Jay Copes is a multi-talented recording artist from Camden, New Jersey. The talented Jay Copes plays multiple instruments such as the flute, drums and the violin. He honed his skills as an artist while in high school where he competed as a football player as well. Through his athletic efforts, Jay Copes won a college scholarship to play football at Delaware State University. Clamored with the decision to pursue football or music, Jay Copes ultimately decided on music as his career. He has been on a tear ever since.
I got the opportunity to speak with Jay and learn more about his career and his decision to follow music over football.
EB: How have you been under the country’s COVID-19 pandemic?
JC: I’ve been fine, I know of course everyone in the world has gone through a lot. But I actually have been able to transition [to music] and I was able to get closer to my fans.
I started going live on Instagram more frequently. Before [the pandemic], I would go live here and there. After the pandemic hit, I wanted to find a way to tap in with my people, because there was no way I could have done it in person. I started running a contest online. We came out with a concept called “Concert at Your Door”. What it consisted of was, we would take random names from fans that would submit their information and put them in a spinning wheel and we would spin the wheel and whoever name it would land on would win a live concert at there front door. We did about 5 concerts one for each winner, we went to different locations we went to Connecticut to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, we went to a lot of places, it was awesome.
EB: How did you get involved in the music industry?
JC: As a kid, I was into music early, then I transitioned into sports. When I was into music, I was playing the drums. Then, I took up playing the violin. As I got into high school, I pursued sports, particularly football. Then when I went to college on a full scholarship. Even though I went into college on sports, I started going back into music more. I gravitated into music in someway and I been doing it ever since.
EB: Can you list some highlights of your career?
JC: Yeah for sure, I have a lot of different mentors. I met a lot of different people throughout my short career. I’ve come in contact with people such as Mya, Mr. Freddy Jackson, Carl Thomas, and Fat Joe. I have come into contact with a lot of these celebrities. I’m able to present a lot of my creations and music [to them] for feedback. The [critical] feedback I receive from them helps me and motivates me to keep going. I feel like this is what I’m meant to do. I’ve been blessed to be around so many great people.
EB: Can you take me through the thought process in creating your debut single “Signs”?
JC: This story is kinda crazy. When you watch the video you see a girl in the video and there’s two kids in the video. That is my actual girlfriend and they are my actual children. I have twins. During the process, I was working at this job. I was there for about 3 years. I found out that my girlfriend was pregnant. About 6 months into her pregnancy, I was able to get a leave of absence at the job and still get paid partially. So, I was able to do something else with my time and invested into lawn equipment. That’s when I started doing lawn care and I quit my other job. During that whole transition process, I had stopped doing music from about 6 months to a year. Throughout the process of her pregnancy, my girlfriend encouraged me to tap back into music. “Signs” was the first song I recorded and the song was released after my sons were born. The name of the song means a lot to me and I met so many great people while making the song. It has just been a blessing. It was such a pivotal moment in my life.
EB: You transitioned from playing football to a full fledge recording artist. Why did you make this transition? Will you be going back to school?
JC: I think that the reasons that I’m successful in the music industry because of the morals and my principles that I been raised and brought up with in football and sports. The dedication and the hard work [is key]. I feel that all those principles and things that you learn in sports helps tremendously. The music industry is very competitive you have to be very creative, you have to be willing to go all out.
EB: What’s next for your career ?
JC: I’m getting ready to drop a tape, I haven’t dropped a mixtape in a long time. This actually will be my first official mixtape. We been putting together a lot of music. It’s going to be very nice, I have some titles in mind for it, but it’s still in the works. I’m dropping a single called “Rather be alone” everyone can be on the look out for that. You can also catch me on Instagram to follow my career. Thanks!
