Conventional wisdom claims that, to earn fame, you’ve got to “fake it until you make it.” This manifests in all manners of productive duplicity, from flaunting your best rags at a job interview to buying followers on Twitter. But where does the aspiring star draw the line between healthy confidence and artificial swagger? It’s a tricky tightrope, especially when the cocky players net the cash. But while many artists resolve to either hold up the mask or expose their face shamelessly, Chukwuka Jason Ogbomoh approaches fame from outside the usual circuits. As self-sufficient outsider Jay Spice, the 20-year-old Nigerian-American from Acworth has to hustle a persona that speaks the truth, and on “Guilty,” he admits to the struggle of selling candor. “I ain’t never gonna buy Benzes,” Ogbomoh declares from the outset, and unfolds his dilemma across a breezy trap beat. This is just his second outing after his high school-era mixtape, but already he’s got a firm grip on both how to steer a bar and how to cut through bullshit: “I could write all the reasons I’m not cheesin’ / Hard to love the world when you can’t break even.” Jay Spice won’t fake it until he makes it, and that’s exactly why he may just make it anyway.
“Guilty” is the first single from Jay Spice’s debut LP, Grandma’s Boy. (1998), out Mar. 21.
More Info
Web: realrecordsinc.com
Facebook: @jayspicethedon
Instagram: @jayspicethedon
SoundCloud: @jayspicethedon
Twitter: @jasonthedon