2 PISTOLS - Ozone Magazine

How were you able to get signed to Interscope
I signed the paperwork on my birthday, June 29th.
I was very excited ‘cause I’ve been grindin’ so long.
I was actually in negotiations with Cash Money so
it was like a bidding war, but Interscope came with
the right stuff in the paperwork. Maddscientist
brought me out to L.A. to write for The Pussycat
Dolls. He was like, “If you ain’t signed to Cash
Money yet, come out to L.A. and we’ll see what’s
good.” I’m a loyal person so I was tryin’ to let Cash
Money get they stuff together, but it was takin’ a
lil longer than I expected. I went to L.A. and cut a
couple songs. Erica Grayson, who’s my A&R now,
walked in the studio while I was cutting my songs
and she liked my vibe. It just went from there. A lot
of people say they gon’ do stuff, and sometimes
you hear stuff over and over and stop believing.
But when I got back to the East coast my lawyer
already sent me the paperwork. I always wanted
to be on Interscope ‘cause personally I feel it’s the
best label.
What are the specifics of your deal with Interscope
The great thing about my situation is me and
my manager, Erskine Isaac, own a production
company called Leftfield Productions, and I signed
myself to my own company. I have two acts on
the production company/label – the Jack Boys are
from Jacksonville and the other guy is EZ B, a.k.a.
Green Socks, out of Atlanta. Everyone I’m looking
for on the label has to be a leftfield artist, not afraid
to take chances.
What’s up with your alias Jesse Jane Is that an
alter ego
Jesse Jane is my alter ego. I had started writing for
a lot of pop artists and discovered a side of myself
that mixes urban and pop fusion, and it created
this wild-child, outlaw type person. It’s like Jesse
James and the outlaws. I’m an urban artist, of
course I’m from the hood, but I have a worldly aspect
on how I write my music. I write urban music
with a pop formula. Jesse Jane helps me get into
character, and Alja is straight from the hood R&B.
You can definitely hear your influences like Missy
Elliott and Prince in your music, and you have
that Cindy Lauper pop thing going on with your
style…
Yeah, I love Cindy Lauper. When people ask me
to classify my music, it’s hard to put myself in a
box but people want to know, so I tell them Missy
Elliott is my mother; Prince is my father; T-Pain is
my cousin; Andre 3000 is my brother; Madonna
is my auntie; Cindy Lauper is my godmother; and
Michael Jackson is my goddaddy. [I’m influenced
by] all the styles of people that weren’t afraid to
be them, stuck to what they wanted to do and
believed in it.
In your experiences so far, from a female artist’s
perspective, is the music business is as shady or
sexist as everyone makes it out to be
With everything you do in life, there’s gonna be
some type of obstacle. In the music industry, it’s
especially hard for women because if you ain’t
sleeping with somebody or those types of things,
it can be hard. But first impressions are everything,
so if you present yourself like a lady, and you let
a nigga know that this is what it is, if you like my
talent that’s what’s up but it’s nothing else, I think
that’s what’s important. You gotta stand your
ground and let them know who you are so you
don’t have those problems.
Jacksonville is your hometown, but you’ve lived
in some other cities. Do you think it was necessary
to leave the nest in order to get your career
going
I do think it’s good to branch out. Jacksonville is
one of the largest cities, but we’re just now starting
to get on the map as far as entertainment. If
you feel like you’ve achieved something in a certain
area and you’re still not getting to where you
need to be, it’s important to branch out while still
representin’. If you’re out networking in different
cities and states, bring that energy back to your
hometown and don’t be selfish. I moved to New
York and it taught me a lot. If you ain’t goin’ to your
auditions or goin’ to work...you gotta walk in the
snow and rain to the train, it taught me independence
and the grind. My mama wasn’t there, I had
to get up on my own. I was a back up dancer for
Sean Paul, Maxie Priest, and Shaggy. After I started
dancing for Sean Paul, I moved to Atlanta to focus
on me. My grandmother taught me that you only
live once so make the best of it.
What’s going on with the music you’ve been
writing and recording lately
I’m working on this record, and I really wanna tell
you the name of it, it’s so cool and I wanna put the
record out there before anyone else does. But my
single is definitely “Perrtiest Girl” featuring Missy
Elliott. Wayne just did a verse on it as well. We’re
gonna get Three 6 Mafia on a song called “Lava In
Your Speakers.” Everything is really up-tempo, high
energy, 808, crunk, kinda like early Missy Elliott
with a lil more hood, down south swagger.
A lot of people might not remember, but
weren’t you on a reality show a while ago
(laughs) Yeah, I did the show Are You the Girl,
where they was trying to find another member
for the group T.L.C. I made it to the fourth finalist.
I didn’t make it but everything happens for a
reason. Television doesn’t portray you as the person
you really are, but I was just thankful for the
experience. I even see Chilli and T-Boz in Atlanta
today and it’s all good. //
OZONE MAG // 19