Geejay

Sunderland might not be the first place in the world you associate with quality Hip-Hop music, but maybe that’s all about to change as nineteen year-old emcee GEEJAY gets ready to unleash his debut album "I Came To Represent". With his thought provoking lyrics and his distinctive North East accent, GEEJAY is a name that has been bubbling under over the last couple of years with a string of mixtape features, strong radio support, video appearances and guest collaborations. Signed to N.G.U Records by CEO & label-mate DAP-C a few months back GEEJAY has been making waves on the UK underground. After winning "The Home-grown Cuts" competition hosted by Ras Kwame on BBC1Xtra and Sony Music offering him a development deal, things have been really hotting up for GEEJAY.

The debut album "I Came To Represent" features New York legends Canibus and Raekwon The Chef from Wu-Tang Clan amongst others, and is something that is surely going to stamp GEEJAY’s name in the UK Rap community. Support has also come from D-Block’s Styles P who not only features in the video for "Fresh". A Styles P & GEEJAY mixtape is scheduled for release on N.G.U Records in the near future. GEEJAY also features on DAP-C’s new single ‘Music Game’ alongside UK veteran Blak Twang. You’re soon going to agree that you just can’t hate on this man’s grind. He is really in his zone and he is more than ready to represent. His has a string of live dates up and down the UK under his belt and has even played live at Madison Square in New York, USA. 2008 promises to be GEEJAY’s biggest year of his career and hopefully with your support we can all help to make it happen for an emcee with a bright future.

Where are you from and what was it like growing up there?
Easy mate well Im from Sunderland in the north east, its hard man its got the highest unemployed rating in the country and when you come here you can see it man, its just fist fights, stabbings, drink, drugs and job seekers allowance. Its quite mad really but i love it its what shaped me and made me strong and gave me something to touch on lyrically, and because its hard to succeed here they love you more for it if you do.
Its real and honest and I wouldn't wish i was anywhere else. ill rep it to the death

How did you get your name and is there a story behind it?
I wanted my rhymes to be complex very deep and well thought out so i thought, i dont want people to pay attention to the name or why it means this or that, so all i did was take my initials and make a different name from it i wanted something that sounded hip hop and true to a form. so I came up with Geejay, its reminded me of dj and i thought yeah that sounds hip hop so I ran with that.


Was there a situation or a person who inspired you to rap?
My cousin put on a east/west coast cd i heard it an loved it never stoped playing it. and knew id be good at it I could just feel it that as soon as I heard the cd it was what I wanted to do and to this day I still aint lost the love for it. what inspired me was the music the way some of the rappers where using wordplay and how they put it across on a track I was amazed that I was hearing a story with music and rhymes. so I started making music on that level.


Tell us about your latest release.
Crazy!! a total smasher its quite commercial but has a raw north east vibe going on too. my latest single is called FRESH and it features Dap-C. its all about telling the listeners that i can guarantee them they aint never heard anything like this. and telling the haters to stop dissing and pay me no mind instead of showing me love with criticism.

What do you prefer; playing live, recording in the studio or battling?
I cant answer that with one or the other. There all hip hop and i love hip hop so naturally I love every aspect. they all have a different experience.

How would you describe your personality? What do you enjoy doing?
I love making music, chilling with my boys but my true passion lies with torturing emcee's lyrically, I love stepping into a room and showing em that I'm the best in there an will do what it takes to keep that title. i love running em round the field playing with there ego's basically i love hip hop competition. because I'm the best rapper alive right now no question in my opinion and I'm hungry. so ill do what i need to just to eat, you can say I'm very energetic, passionate, reasonable but step on my toes and you have my heart to deal with you know.

How did you go about setting up independently?
I was at a show met Dap-C who I was supporting we clicked an he signed me to ngu quite simple really, cant really elaborate much more.

What’s your favourite clothing label?
parada, gucci lol all the expensive shizzle i luv the hip hop clothing to man but there something i love about the flash clothing eccentric prices and styles they use. you wear it to get looked at and look nice you pay for it and it works lol.

Forget the budget, what would be your dream collobo?
Jay-z straight up the man knows how to make a track not a hit or a smasher but all in all a track a hip hop sound, its sick the way he does it.


With so many artists out there, what are you doing different to get heard?
Names its all about the names, I aint saying much more thats for you punks who need to do it yourself

Now is your chance to get something off ya chest! Anything getting you down or any opinions you need to voice?
Yeah I appreciate all the love Sunderland has given me, but there is always one trying to ride off my success. stay out of my life dont squash a beef then diss me as soon as my video comes out, your nobody you have no skills no big names backing your shit, your wack deal with it you fat fuck.

Okay, before you go please give us you’re My Space details.
myspace.com/geejay88 make sure ya check out every track on there including the black twang feature , and also check out the video's for fresh and heart attacks. take care world and stay up
payce