BLACK SOUL MEDIA S1E3: Jason Ivy’s Natural Talent and Supernatural Belief (2020)
[Originally Published on June 24, 2020]
Sitting in the backseat of his mother’s car, Jason stares out into the sea of trees shimmying by as they pass them on the road. He is on another road trip with his mother and aunt, and as usual there’s soulful tunes perspiring from the radio on a summer day. Hearing a Mariah Carey song, Jason harmonizes and wraps accompanying melodies around her angelic voice. His mother nudges her sister, calling attention to his precarious vocal ability as a child. At first she isn’t a believer, but she learns he’s the real deal as the car ride continues. Jason’s mother was the first person to envision a professional music career for him, and she embedded belief in him that he carries to this day.
Raised in Southside Chicago, Jason was constantly surrounded by music. The city is known for its historical impact on black music and culture, but his parents also had a strong affinity for quality music. His father had a vast library of songs spanning an array of genres and regional influences. His mother mostly enjoyed classical music as well as artists such as Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston who possessed otherworldly vocal ability. For each of them, good music was good music—which they passed on to their son. He took to songs such as “I Wanna Know” by Joe and “Keep Ya Head Up” by 2Pac early on. Not only was he naturally outgoing and talented vocally, but Jason was gifted with eidetic memory and synesthesia. The former allows him to recall sound and melodies with stunning accuracy. “I could remember the number of fireworks that would go off outside my window,” he recalls. The latter gives him the ability to feel music more intimately than most people can, another gift that aided his career.
As a kid, Jason was an actor and model for notable brands such as Disney and ESSENCE. He soon became no stranger to being in front of a camera, but one day he was uncharacteristically struck with stage fright. After meeting a music industry agent at the grocery store, he landed a pivotal audition. International stardom was in his grasp if he could just sing his favorite Chris Brown track in front of a camera the same way he had on the phone. On this day, he couldn’t. “I don’t think I sang more than 3 or 4 words that day,” he chuckles. But Jason’s mother kept believing in him and pushed him to continue to hone his craft. Her musical support coupled with his father’s emphasis on academics and historical knowledge molded him into a budding musician who would soon be poised for the Ivy League.
Towards the end of high school, Jason landed a spot singing for a prestigious traveling gospel group professionally. This experience gave him the tools to further emote and interpret songs. It also highlighted the potential emotional and social impact he could have with his music. When he graduated and went to the University of Pennsylvania, Jason joined the acapella group The Inspiration, which boasts alumni such as world-renowned EGOT John Legend. As his confidence and ability grew during undergrad, the Chicago artist began to record music using his laptop and Beats headphones. “I would use those and edit out the white noise to record and get more practice,” he says. But soon, his recording setup would get a major upgrade.
After he graduated from Penn, Jason began to pursue his music career full-time. As he took an Uber with his mother, she commenced discussing her son’s passion, talent, and accomplishments with the driver—as usual. But what neither she nor Jason knew was that this driver owned a recording studio complete with 3 pianos and all of the music equipment he could want. They exchanged business cards. His mother’s belief had paid off once again.
After releasing successful singles such as “Higher” and his critically acclaimed debut EP COMPLIMENTS in the next few months, Jason began to approach his studio time with an added level of hunger. 99 hours later, Jason and his team emerged with two fully mixed and mastered projects he’s 100% proud of. Jason is not only a world-renowned artist, but has also given speeches combatting racism, gun violence, and oppression faced globally. With ambitions that reach far beyond music, Jason’s two soon-to-be released projects will be the next chapter in a multifaceted career we will likely watch from our TV screens and hear through our headphones.
