Sacramento-born rapper Jahlaya Hollis has decided to lower the veil and finally show her real face in The Prelude scene and live band performance of her single “I Just Did It”. The live band features LA natives and producer-musicians Black Nile and locally known musicians, such as drummer-producer Tee The Queen, composer Logan Johnson, and singer-songwriter NAJ, with cinematography by Briana Monet and more. Through the performance and this reveal, Jahlaya strives to tell her true story and to share the vulnerability around her experience as a Black woman in the music industry.
Previously, Jahlaya Hollis had been a wild card. She hired a white actress to lip sync and perform her records for the past year. The reason? She wanted to do a social experiment to see if the public would embrace a white version of her, more so than her own Black skin — and to show how white Hip Hop artists are often praised for appropriating Black culture. In addition, she needed a break from the public eye, after previously going viral on Worldstarhiphop and The Shade Room.
And everyone believed it – to the point that they were offended and almost canceled the white avatar of Jahlaya. Jahlaya initially anticipated that her previous releases would go viral in a positive manner, but she unexpectedly received tremendous backlash from Black Twitter, especially for her previous “C**n” release. Now, Jahlaya has decided to release the white avatar altogether and embrace her true identity and musical style.
In Jahlaya’s own words:
“I wrote this song [, “I Just Did It”,] for another female rapper but she didn’t take it. My friends loved the song and would play it by themselves and people have DM’d me because they heard my friends playing it. It’s just an ignorant song, but it also speaks to a part of the environment I grew up in.” – Jahlaya Hollis
“‘I Just Did It’ speaks to my outer reflection, while my new music [(coming soon)] speaks to my inner dialogue.” – Jahlaya Hollis
Jahlaya Hollis has so much more to offer the industry, so stay tuned for more of her story soon!
