I'd say my sound's really rooted in Jamaica and Barbados heritage , infused with just me growing up in Brooklyn, really, and being an American kid.

CJ Fly

Categorized in : Kids Growing Up

My mind corrupted but my heart is still pure

my-heart mind heart

I wouldn't compare my sound on the mixtape to anything, but my influences are like - the minimal amount of hip-hop that I actually do know - because I didn't grow up listening to hip-hop like that. No one really put me on to hip-hop like that... My dad's from Jamaica and my mom is from Barbados, so that's really the stuff I grew up listening to.

growing-up mom listening

I used to like smoking before I recorded, but, now it's just kind of like thinking about executing it... I just want it to be the best and all that. That's what really gets me in the zone nowadays. I want to put my best foot forward and make a statement.

kind smoking thinking

Sometimes I write it down, sometimes I freestyle. I get lines coming to me randomly throughout the day and I'll jot it down and build on that. If I get a line that's about love, it starts up a whole love verse... And if a beat speaks to me, it's like I already know what to write.

speak writing sometimes

There are three people's careers I'd like to meld together into my own... Jay Z's for his business mindset, Macklemore's hustle as an independent artist, and Bob Marley's impact on the world and how refined and genuine his music is to this day.

hustle independent artist