“Overwhelmed” with pressures of holding down a minimum wage job, a Leeds man has decided to quit and sign up to Universal Credit so he could concentrate on becoming a professional rapper.
James Rhule, aka rapper Jay Rhule, was growing sick and tired of trying to hold down mundane jobs which he didn’t care about. The 25-year-old, who lives with his parents in Beeston, decided working for minimum wage was “slowing him down” in his journey to “making it” in showbiz.
After about a month of trying to make it, he’s set up his own website where he’s offering out his services as an artist and producer. Jay is charging £300 for a live performances and fans can also snap-up merchandise T-shirts for £75.
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Jay has struggled to hold down a job his whole life and admits he’s never been in the same employment “for more than a year”. What finally pushed him off the edge was a simple mix-up at work which resulted in him not getting paid for one month.
Jay had been working from home for a call centre for about a month. His job involved asking major supermarket’s customers if they’d received their orders.
Jay said: “I just thought I couldn’t keep doing this. I decided to go all out on music. This is what I want to do, I’m not getting any younger.
“It was a laid-back job working from home but eight hours a day with such low pay an hour. I was there for a month and I thought, ‘nah, this is long’.
"I’ve never been good at keeping a job and I’ve never had a job for more than a year. It all comes down to wanting to do, trying to do, music. I was living life to a calendar that I didn’t want, I wasn’t doing what I wanted to do in my life. I’d had enough."
“I just felt weird one day, like this cannot be life. I’m literally doing things I don’t want to do as I feel obligated. I just wanted to do my own thing. I felt overwhelmed about certain pressures and felt I had to do something about it,” he added.
'Parents wanted me to be stable'
That fateful day came about a month ago, since then Jay has been working out of his bedroom studio, set up a website, applied for Universal Credit, bought a portable poster and has been performing in Leeds city centre to passing shoppers.
Jay says his songs are about his life and how he’s perceived and dealt with certain situations. How he feels street smart but is also bookish. His Ghanaian heritage and love of gospel music is also important to him and inspires his own work.
The rappers has spoken about how lucky he is to have the support of his loving and caring family. His younger brother Jefferson, 16, has been making Jay’s beats (his DJ name is JeffThisOnesColdStill). Plus, Jay has been using his dad’s boombox to perform within the city centre.
He’s admitted initially his parents, who work as cleaners, had their concerns about his decision to quit his job to pursue his dreams. He said: “At first wanted they me to be stable – but it turns out that was just slowing me down.”
'Put Leeds on the map'
Jay has said his decision to go into rapping is not about the money, he just wants to live and breathe music. “That’s the only time I feel normal,” he adds.
Although, when there are opportunities out there to make a little extra cash, he thought “why not?!”. And he advertised on his website services, such as an event performance for £300, studio time (two hours) £100 and mixing/mastering services for £75 for 24 hours. Plus, he’s selling plain white T-shirts with his signature on it for £75 each and another with his logo on for £20.
He feels creatives in Leeds are underserved and there should be more opportunities out there for undiscovered talent. Jay said: “There’s a lot of talent in Leeds which isn’t recognised right now.
“I think people in Leeds need to stand up, get out there and just go for it. If anything, come together, do it as a city and put Leeds on the map.
“I don’t know what to do to go out there and ‘make it’. I’m just doing what I feel is right for me. You have to be serious about it and just do it and take risks. It might not work but I don’t have any other options.”
Jay has said ever since he decided to have a proper go at it, he’s released his own single ‘Amigos’ and ‘Fiesta’ which have been featured on the BBC Music Introducing programme. He’s also gained hundreds of new followers. You can follow Jay Rhule on his Instagram page here.
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