Photographed by Tone Woolfe
[Jay Saint](https://www.instagram.com/jaygotnext/?hl=en) is a whole vibe, and you can hear it in his music. Hailing from Brooklyn, New York, the Domincan-Haitian singer-songwriter arrives on the scene with an unwavering love for music, ear for what’s hot, an impeccable pen game, and even better personality. From songwriting for the likes of Danity Kane, Fergie, and Sean Kingston, the rising star went from writing for Puff Daddy’s Bad Boy Records to now shifting his focus to his own artistry.
Saint describes himself as “very sporadic and emotional” when it comes to his music. While his core genre is R&B, he loves to play with his sounds and instrumentation.
“I’m very much inspired by Afrobeats, so you’ll hear a lot of fusion of Afrobeats and R&B. You'll see a lot of penmanship, I write all my own stuff. I’m a songwriter at heart, so you'll get a lot of emotional journeys,” he adds with a laugh.
Now, Jay is here to take fans on a cosmic journey through sound, as evidenced in his most recent EP titled _Back From Jupiter._ Most recently, he released the official music video for “Fallen.”
_Flaunt_ caught up with Jay Saint via FaceTime, who was posted in his hometown of Brooklyn, New York. Read below as we discuss his household growing up in Brooklyn, his first big placement with Danity Kane, what he learned from those sessions with Bad Boy, transitioning to solo artist, the inspo behind _Back From Jupiter_, studio essentials, and more!
Photographed by Tone Woolfe
**Your father's Dominican and your mom is Haitian. What was the household like growing up in Brooklyn?**
Growing up, my mom was very, very, very protective. A very protective house, we didn't do much. Especially for people moving from third world countries, the main thing is schooling, making sure you have a good job and the right education. Me being a creative wasn't going to be a good turnover for them, they didn't see the dream I had. It was really hard to show them like, “hey, this is something that's going to benefit me. Why? Because I'm going to put in the work. I’ll make sure this is beneficial for me.”
They didn't really see anything until I got my Bad Boy situation. I became a full-time songwriter for Bad Boy. I wrote on the Danity Kane project, a few other projects. That's when they saw, “Oh okay, so he's serious. This is serious, so let's give him the support that he needs.” With Caribbean parents, you have to show and prove. If you don't show any proof, it's not something that they're going to pay attention to.
**What was your first big placement?**
My first big placement had to be “Pretty Boy” by Danity Kane. Once I saw that it actually made the album tracklist, I was dying. At the time of course, because of politics and the fact that I was a new writer, I had to fight for publishing for that particular record. But the fact that I got even an ounce of credit from that was amazing.
**What did you learn from those sessions?**
I learned that being a songwriter is trial and error. Being a really good songwriter, you have to write outside of yourself. You can't necessarily put yourself in every single song. You have to imagine you’re singing as them and experiment. Having a great imagination lets you float over who you are as a person. That’s one of the lessons that I learned: how to expand myself as a writer; how to use different situations that inspired me to come up with different subject topics that didn't necessarily apply to me.
**How does it feel to now be using those talents in your own artistry, and stepping into the spotlight?**
It feels great. It feels really, really amazing because everything that comes from me now is authentic. I get to experiment and I get to evolve. I'm constantly evolving, and I really appreciate that. The pandemic allowed me to really figure out exactly what type of artist I want to be and what lasting impression I want to have on people. One of the most important lessons I learned over the pandemic was learning more about myself and understanding “hey, it's okay to make mistakes. It's okay to have this setback. What are you going to do from this setback? I used that the entire time to create and evolve.”
**_Back From Jupiter_ EP is out now. How are you feeling?**
I feel very good about the reaction from this project. I literally wrote _Back From Jupiter_ over the pandemic. It's about my experience navigating love, true love, which I found with my partner now. Just this new sense of confidence that I've gained. _Back From Jupiter_ is a story of my time with my partner through the pandemic and this whole cockiness I’ve developed. \[laughs\] I’m very pleased with the reaction I got from it.
