“Its refreshing to hear the heartbeat of a man who is in tune with the purpose of God. J-Silver captures the rhythm and the pulse of what is happening on the street and speaks back to it in a language that it understands.” – Noel Robinson (Worship Leader & CEO of Jubal communications)
Some call him J-Silver; some call him Jonathan Findlater and others simply know him as Jay. He calls himself a lyricist Da Soul Lyricist, to be exact.
J-Silver has only been scribbling and spitting lines for two years so far. But in that short time, he has acquired a reputation as one of the sharpest wordsmiths British hip hop has to offer.
My main inspiration is the Gospel and trying to spread it, says Jay. What I try to do is not be too preachy, but simply talk about the everyday struggles of human life. A lot of what I write comes from my own experience..
The 26-year-old Londoner cultivated a taste all kinds of music from a very young age. Hip-hop was part of the mix from the very start; as a child, Jay built up a collection of cassettes of Tim Westwoods shows hed taped off Radio 1. On TV, it was shows such as Yo! MTV Raps and BETs Rap City that fired up his imagination.
Being from a strict Christian family, all this had to be done on the downlow. But today Jay has found a way of matching the music he loves with the Godly principles he was raised with, taking his lead from Gospel rappers such as T-Bone, Theory Hazit, Braille and Sivion.
In 2006, J-Silver released his debut EP, Who I Be. It garnered some radio airplay and paved the way for his 2008 mixtape, The War Is On.
Despite the warm reception Who I Be received, J felt it could have been improved upon. He enrolled on a diploma course run by Music Everything (and approved by musical instrument manufacturers Roland). The course covered Music Production with some Sound Engineering basics. J-silvers first major assignment after earning his diploma was to re-visit his debut EP.
J-Silvers aim is to expose his audience to reality. The real, he explains, is more than what the human eye can see. I intend to enrich peoples lives through the powerful influence of music by speaking the truth, he says, even if its controversial.
“Who I Be is basically me introducing myself to the hip hop and gospel industries,” J-Silver says. “It’s me saying, ‘Hi – I’m J-Silver; here’s a little information about me.’ Not the full picture, though – just an idea. But enough to give you a little insight into my way of thinking. It’s a little sample of me.”
Who I Be: the EP by J-Silver is released on J-Silver Productions, and is available on iTunes 
You can find more info and listen to his music on his myspace.
