This feature appears in VMAN 49 now available for purchase

Climbing the ranks of rap is an uphill journey. Being the freshest face of quite possibly the world’s biggest rap scene of New York City is an even more complicated task, only fit for the unflinchingly self-assured. At 24 years young, Jay Critch is doing just that, taking on the genre’s greatest stage with the poise of an industry veteran.

“When you’re a New York artist, the beat’s just gonna be in you regardless of if you notice it or not. Naturally, certain flows I have and certain vibes I go into are just on some ‘OD’ New York sound because that’s what I originally started listening to,” says Critch. “That’s how I even learned to rap, listening to all that stuff. If you’re not from New York, you can’t really have the New York sound.” The Brooklyn native emcee brings voice to the freshest generation of Big Apple beatmakers and lends matter-of-fact swagger to a genre crying out for authentic perspective on life in the city. “What defines New York rap is talking about the real stuff and making it sound swaggy and making it sound good even when we talking about the craziest shit and [when we rap] we [are] talking about the real stuff that goes on out here. New York is gritty, but we always do it in style.”

Critch kicked off his musical career growing up in the Clinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn. Inspired by his brother’s rapping hobby, the then-teenage aspirant switched gears from basketball to beats. Armed with a laptop and GarageBand, Critch got to create alongside friends who now form his label, Talk Money Entertainment. In just 5 years since the release of his first EP, the rising rap star has captured the attention of headliner talent and found mentorship under genre legends, Fabolous and French Montana who have guided the young star to hone in on his steely sound and curate a discography fi t for an emerging icon. “I would say they are the realest big bros in the game. They show love to the young artists and they’re always there.”

His journey to the top of hip-hop isn’t over yet. Gearing up for the release of new singles this summer, Critch continues to expand his artistry and venture into a new sound he says is unlike anything we’ve heard from him yet. “I have stuff in the stash that’s a whole different genre. I’m curious to see how the fans are gonna react.” Ever-evolving in style and flow, Jay Critch is a name to remember.

Read the exclusive interview below!

VMAN: Hey Jay! You’ve been climbing the ranks of rap and catching attention from major industry icons as of late. Take me back: how did your musical journey get started?

JAY CRITCH: I got started first from just watching my older brother rap and stuff when I was a kid. That’s what really had me just playing around, writing raps and stuff like that. My parents don’t make music, but they love music and were playing it a lot. Growing up, my dad always played reggae and a bunch of stuff, and my mom played a bunch of stuff, too. There was always music playing in the house.

VMAN: I like that, you were definitely very surrounded by music. I understand that when you were growing up, sports and basketball were your life but then in high school, you developed your interest in music. When did you realize that music wasn’t just a hobby or a side hustle anymore and that you could really go far in the industry?

JC: I feel like I started to take it seriously and think that I could really do it when my friends would be listening to my songs without me even putting it on or anything, just on their own. Once I found out my friends would be listening to my stuff on their own and people was telling me about how good it is, that’s when I was like, “Ah, I know I could do it because they listening to this just like they would listen to any other song.” That means it’s really doing something.

VMAN: Yeah, it’s like your friends gave you the support and validation to keep at it.

JC: Yeah, exactly!

VMAN: I understand you run your own label, Talk Money Entertainment and even reference it in some of your lyrics. Tell me a bit about Talk Money and how it got started.

JC: Talk Money started at school, P.S. 20, Brooklyn, New York. It just started with a group of young friends playing around on Vine when Vine was lit. We was in the park just playing around on Vine in the summertime. We just kept saying “talk money, talk money” and we just ran with it that whole summer. We just kept saying “talk money” and kept calling ourselves that. It just became our group and everybody knew us as that so it just stuck.

VMAN: So I guess these are all childhood friends then?

JC: Yeah, all of my childhood friends. And I’m still with all of them to this day!

VMAN: That’s amazing. You quickly garnered attention for your music and got some big name talent like Fabolous and French Montana on board with your discography. Are there any lessons that you’ve learned from these rap legends that have helped you elevate your own artistry?

JC: I would say they are the realest big bros in the game. I look at Fab as a big brother. How Fab and French move with the younger artists is how I’m going to be moving when I’m an OG in the game. They show love to the young artists and they’re always there to be a big bro in this. As soon as I met Fab, he was showing me love and I appreciated that always. So it’s like, the lessons I learned from them is just how to move into shit. 

VMAN: That’s awesome, they really took you under their wing as mentors.

JC: Yeah totally, they both have been. I appreciate them so much.

VMAN: Each of your tracks sound different and unique to the others, which suggests to me that you’re constantly evolving in your sound. How do you balance the pressures of creating music that you know your fans would really like with creating music for yourself?

JC: That’s a great question because oftentimes, I find myself in the studio making something and it’s more for me. I’ll kind of notice after when I’m like, “No, I didn’t record this song for them, it’s for me to listen to. It’s for me.” (laughs) Like, I wasn’t really thinking of the fans on some of them. Then other songs are like, when I’m even in the booth recording it, I’m already thinking of the fans and who I’m making it for and who’s gonna be listening, you know what I mean? So some songs come out more directed towards my fanbase and are things I know that they would like and then the other half of my music is just like me being in different moods and going through different stuff and just making that at that time.

VMAN: Do you ever feel hesitant or nervous at all to release music that might sound different to music that blew up with your fans? Do you feel any type of way before releasing a different type of sound for them?

JC: Not really nervous, but I’m more kind of curious because I’ve got a lot of stuff that I still haven’t really done yet. I’ve jotted things that’s different and I have stuff in the stash that’s like, whole different genres and whole different stuff like that. I haven’t really dropped any of that stuff. I’m not really nervous about it but I’m just more curious to see how the fans are gonna react. But every time I post a snippet or I’m playing something and they hear it on Instagram, that’s one of the different ones, they go so hard for those ones because it’s different. So I feel like they like it, actually. I feel like half of my fans like the switch up stuff and then the other half want me to stay on that same flow.

VMAN: I think what fans appreciate about you, Jay, is how despite your successes, you haven’t forgotten or lost touch with your roots in Brooklyn. How do you feel that your New York roots translate over into your sound?

JC: What defines New York rap is talking about the real stuff and making it sound swaggy and making it sound good even when we are talking about the craziest shit and we talking about the real stuff that goes on out here. But just doing it in style—that’s New York rap to me. Like, we talking about the streets, we talk about stuff that is really going on out here. But doing it in style, you making it sound swag, you make people want to dance to it. Like that’s how good we do it. New York is gritty, but we always do it in style.

VMAN: Yeah, it’s just ingrained within you.

JC: Exactly. I feel like the New York sound, when you’re a New York artist, the beat’s just gonna be in you regardless of if you notice it or not. It’s like, some beats and certain sounds we are automatically accustomed to from the city. For example, on old Fab songs and old HOV songs—this is what I grew up listening to. So naturally, certain flows I have and certain vibes I go into is just on some OD New York sound because that’s what I originally started listening to. That’s how I even learned to rap, listening to all that stuff. So I feel like being from New York, it’s different. If you’re not from New York, you can’t really have the New York sound cause we grew up listening to this stuff. We grew up in certain ways. You know what I mean? It’s just a New York thing.

Critch epitomizes New York swag on his latest single, Close to Me / Active Listen now!

This feature appears in VMAN 49 now available for purchase