We had the good fortune of connecting with Jamar Smith and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jamar, what’s the end goal, career-wise?
This question is provocative in all of the ways I love! The end goal? Ideally the end goal is for my work to transcend the basic idea of “professional” or “Career” I want my time spent to be an investment in my legacy., legacy is immortality. I from a very young age had a terrible omnipresent fear of death. The finality of it still makes me uncomfortable when I sit still long enough to think about it. I want my work on this earth to be impactful enough to outlast my presence here. I through my music and time spent as an “influencer” make every decision, with the end goal being creation of a sustainable conduit for creation of legacy. I want to touch as many people and engage with as many individuals as I can on a daily basis!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I was signed to a very shady record deal with a major record label at 18. The deal gave me no creative independence or ownership and had me paralyzed creatively for 5 years when I should’ve have been falling deeper in love with and honing my craft. This in hindsight was a very traumatic experience. I was not equipped or ready for the business side of the industry and as result complicit in my own paralyzation. After being released from my deal I stopped writing for years and focused on finishing school BS in psychology. I fortunately was able to parlay a lot of the healthy industry relationships I had established into an independent career in music that I have been blessed to leverage into and influencer role on social media. I had to be willing to accept my role in my own failures before I was able to become the version of myself that I was destined to be.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
This has to be an ideal week for my girlfriend MJ and I instead! (She’s from Michigan) We would have to start the week on the obligatory party tour! Ha that means Mill Ave in Tempe on Friday night for some bar hopping! With most time spent at my friend Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row! Always great food fun and brews! Shoutout to DB miss ya brother! We would then have to hit up Old Town Scottsdale for some Sunday Funday action with a quick splash at Maya Day Pool party! Then a bit more hopping. stay the night at the W hotel so Monday we can sample some incredible food around Scottsdale and hit up the Art district to check out the great showcases! Tuesday it’s the Westside for some authentic Mexican food at popos! Wednesday through Friday a trip to Sedona to detox and get our chakras back aligned!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My family deserves more credit than even I do in who I am today. This on the face will come of as cliche and disingenuous, however for me this is the Gods honest truth. Despite the headache it caused my family never wavered in support and encouragement for my “free thinking” even when it was contradictory to what they themselves believe. I have for the majority of my life struggles with mental health namely anxiety and depression. Even before recognizing these things became en vogue. As an African American man culturally this was even more stigmatized, but my family instead of trying to “fix” me chose to try and “understand” me and in that journey became an incredible support system and motivation for me to find success however that would manifest itself in my life!

Website: https://www.reverbnation.com/yunglisten

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Other: https://linktr.ee/YungListen?utm_source=linktree_profile_share&ltsid=0fa26d5f-6278-4829-a113-99adb7aa9fa1

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