Illa J

Illa J is back with a new song from his third solo album, “Home”, due out on June 30th. “Maureen” is a dedication to J’s mother Maureen Yancey. Says Illa J: “This song is special because I feel blessed to have the parents that I had and their support for me my entire life for anything I wanted to achieve. My mom always has and still encourages me and supports me towards fulfilling my dreams whatever dreams those might be. I know its been really hard on her, especially after losing James and then my dad. And through all that, she still had the strength to keep moving forward strong. And I just really wanted my mom to know how much I appreciated her support, and how much i admire her strength and courage. As we grow older, we don’t always go in line with what our parents would want us to do. Especially coming from a family where your entire family is in the public eye and involved in the industry. Whatever happens, if we dont agree on same things when it comes to music and vision, at the end of the day she is my mom and always will be. So when Calvin played me the beat, all that came out and it connected with something deep within me, that I never got the chance to express. I love you mom!!” Listen below.

Illa J liberates the title-track from his next project, “Home”, due out June 30th via Jakarta Records. Pre-order now here.

Illa J is back with the first single from his upcoming LP “Home”. Says Illa J: “Singing was always a big passion for me..I was always fascinated at all the acrobatic vocal runs some singers do with their voice. To me it’s an athletic thing and I definitely see myself as a vocal athlete..and for that deeper understanding of my voice that I now have I have to thank my vocal coach Betty Lane. She literally helped me to push out the voice that had been waiting there for years, ready to come out, like “John use me, I’m your voice” and It was always a goal of mine to make a project that showcases my singing. I see myself as a singer songwriter first, I just grew up in the generation of rap, so the 2 styles just fused together naturally. I started writing poems around 8 or 9 years old, then songs, and then raps. I eventually put it all together…22 years later…the journey to my heart , through all the ups and downs of my career trying to discover my voice, who I am, all my travels around the globe. It all leads back to Home, in the most literal sense. The house I’m sitting in front of on the video for “Home” is the house my parents brought me home to as a baby. So for me it’s like going back to the original source, the original purpose. That purpose for me is to sing. That’s

“Spiders” is the first single by Illa J following his second & solo album ILLA J LP released in 2015 via Bastard Jazz Records. Produced by Calvin Valentine, the single is the very first track out of 10 songs they created in four days working out of Calvin’s home studio in North Hollywood. The pair continued the collaborations and now have about 30 songs together. Spiders is an upbeat trippy psycadelic hip hop tune. From Illa J’s visual lyrics to Calvin’s psychedelic synths and banging drums you will be hypnotized and really feeling you have “spiders crawling on your skin”. Showcasing his singing as well as his songwriting, Illa J keeps moving towards showing that he is not just a rapper. This versatility was well received with his last album. The song will be exclusively for sale on Bandcamp on October 12th and On Oct. 13th (Illa J’s birthday) on every other platform iTunes, Google Play, Apple Music etc.