Aqura

J J


My journey has been an interesting one to say the least...it's not the normal, "I knew since I was five I was gonna be a songwriter" kinda thing...my beginnings go back to Denver, CO where I am originally from...one of 7 kids...son of a humble mother and a hardworking father. A father who also used to play the bass, so music was in the blood...I just didn't know at the time because I was introduced to sports first. However, it was a football scholarship that would introduce me to my best friend, who would plant the seed of music. After college, and hopes of making the NFL diminished, it was music that became my savior...it was music that became my passion, my drug, and my drive. I took part in my first music collaborations when me and my friend put out an album in Denver. It was received well and did all it could, but we had outgrown the Rocky Mountains...he got married, I got hungry! I needed somewhere to channel this insatiable drive and it was not my hometown...so after a few random and very chance conversations with a woman online, I found myself packing four bags, $200 dollars and a $78 dollar bus trip to Newark, NJ to start my new life.





New York was my new playground, and the place where I would blossom like a spring flower with my musical endeavors...the energy, the cultures all diverse and beautiful. I found my music becoming the same way. I was introduced to many seasoned vets in whom I would learn invaluable lessons and creative craftings. Lil Eddie Serrano, Big Drawz, Corte Ellis and Corey Latif to name a few, were all apart of my influence. They almost helped me understand more about life doing music, than just music. The dream doesn't come with a manual on how to prepare for living with strangers, sleeping on floors and couches, hitting up corner stores late at night asking humbly for food, and sitting on the side of the road near a park with your belongings hoping for someone to care enough to let you crash for a week longer. That's exactly what I had been through, but God planted a purpose in me that was stronger than any cold night in a train station. Finding my way into the good graces of amazing partners like Charles Mack and Shanell Irving, has allowed me to be apart of some great musical moments thus far. Having worked with Mario, Omarion, Chris Brown, Trey Songz, Case and Destiny Child, and being Grammy and Oscar nominated, I'm quite fortunate what I have accomplished in ten years. Still, I am in search of that "Break Through" moment...stay tuned...it's only getting better!!!