Jay-R bent on making music his own way

JAY-R aims to push original Filipino music forward.

Putting out a covers album may be the quicker way to make a buck, but for soul/R&B singer Jay-R, there’s nothing like creating music that he can truly call his own.

His latest studio album, “Elevated,” features 14 original songs—most of which he wrote and produced. It’s also distributed by his own independent label, Homeworkz. This makes Jay-R twice as proud.

“What drives me is passion for music, not so much the business aspect of it,” he told the Inquirer recently.

As usual, the core of “Elevated” is R&B: soulful, smooth ballads, easy-groove tunes, or danceable, uptempo ditties.

“The album is titled as such because it’s about lifting yourself up—love life, career, etc.,” he said. He collaborated with Kyla and Marie Digby in some of the tracks.

These days, releasing an all original record, finance-wise, is like digging a money pit. He posed no argument to that, but said he overcame all worries with his desire to push original Filipino music forward.

“There are too many remakes. It costs about P20,000 to use a song, money that goes out of the country,” Jay-R, 34, noted. “We should just continue to create original material and support local artists.”

Doing his part

It’s one of the reasons that Jay-R put up his own label, whose talent roster includes mostly R&B and hip-hop acts—Q-York, Salbakuta and Mica Javier—plus Glaiza de Castro and Frencheska Farr, and rock band Kley. “This way, I feel like I’m doing my part,” he said.

With his own label, he added, he has more control over his career. “A lot of major labels manage so many artists,” he said. “I can’t put my career in someone else’s hands.”

Meanwhile, Jay-R is also on the music-impersonation show “Your Face Sounds Familiar,” landing the top spot after four weeks of competition. He recently moved to ABS-CBN after 10 years with GMA 7.

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