When asked what he would compare his own sound to, Tampa-born rapper JAWNZA hesitates, "I honestly couldn't even tell you... I'd say I sound like JAWNZA." The rising talent has broad range in production choices, laying his signature vocal tone and addictive hooks over any type of beat imaginable. "I wouldn't listen to my music with the expectation that you're going to get the same sounding song every time. I am ever growing and progressing." '
This idea of constant evolution acts as a throughline across the artist's life and where he plans to take his career next. JAWNZA started rapping in high school, recording himself and his friend Mak while they freestyled to beats like "Ignorance Is Bliss" by Kendrick Lamar and "Diablo" by Mac Miller.
At the time, however, JAWNZA didn't really see himself becoming a full time musician. Instead, it was just about learning the craft of hip hop and having some fun with his friends. "Then my bro told me I gotta take this rap stuff seriously, but I told him I was gonna become a doctor instead," he laughs. Looking back now, it is hard to imagine himself doing anything but music.
Just in the past year, JAWNZA has been featured on Spotify playlists like Anti-Pop and Fresh Finds and has received 3M+ streams on his single "FACEDOWN." They are accomplishments nearly any independent artist would dream of, and for JAWNZA, they came naturally.
"The way my song 'FACEDOWN' was made still boggles me," he says. Made during his first trip to Los Angeles, JAWNZA says he even fell asleep from severe jet lag (and a little too much In-N-Out) during the session. "I get a verse in and just passed out on the couch," he laughs. As his friends continued to work on the song, they had to keep waking him up to record another verse, another chorus, another take. "I felt groggy and tired as hell," he tells. When he received the bounce back a few days later, he was "absolutely tripping about how good it sounded." But ultimately, the song sat on his hard drive for a while as he worked on other songs.
JAWNZA released the accompanying project, FREERADICAL, and slowly but surely, 'FACEDOWN' became an indie rap hit on Spotify. The rapper credits his success with the track to his two main strengths: his voice and his lyrics. "I think my voice has grown into something incomparable to others," he admits. Though he is inspired by the sound and aesthetics of acts like A$AP Mob, Flatbush Zombies, and Pro Era and early 2010s Tumblr in general, JAWNZA's enigmatic, energetic sound and left-of-center lyrics place him in a world all his own.
For 2021, the rapper plans to release short project titled NOTICE of DEMOLITION and maybe even a debut album months later, but for JAWNZA, at the end of the day, he says it all about evolution. "Success as an artist to me looks like progression - as long as every project I make is better than the last, I am successful already. Everything else is secondary."
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