Join Joe Kay on Sound Advice, the weekly interview series covering artists’ journeys and their creative process. In this episode, we discuss Soulection, Joe Kay’s long-awaited debut EP, using SoundCloud to elevate his career and more.
Welcome to Sound Advice, the series spotlighting artists’ creative process and their SoundCloud journey. We’ll get the inside knowledge straight from the source on how musicians, producers and creatives are leaning into everything SoundCloud offers to elevate their sound, get heard and catapult their careers. Sound Advice is now available in audio format on the SoundCloud Stories profile.
On this episode of Sound Advice, we catch up with DJ, curator, producer, radio host and tastemaker Joe Kay, co-founder of LA’s globetrotting Soulection crew. Joe always wanted to be on the radio. In 2007, he launched the Ill Vibes podcast to curate his favorite music; in the realms of soul, funk, disco, house, lo-fi and hip-hop. He eventually linked up with Andre Power and Guillaume Bonte to form Soulection, and they put together some killer compilations that turned into the Soulection radio show.
With a catalog spanning over 650 episodes and counting, the show has doubled as a platform for the crew’s mighty A&R skills, introducing music lovers to artists like Kaytranada, Doja Cat, Bryson Tiller, Brent Faiyaz, Monte Booker and so many more, with SoundCloud playing an integral role in this journey since 2009. Joe has used SoundCloud to dig for the hottest new remixes and edits, discover underground artists, share mixes and radio shows, post exclusive releases and link with up-and-coming artists.
Meanwhile, Soulection has grown into an empire that also includes club nights, a record label, a concert series and even a clothing line. And while celebrating their 14-year anniversary, we sat down with Joe Kay to talk about his journey in the music industry, how he built a fanbase and created opportunities for himself, plus how SoundCloud features like reposts, direct messages and fan messaging expanded the crew’s reach. As part of the 14-year celebrations, SoundCloud partnered with Soulection to launch a DJ contest for an opening slot on their Houston tour stop. In our interview, Joe Kay shared more about this collaboration, offering sage advice about how to make sure your DJ profile stands out on SoundCloud and how to present your talents online.
We also talked to Joe about the process of putting together his long-awaited debut EP, ‘If Not Now, Then When?,’ and he emphasized the importance of collaboration, consistency and character in achieving longterm success. There’s lots of valuable wisdom in this one, so lock in.
LISTEN TO THE AUDIO EPISODE OF SOUND ADVICE FEATURING JOE KAY
LISTEN TO 'IF NOT NOW, THEN WHEN?' BY JOE KAY
Things We Talked About In This Episode of Sound Advice
How Joe Kay Was Inspired To Become a Radio DJ and Create Soulection
- We begin our conversation by going back to Joe Kay’s roots, and what inspired him to co-found Soulection. Growing up in Southern California, music was Joe Kay’s escape. His early passion was for radio: digging for music, curating and hosting episodes and highlighting up-and-coming artists. As Joe explains, it was a way of thinking about music that influenced the founding of Soulection; a curator mindset that powers his work today.
- Reflecting on the late 2000s era, too, Joe remembers how Soulection began at a crossroads for digital and physical music formats, with the blog era and early social media.
- Tapping into various platforms, Joe shares how Soulection became an early adopter of a multimedia strategy for a music brand. While Soulection is officially 14 years old, as Joe explains it, it’s been 20 years in the making, with Joe building a solid foundation and artist community through his radio show mixes over the years.
How Soulection Tapped Into a Cross-Genre Audience and Became Their Own Music Ecosystem
- On this theme, Joe details the Soulection creative ethos and how he was inspired to create a brand focused on a multi-genre, cross-generational appeal for music lovers. A key component of any entity’s success is whether they can fill a void in the current market, or speak to a niche audience or need.
- For Joe, he explains how he found 2000s-era Los Angeles to be a brilliant city for music, with labels like Brainfeeder and Stones Throw flying the flag, but one operating in genre-specific silos; rap fans went to rap-only parties, and so on. With Soulection, Joe envisioned bringing classic Black sounds like soul and reggae together with rap, R&B and house. Joe’s advice for anyone who can’t find what they’re looking for is to go out there and create it for yourself: “If someone tells you no, make your own yes.”
- In Soulection’s early days, their compilations produced a thoughtful curation of new artists that spoke to Joe’s multi-genre ethos. Joe gives advice to new creatives who want to network and collaborate with established acts, on how to approach, establish respect and develop working relationships with. For Soulection, the game plan was to create their own, self-sufficient ecosystem: playing their own records at their own parties and on their own radio shows. Through consistency and character, Joe says, you can organically attract an audience without having to compromise on your goals and ideas.
SoundCloud’s Pivotal Role in The Success of Soulection
- Throughout Joe’s journey with Soulection, SoundCloud has played a pivotal role. As he details, the platform remains his number one source of new music discovery; digging into demos, unreleased gems, edits and remixes, many of which make their way into Soulection mixes, live sets and feed into their label A&R process.
- Some of the artists that have come up through Soulection include Snoh Aalegra, Monte Booker, Kaytranada and GoldLink, among others.
- Joe explains how SoundCloud aligns with Soulection’s ethos: to be spaces for experimentation, independent creativity and open-minded collaboration. Seeing artists from across genres, continents and languages collaborate on platform, from Latin dance to Afrohouse, has been a source of inspiration for him, too: that music is a universal language, and the cross-genre explosion in popular music sits well with Soulection’s vibe.
