J Nolan is an independent Hip-Hop artist from Atlanta, GA with 10+ years of experience under his belt. He has a seasoned music career, ranging from being featured in Kevin Hart’s Netflix comedy special "Zero F***s Given", to founding the Fresh & Local ATL initiative, to working in songwriting. He recently answered a few questions for us so our readers can get to know him better. Read Hip Hop Scriptures’ interview with this week’s Fresh Artist Friday J Nolan below.
conducted by Priscilla Guadarrama via email
How would you describe your music and your creation process?
I feel like my idea of music is always evolving. I started out as a Hip-Hop purist being influenced by people like Nas, OutKast, and Lupe Fiasco so for a very long time I was creating from the perspective of reaching people just like me. That began to shift in 2018 when I started writing songs for other artists and companies that were looking for different sounds or wanted specific types of tracks, so those challenges forced me to grow artistically. I would say that my music today is just a raw expression of how I'm feeling at any moment. There's a lot of honesty and transparency into the things I deal with.
What do you hope to convey through your music?
Passion is probably the most common thread in my music. When you play any of my songs, you can hear the hunger in my voice and my passion for heartfelt lyrics. Even on a record that might be more playful, it's still obvious that I really take pride in my craft.
Tell me about your work on Kevin Hart's Netflix special. How did you get the opportunity and how has it impacted your career?
The Kevin Hart situation is still kind of surreal to me. I've had my music licensed in all types of TV shows in the past, but that particular placement is unique. Firstly, the song "Re-Up" was made like a year and a half ago for a company that wasn't interested in it. The producer, Chris Decicio, pitched the record somewhere else and no one was really feeling it too much. It wasn't until earlier this year that he said Ninja Tune (London based indie label - their roster includes Diplo, Kelis, Little Dragon, Thundercat, and more) was interested in adding the song to their catalog. At that point, the song was far out of my peripheral so I didn't really have any real expectations for it. A few weeks ago, after doing a drive-in concert, my girlfriend just suggested that we check out the Kevin Hart special on Netflix and a few minutes after turning it on I heard my voice rapping at me through the TV. No one gave us a heads up beforehand, but it definitely made a lot of people perk up and pay closer attention to what I have going on. I've connected with a bunch of new fans that went looking for the song after they heard it, so it's been a great experience.
Tell me about your work with Fresh & Local ATL. What is it like to play multiple roles in the music industry at once?
Fresh & Local ATL is a growing organization for the music community. It's always been important for me to offer insight, information, and resources with other independent artists, even before I started receiving any accolades or recognition for my work. A lot of us come into music just thinking about being creative or wanting to be successful, but don't really have a lot of knowledge about the business and how it works. I didn't really have a lot of guidance or people in my corner when I was first getting into the scene, so I took it upon myself to be that for other people. It also allows us to stay connected with the future generation of stars. Some of the artists we've booked for Fresh & Local Fest have gone on to get major deals and it's great to have those solid relationships.
What can our readers expect to hear from you in the future?
They can expect a lot of new music, videos, collaborations, and just an overall outburst of content in 2021. I've got an EP called Cool Headz Prevail on the way, which was produced by Che Rhenosonce and C.J. Plays. I'm looking forward to working on more sync projects for TV shows and films, so definitely stay tuned. I'm always up to something.
Check out his music through the links above and stay connected with J Nolan through his socials to make sure you never miss new music. Remember to follow Hip Hop Scriptures to stay updated on the latest Fresh Artist Friday.
READ J NOLAN’S FULL ARTIST BIO HERE.
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