Today we’d like to introduce you to Pretty Boy Jay.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?I would say my journey started with growing up in New York with a family full of people that shared the same love and passion for music that I did. At a young age, I figured out that I could hold a note and started exploring the idea of being a singer. Once I migrated from New York to Orlando, Florida, I was ready to start taking the idea a lot more serious and went on to making my first album called “After Hours with Pretty Boy Jay.” That project itself was able to open so many doors for me and allowed me to expand my brand in so many different ways.
Shortly after I decided to branch off into the radio world when the radio producer Elvy from indie jamz contacted me about making the theme of my album itself a real thing and the late-night radio show host I portrayed on the album became a real persona. Later on, I started to feel that itch for taking on something new again and wanted to branch out into the market of selling merchandise. Starting from a simple and fun t-shirt idea and design called “Backshots,” I took the apparel world by storm. Vending and Selling out at every show, I knew there was a demand for the product I was providing and went on to creating “Backshotsapparel.com” and securing an online retail presence. Currently working on a new album and waiting for some more doors to be opened.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
In the beginning of my career I had to make a necessary management change that helped situate me better once I got over to Commitide ENT & Pro192 Studios. Also something that people don’t really know about me unless you’re in my inner circle is that I had some trouble with law a few times that lead me to be incarcerated more than one time for extended periods. There was a point in time where Florida cops really made me feel like marijuana was the worst thing in the world due to how much I ran into issues.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
My clothing line is one of my newer business ventures that I’ve been doing for a little bit over a year now. It started with me just needing some merch to sell that even men wanted to buy, I figured out really early in the game that as a male R&B singer, it’s hard to get guys to buy a shirt with your name on it so I had to think outside the box. So after thinking for a couple weeks and coming up with the perfect flip on the famous Cigarillo brand Backwoods and came up with BAckshots Apparel with the word deriving from my Jamaican heritage with people on the island giving backshots on the dance floor to the word itself coexisting with the realm of the baby-making music I’m known for… it was easily a great idea and has been proven many many times with how much units have been sold the many photoshoots that people love to see on social media.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
My only advice for networking is DO IT and do it as often as possible because in this industry, the relationships you build today can easily become your currency tomorrow.
Pricing:
- After Hours with Pretty Boy Jay podcast interview – $50
- Backshots Apparel shirts – $20
Contact Info:
- Email: prettyboyjayllc@gmail.com
- Website: BackshotsApparel.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prettyboyjayofficial/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jasons.skinner/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/prettyboyjay_1?lang=en
Image Credits
David Daudin from Myto Studios