- A feature that Joe credits with the expansion of Soulection’s audience is reposts. Rather than having to upload the same audio file multiple times across individual profiles, reposts allowed Soulection to amplify all collaborators on a project through a single file, which streamlined their listener data and allowed for greater audience accessibility. As Joe tells it, reposts have been a “game changer” for Soulection.
The Making and Promotion of Joe Kay’s Debut EP, ‘If Not Now, Then When?’
- Tapping into his many years of A&R skills and consistent curation on his radio shows and DJ sets, Joe set out to produce his own music and collaborate with artists that fit with the Soulection vibe. His debut EP, ‘If Not Now, Then When?’ was recently released through Soulection, and Joe talks about the ideas behind, creative process and promotion of the EP.
- One of the featured collaborators, Isaiah Falls, linked up with Joe Kay through SoundCloud. Joe talks about Isaiah’s artistry and how his multimedia presentation of work across platforms chimes with Soulection’s mission. In a contemporary music industry where attention is currency, Joe focuses on artists who build their work and audience slowly and thoughtfully.
- When it comes to making original music, Joe gives advice to fellow artists who may be starting out on this journey: “If you want the wrong answer, listen to everybody.” It’s a lesson that Joe learned through the making of the EP, after starting the process off with 70 original tracks. While it’s important to respect the skills and insights of the creatives and professionals in your orbit, ultimately, artists have to follow their intuition and focus on making decisions that serve the art first.
- Once a project is finished, the next stage begins: promoting your record successfully. But what does success look like in the Soulection universe? As Joe sees it, promotion has to come from a place of intention, led by trust and integrity. If you build an audience over time, giving them your best material at a consistent pace, that audience will come to trust in your vision and push your music further out of real love for the sound and the brand.
Joe Kay Gives Advice To Fellow Creatives, On Building a Longlasting, Authentic Music Brand
- Bringing it back to Joe’s original mission with Soulection, it’s all about having your own ecosystem: that being able to play your own records at your own shows, no matter the size, is powerful. By creating your own platforms and resources, you’ll never have to rely on the approval of outside forces to get your music heard and appreciated.
- It’s an ethos that’s guided SoundCloud and Soulection collaborations, most recently for Soulection’s 14th birthday party. DJs submitted their mixes to a contest, with the prize being an opening DJ set slot at Soulection’s party in Houston, Texas. You can find out more about the contest’s winner, Houston’s own Ceema, and check out her opening DJ set on her SoundCloud profile.
- The conversation returns to SoundCloud, we close the interview out with further advice to artists who may be new to the platform, and wondering how best to build an audience on the platform. For Joe, it’s all about keeping your upload schedule consistent — whether that’s weekly or monthly — and your ideas free-flowing. Don’t be scared to share your ideas, even if the recordings aren’t perfect yet, and don’t be too preoccupied by the numbers side of the game, be that on SoundCloud or social media. Everyone has to start somewhere and, as Joe explains, some of the best music he’s discovered on the platform for Soulection has had minimal early play counts. The most important thing is to be honest and open with your art, and an audience will come to you.
Links and Extras
Follow Joe Kay’s journey on SoundCloud.
Press play on Joe Kay’s 2025 EP, ‘If Not Now, Then When?.’
Follow Soulection for mixes, DJ sets, new releases and more.
Listen to Best of Soulection on SoundCloud.
Follow Ceema, the winner of the SoundCloud-hosted DJ contest for the Houston edition of Soulection’s 14-year anniversary party.
Hit play on Joe Kay’s collaborations with Isaiah Falls, who first connected on SoundCloud DMs, titled “Slow It Down” and “Moonlight.”
Explore some of Joe Kay’s wide-ranging influences, including Madlib, Flying Lotus, Brainfeeder, and Stones Throw, to name a few.
Listen to the Soul’s New Era playlist on SoundCloud.
Never miss an episode and follow the official Sound Advice playlist on SoundCloud.
Vote for SoundCloud for the Webby Awards
Exciting news, SoundCloud is nominated for a Webby Award! Last year, Billie Eilish came home to SoundCloud to celebrate her third studio album, ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft,’ giving a special shout out to her day-one fans. We created a dedicated landing page to showcase her journey, from her first upload to her remarkable career today.
And now, this website is up for a People’s Voice Award, which is where you come in. Cast your vote, before April 17th, and help us take home the Webby People’s Voice Award. Vote for SoundCloud here.
Getting The Most Out of SoundCloud
- Learn more about using DMs to connect with fellow artists and potential collaborators.
- Learn more about how to make a custom playlist on SoundCloud.
- Learn more about unlimited uploads, available with an Artist Pro subscription.
- Learn more unlocking access to unlimited distribution, available with Artist Pro.
- Learn more about getting heard with SoundCloud’s updated algorithm, available to Artist and Artist Pro subscribers.
To discover additional features a SoundCloud Artist or Artist Pro subscription offers, visit here. To catch up on past installments of Sound Advice and make sure you don’t miss out on future episodes, visit here.
CREDITS Host: Vivian Host, Executive Producer: Mike Spinella, Producer: KC Orcutt, Audio Engineer: David “DibS” Shackney, Coordinator: Trevor McGee, Editorial Associate: Lauren Martin
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