It’s Jus (real name Antonio Johnson) is multi-talented.
He has mastered songwriting and producing as he continues to elevate his music and performance style.
Although he has a long list of accomplishments, he continues to be grounded and simply wants listeners to feel uplifted when they listen to his music.
“My job really is not to have the biggest song or to be the biggest artiste. My job is to make the people feel happy. So, I’m looking forward to just enjoying myself and seeing people enjoy themselves this Crop Over,” he said.
He shared that goal with the Weekend Buzz recently, at the Nation Digital studio, Fontabelle, where he promoted his latest singles Miss Bacchanal, Right Now, and No; a collaboration with producer Stemz on the Blockade Riddim.
Right Now is an infectious, high-energy tune that encourages listeners to live in the moment.
No is another up-tempo song encouraging men to listen to women when they decline their requests to dance, while Miss Bacchanal is a tribute to the woman who embodies the spirit of Carnival with her looks, energy, presence, and charisma.
In the instance of Miss Bacchanal, which he wrote, It’s Jus said he almost gave it to another artiste.
“I was actually writing it for another artiste, but my artiste, Daai, came in the studio and she heard it. She was like, ‘You need to keep this for yourself. This sounds like you’ and I did just that.
“But I didn’t want it to be just a normal song. I wanted to create a masterpiece to showcase the artiste, the writer and the producer.
“That’s why I went with the live drums, live bass, guitars, and I even went
as far as getting commercial music to do the mixing just to up the game,” he said.
The songwriter spoke about what inspired No. “I believe as artistes and producers and songwriters, we have a special role to play, to spread a positive message in the music and No is a strong message. No means No.
Harassment
“[Harassment] is something women deal with on a daily basis. I have a wife, I have a daughter and that’s why I decided to just put it in the music,” he said.
Although it is a serious topic, he said he still set out to make the song enjoyable.
“I know you fellas might be thinking, ‘We can’t get a dance to this song’, but I have a part in there where you could actually still get a dance,” he said.
He stressed that artistes should be allowed to express themselves, but he acknowledged that they also had a huge responsibility to their audience.
“I saw an interview with Ed Sheeran, a top writer, and he said writing is like a pipe. When you first turn it on a lot of bad water is going to come out before the clean water.
“So sometimes when you’re creative, you are filtering out all the rubbish until you find a proper style or something that works.
“But sometimes we just want to have fun, but, obviously, people do look up to us and some people make us their role models.
“So at the same time, it’s still our job to make sure that we don’t cross the line too much or put a negative message in the music,” he added.
It’s Jus, 37, was previously known by the stage name Jus D.
Some of his hits include
So What, 9 ( Na Na Ni) and Manager.
He also penned or produced songs for numerous artistes, including Machel Montano’s Rough Wine, Sanctuary’s Mega Monday, Rupee and Ricardo Drue’s No Name and the 2017 Groovy Monarch- winning tune of St Maarten Carnival – Who Yuh Fuh by Kenya Baly.
He has also written or produced tracks for countless others, including Busy Signal, Teddyson John, TC, Peter Ram, Hypasounds, Alison Hinds, Shaquille Gfg, and Joaquin.
Hurdle
The artiste’s solo career started to ascend close to a decade ago, however, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he hit a hurdle when he had to change his name to avoid legal troubles with an American artiste who had trademarked the name Jus’ D.
While it’s been a few years since the rebrand, It’s Just
acknowledged it was still a challenge.
“The rebrand was needed but it was kind of taxing on me because I had to change all my artwork, and metadata. I felt like it had a negative impact, because people were looking for Jus D material, while my new material is labelled
under It’s Jus.”
However, the artiste acknowledged evolution is important.
“But you’ve got to progress in life, you can’t stay the same.” he said.
Despite that challenge, he still loves being in front and behind the scenes and he plans to continue working to improve his craft.
“I have artistes from Trinidad and Antigua wanting new songs already and I’m looking forward to working with them.
I love it all. If I’m producing, that’s what I’m focusing on. If I’m on the stage, then that’s the side I’m loving, so I can’t really, you know, decide or pick one,” he said.
(TG)
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