
Many artists struggle to establish their musical identity, laboriously trying on different musical styles like a piece of clothing, looking to find what fits. But there are others that emerge fully formed, in full command of their craft, their identity and their music. Jade Lawson fits firmly in the latter category. Her new mix tape, OxyGEN, is a captivating and moving debut that heralds the arriv al of a gifted and significant new talent, one whose music feels familiar in the best possible way, while striking out on its own territory. 
A Baltimore girl who grew up alongside her two older brothers, she frequently wrote poetry starting at the age of 7 and played the drums but didn’t take music too seriously until the age of 11. She explains, “I was at a point in my life where I had many interest and hobbies, but didn’t really explore them. That is until my 6th grade teacher started hosting an in-class talent showcase on Fridays…if we behaved. I didn’t participate the first week but sat and watched in amazement as a few guys in my class got up and rapped. I said to myself, I can do that. So I went home and started going through my brother’s cd collection to get some inspiration. I popped in Lil Wayne’s The Carter and Jay Z’s The Gift & the Curse. To my surprise I couldn’t come up with ANYTHING! So I quickly jotted down some of Wayne and Jay’s best lines, thinking no one would notice. So the next week came and I was excited to unleash my newly found “gift”. But as soon as I began, one of the guys shouted, “That’s from Jay’s song!” I was so embarrassed, they laughed at that for the rest of the year and told me I couldn’t rap. Throughout my entire life, if anybody ever told me I couldn’t do something, I would try that much harder to prove them wrong. So from that point on that’s what I did. That’s right, unlike many other artists whose inspiration to do music came from idols and their favorite artist, I was inspired by a couple of 6th graders."
By the time she was 13, Jade’s ability to compose not only a hot 16 but a song for that matter, had blossomed to an extent where her former 6th grade classmates were shocked but surprisingly proud. She recorded her first song at the age of 12 entitled, “Scandalous”. She rapped alongside her childhood friend Robbie who was featured on the song as well. It seemed as though she was a bit shy to record by herself so she wrote a verse for him. They both shocked everyone in the studio. 
She made writing a daily routine, improving with each song written. Even though the talent and material was there, she still had to work on her stage presence and confidence. With time it got better and better. By the time she was 17, a senior in high school, she was a beast. She started performing on a regular basis, whether that being talent shows in high school or local open mic nights. She started to build a name for herself…J-Staar was beginning to transform into the artist she aspired to be.
Jade’s 1st mixtape was highly anticipated and skyrocketed with over 1000 downloads in its first week. She explains, “This was huge for me! I really didn’t have a big fan base, so for me to see results this great and in such little time, had me on cloud 9. I put so much time in effort in making it, as far as writing, the final track listing I chose, the features on the album, as well as the production, that the stats afterwards were rewarding enough.” 
Some may say that it would be difficult to top her 1st, StaarShip, but indeed she did. With her new project OxyGEN underway, she’s already receiving feedback that her Team can be proud of. Some of the songs are even debuts of her beat production. Yes, not only is she a riveting recording artist and writer, she also makes her own beats. She explains, “I find myself exploring a lot and with me having such a big role in choosing production and the beats that I want to use, I figured, why not try my hand at it.” And that she did. 
As for now, she’s still in the process of finishing her 2nd mix tape, including production and promotion. Plans for a DMV tour is also in the works featuring other local up incoming artists. She promised herself to never let anything or anybody discourage her. She quotes, “Positivity equals Positivity. With that being said, I’m ready to make my mark!”
“The object of art is not to reproduce reality, but to create a reality of the same intensity.”

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