Jayme Be
Murfreesboro, Tennessee, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2009 | SELF
Music
Press
. . . James Belt, otherwise known as “Jayme Be,” an MTSU senior majoring in music business, is one such individual.
After moving to Tennessee from Virginia, the Kid Cudi-influenced, hip-hop artist decided to establish his own label, [GreenLiteRhythm], which includes a crew of fellow artists, producers and entrepreneurs.“When I started learning about the way they [bigger record labels] can kind of hold you back in terms of the contracts and the way they can gain your money, they way they handle business, I was just like its just not right, especially this day and age,” Belt said. “Why would you need any of that? An indie label is just as successful, if not more successful than a major label and even if I went to a major label there’s a risk of changing my sound, changing what I do and that wouldn’t carry over.”
. . . Belt and his team utilize these sites to create buzz surrounding single releases and communicate with fans, stating the importance of creating an online “congregation,” rather than allowing the Internet to “isolate” them.
. . . “I’d rather have one out of 50 people love what I do, than 49 people say it’s okay,” Belt said. “At least odds are that one person is gonna be more than likely to tell one of his 10 friends or siblings or whatever and maybe one of their 10 friends will like it. That’s all I need is just one, and then one of them will tell someone else, so we’re looking for that niche market.”
For now that means continuing to release their Logic-recorded tracks on sites like SoundCloud and TuneCore, and playing small shows to build a following.
“There’s so many things that could happen that could make this fall apart,” Belt said of his endeavors. “And yet, we stick together as friends and as coworkers, and we just roll that dice, and we’ll take what we get, and the more we put in the more we get back." - MTSU Sidelines
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
“In order to eat, you have to be hungry. In order to learn, you have to be ignorant. Ignorance is a condition of learning. Pain is a condition of health. Passion is a condition of thought. Death is a condition of life.” Robert Anton’s words from “Leviathan” capture the essence of Virginia born hip-hop artist Jayme Be. “The central focus of my music is duality and the contrasts of life,” says Jayme. His style and musicianship represents this message. His influence is deeply rooted in the likes of Kid Cudi, NaS, and Kanye West, yet early inspiration derives from Blink 182 and other 90s post punk bands. He is both producer and rapper; Musician and audio technician.
Born in Springfield, Virginia, Jayme started playing piano and violin at age of seven and self-taught guitar bass and drums at 13. He played in various garage bands throughout his early adolescence, but turned his sights to hip hop after listening to Lil Wayne’s Drought 3. “Before him my lyricism was immature. His words were so incredible and clever. His delivery was so on point. It helped me hone in on what I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it.”
In 2009 Jayme began making his own music, thus creating the persona Jayme Be. He started out by creating beats with Logic and writing raps. He moved to Murfreesboro in August of 2010, enrolling into MTSU’s Recording Industry Management program, concentrating on audio production. It is here where Jayme’s musical creativity, direction and ideology evolved.
“Music has always been a melting pot, but now it is more of an amalgam than ever. Genres that once seemed to oppose one another are now fusing together. Starting out I took the energy and emotion from the pop-punk of the 90s and the demeanor and natural flow of hip hop and put them together. I don’t want there to be any lines drawn between genres with my music.”
Jayme released his first project, titled SoundWaveHigh Pt. 1, in late 2011 and the follow-up Soundwavehigh part 2 in early 2012. It is through these projects that his record label GreenLiteRhythm came to existence. “It started out as a name for the production that I was doing,” Jayme says. “But as I started working with more people, a community began to develop. Now GreenLiteRhythm is a collaborative of musicians, producers, photographers and artists that want to create meaningful art, I use that word in the broadest of terms.”
His third project, The Be Side, was released in July 2013 as GreenLiteRhythm's first official release and is a showcase of Jayme’s transition into adulthood. “SoundWaveHigh parts 1 and 2 are more sentimental and juvenile,” says Jayme. “The Be Side is much more serious and reflective. It is bridge between my adolescence and adulthood.”
Currently Jayme is furthering GreenLiteRhythm’s reach, looking to expand regionally with goals to build a widespread fanbase. His fourth project, Plan Be, is underway. “The idea behind Plan Be is to emphasize the plans we make and then what really happens. It’s about rolling with chaos and progressing through unpredictability with successful spontaneity.”
While ambiguity will always cloud the future, one thing is certain for Jayme Be. He will continue his creative endeavors, intertwining life experiences with music to bring a vibrant relevancy to his audience.
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