Jay Clever on Pachagazine | Pachatata Kenya

‘The pulse Vaccine’

Pachagazine: Tell us your name and When did you start your music career.

Jay Clever: Jay Clever that’s my name, stage name but my official names are Nelson Juma from Taita Taveta.

Back in primary, my big brother (cousin) was the one who I used to look up to, I used to perform some of his pieces. In time I got more Enlighted and started writing mine.

Pachagazine: Which genre of music do you do?

Jay Clever: I do Hip-Hop, Spoken word and Bongo.

Pachagazine: Why those genres.?

Jay Clever: Hip-hop and spoken word are life teaching music and they help me share my life story and things that I see, I learn I hear and are real. But bongo I do it for fun.

Pachagazine: Do you do music as full-time or you have something else that you do?

Jay Clever: Am still a student, it’s quiet a hustle since am juggling both, music and school.

Pachagazine: How many projects do you have?

Jay Clever: 6 of which 4 are collaborations, 2 singles, “KATIKA” bongo then “CINDERELLAH” it’s a hip-hop jam.

Pachagazine: Speaking about features, do you have others collaborations?

Jay Clever: Yeah, 4 collaborations, two with Mouse. “Hivi mapenzi” and“Paradox”. Another one with OBI CRISTU “when I miss you” and “FIRST LANE” with Kimetic Black, Mouse and Obi Cristu.

Pachagazine: Could you take us through them, (Katika and Cinderella) what inspired them, the content, the message in it.

Jay Clever: Cinderellah is a love song, true one. Young youths wamejipatia majukumu wakiwa wadogo that ni jukumu lao kujiingiza katika mahusiano na kutimiza ahadi zenye wao hawaezi kuzitimiza. Unapoteza pesa kibaya zaidi ni kupoteza muda. Alafu baadaye hayo mahusiano huisha kwa kukosa kutimiza ahadi. Ni ujumbe mtu ajifunze kutokana hiyo stori.

Katika it’s a dance song, just praising a girl, appreciating how beautiful she is.

Pachagazine: Who do you look up to in this Musical industry?

Jay Clever: Well, here in Kenya Nyashinski and King Kaka then across the boarders, Fid Q from Tanzania, globally I look up to Immortal Technique, NAS and J Cole.

Pachagazine: How do you make your music unique to fit the competitive market?

Jay Clever: Let me just say Clever himself is unique, I got that bongo style of rap of which in Kenya no one does that, I use Kiswahili in most of my songs I pass massage in my every bar I drop another thing is I want to serve my fans differently from other Artists with hip, spoken Bongo that’s what makes my music unique.

Pachagazine: Are you under any label?

Jay Clever: Nope, currently am not but hoping soon I’ll be signed to one.

Pachagazine: About challenges! what challenges do you come across with in your career?

Jay Clever: Well, money!! money is one of my big challenge,

Pachagazine: What should your fans expect in the near future?

Jay Clever: In future I’ll be the Cure. Everyday I can see my very many days. I’ll always give them the best of me.

Pachagazine: Where do you see yourself in few years to come?

Jay Clever: In few years to come I see myself helping young talents to grow. Helping the street child because I always tell God the time that He will bless me I’ll bless others too. For what I have gone through I’ll never be selfish, since am from the ghetto.

Pachagazine: As we finish up, message to your fans concerning this pandemic we are facing?

Jay Clever: Just want them to be responsible, nawapenda sana.

The Bible is the light. Let’s keep on praying and everything will be just fine (Psalms 23)

Pachagazine: Where can people follow, or get you music?

Jay Clever: