s the response been like since you dropped? What’s it been like for you?
Jadaci: I would say that for me, the response has been ‘I didn’t know that you were gonna come with THIS.’ It’s been exciting allowing people to see what I can offer to the world and being recognized by close family and friends. It’s also nice because although I put this out for myself, the overwhelming support has been amazing. And it’s carrying me to the next release.
AJ: I interviewed a rapper from New York named BG, and one of the things he said was “we as artists need you to appreciate what we’re doing because we put so much of ourselves into the music” and I think that’s where your reception has been. It’s because this is something where you want people to truly see how you feel and you’re lending us a piece of yourself.
Jadaci: Exactly! It’s a different aspect of you that sometimes you’re not ready to give the world so you really want the world to appreciate that. I write from a very vulnerable place and I want to be genuine and I want you to understand me.
And sometimes, that vulnerable place and desire to be genuine will keep an artist from releasing music.
I’m actually sitting on a lot of music right now. For example, I wrote Hold On Me almost four years ago. Most of the songs on this project were written a long time ago but I didn’t feel right releasing it or like I had the right people around me to do so. My first single that dropped in 2023, I actually wrote several years ago in college. I was supposed to release it then but just never got there. I’m a perfectionist though and I always want to put the product out without taking away value.
AJ: Now if it wasn’t in the music industry, where would you, not Jadaci the artist but Jermaine Carr the man be?
Jadaci: I’ve always felt like I was supposed to be in the entertainment space. So I think that I would be doing something along the lines of acting and eventually getting into directing which is a long term goal.
“I actually work in Corporate America right now. It’s great and I love it. I actually really love my job but I don’t see it as my end goal. You know it’s a stepping stone in life. I think entertainment has always called my name but I held myself back and now I’m getting myself aligned with people who do that.”
But the question that was burning in my mind was the inspiration behind the name “Jadaci”. Was it a way of paying homage to the 90’s super group Jodeci? Were there a mix of artists that brought this together?
AJ: I have to ask, how did you get the name Jadaci?
Jadaci: Ahhhh! Let me break it down. It’s actually very simple. A lot of people think it’s related to Jodeci but it actually has no relation. I have a ton of respect for them but my stage name is my initials, JDC. It was only supposed to be that but people were actually having trouble pronouncing that so I added the vowels.
AJ: Circling back to your creative process, who are some faces or names that inspire the music?
Jadaci: It’s several people. And anytime I get this question, I feel like over time it changes because I have seasons of inspiration. One artist who is a consistent inspiration is Chris Brown. I pull a ton of inspiration from him from his runs to his to how he puts different things together. I pulled a lot from him growing up. I would also say Luther Vandross definitely with how he uses words and Jazmyine Sullivan. There is something about how she delivers a song and leaves an impact on you with her words and stories. I feel like no matter what season I’m in, they inspire me and their music is timeless.
AJ: So what’s next for Jadaci, the artist?
Jadaci: I’ve been in the studio working on new music. I’ve learned with my music, the way I create, there is a time for releasing it and dropping it a certain way. I’m not rushing anything right now, but I’m thinking of dropping a single before the holidays come. But right now, I’m just in a different phase of life. I feel like I have to have the emotion in that moment when I drop so it connects to where I wanna go.
Jadaci’s Thoughts & Feelings EP is streaming on all platforms and will have songs featured on the upcoming “Suave’s Winter Heat” playlist.
Wow! Great story!