18-year-old rising rapper, J.I. the Prince of NY, has announced his partnership with Spotify for its RADAR Emerging Artists program.
The bourgeoning G*Starr Ent./Geffen recording artist got his start freestyling with his brothers at the age of 11, within a few years he began posting his freestyles on Instagram, and soon caught the attention of legendary rapper/producer/executive Jermaine Dupri. Naming iconic artists like Tupac Shakur, Big Pun and DMX among his influences, he dropped his debut single “No Static” in 2016 and by the end of that year, the then-15-year-old had garnered more than 500,000 views on his YouTube channel. This year, J.I. continued to release music including, Hood Life Krisis Vol. 1, which features his hit track, “Need Me,” (which has gone gold and reached Top 20 at Urban Radio) and Hood Life Krisis Vol. 2. He also toured sold out shows in support of both projects and became first artist ever to sell out 3 consecutive nights at New York’s legendary venue, SOB’s.
Launched in March 2020, RADAR has served as the launchpad for Spotify’s Global Emerging Artist Program, encompassing over 20 global sister programs, and represents Spotify’s commitment to supporting artists across all stages of their development across all genres, and using the strength of its platform to deepen the connection to their audiences. As part of the RADAR program, Spotify will propel J.I. through original content including a fully produced mini-documentary (trailer out now, watch here, Spotify Singles recordings, podcast integration, on-and-off-platform marketing and social support, features in the “On Our Radar” and “RapCaviar” playlists, and more.
J.I. spoke to HotNewHipHop about teaming up with Spotify and giving his fans an exclusive look into his life through the mini-doc: “I just wanted to be able to show the fans the mental process of J.I…I’m just excited. I can’t wait to see how they put it together. I already know Spotify go crazy with it, so I’m just excited for real.” J.I. is set to release his latest EP, Welcome To G Star Vol 1 this Friday, July 17th.
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