**Why did you name it _Back From Jupiter_?**
I've been obsessed with the planet Jupiter, since I was a kid. Anything that started with a J, “oh my god, J!” Jupiter, jaguars—all these things. I found out what Jupiter was about and how you can't necessarily stand on Jupiter. If you were to be inside of Jupiter, you’d literally be falling because there's no gravitational pull. The properties in Jupiter constantly create new particles and new atoms.
If I went to Jupiter, I’d continue to fall. But even in the time I'm falling through Jupiter, I’d evolve. I’d continue to fall through and evolve. When I come out of it, I’ll become this whole new person with all of these properties that will make me a better artist. I said “I need to go there, find who I am, then come back and see what I can come up with.” And I came up with this project.
**What do you need more of? I was listening to the first song, “More.”**
“More” was a record I wrote that was the departure from my last album called _ExCommitted_. I needed to close a chapter that was very open for me at the time and start something new. “More” is a record that literally speaks to me wanting more for myself. Me wanting more credit, me wanting more love, me wanting more money, just me wanting _more_. In this phase of my life, I don't want to settle for anything at this point. I deserve more and I require more. It's me telling whoever I'm with right now that to be with me, you need to offer more than just you. \[laughs\]
**What can we expect from the “Fallen” music video?**
I shot that over the lockdown, man. You can expect love. Real, real love. My partner’s the featured guy in this video and it showcases true, passionate love. The fact that it's Pride Month is even better because the love in this video, the wide images and the drone shots are absolutely beautiful. You see a lot of dancing. You see a lot of love and passionate scenes that are very tasteful, but incredibly romantic. I'm really, really excited to put it out.
**Talk about your choreography, I see you dancing in your videos!**
I've always loved to dance, I've always loved to perform. That's one of my backgrounds too. This video really gave me freedom to be myself. As far as the Afrobeat side of Jay Saint, it really allowed me to be myself and really feel it. I'm really excited about that. I've danced since I was 10. Of course I've been in athletics as well, but dance was one of the things that really stuck with me. I knew I wanted to be an artist that showcased performing and dancing as well.
**3 things you need in the studio at all times?**
I need warm water. I need great lighting. I cannot do the fluorescent light. It has to be a mood light that really sets the tone, sets the mood for the session. I also need an engineer that knows what he's doing. \[laughs\]
**What do you want fans to get from your story?**
Everything in this world doesn’t just come to you. You have to work for any solitary thing that’s given to you. Even if it's a freebie for that specific time, at some point you have to work for continued success and continued growth. Everything that I've worked for, everything I am as an artist I've worked for, I've paid out of pocket. If you want to invest in yourself as an artist, you really have to put out the money. It’s expensive to be an independent artist without the big machine. It's very expensive, and you need to invest in yourself. I want people to know that I work really hard. I work extremely hard and I'm very authentic. If you want to be in your feelings, listen to my music. \[laughs\]
**Talk about your love for fashion too.**
I love, love, love fashion. I love to play with textures. I'm a very bohemian chic type of artist. I like that whole loose fit, very leisure-like wear.
**Do you have any goals?**
My goal is to really be majorly successful independently, then to get the attention of the big machines for me to have options. I'm at the point of my artistry where it needs the attention that it deserves. My goal is to expand independently so I could gravitate to have the attention of these major labels and companies.
**Anything else you want the people to know?**
I want people to understand that Flaunt is a huge deal for me. This opportunity is a major deal, because Flaunt is one of the brands that really exposes these independent artists and creatives. I also want fans to understand that it's okay to be wrong, it's okay to be apprehensive. That's one of the things that make you purely you. If you want to continue to grow, if you want to continue to get the attention of not only yourself but other people, just be yourself. Continue to be yourself, continue to evolve in your own space. You'll be a better version of you
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