As long as I’ve known J. Ivy, he’s been living his saying of “Dreams don’t come true. They are true.” I actually see it as a connection to Fearless Authenticity – that you speak what is inside of you. And man, does J! Poetry is in his heart and he’s not afraid to share it, especially on stage where he says he’s living his purpose.
JS: I think the beauty in life is when you really listen to what is true and right. When you hear something that is not, you may not be able to put your finger on it, but you know that it’s there. And, I try to root that out in myself, because I think we often try to please, especially as performers, we try to get out there and do stuff and I wonder how that process is for you. Because you are very flexible in your art. You do everything from working with Kanye to major corporate brands, which is a whole other lane. And then the Deepak Chopra and the community work you do. And kids, like you do a lot of stuff and keep an arts in schools, which that’s a whole other lane I want to talk about. Specifically, but, but flowing through all those different things that are different audiences that need different things. How do you keep your truth? And that kernel of truth in it without trying to cater to it? Right? Or to please?
J.Ivy: Well, one, like flow is key. That’s our theme word – flow. So to move in different spaces. The foundation and everything that I do is poetry, is a writer. At the root of it all I’m a writer, I’m a writer. So if I’m kicking some bars poetically over here, or writing on a film or working on some music or writing proposals, with the Recording Academy, let me write this out and tell them how I feel because we need to make some changes over here. Like, I know I’m confident in myself finally. That has been an issue over the years, just finding that confidence, but I’m confident that I can get my point across and I can flow and adapt.
I think it goes back to the listening and just like really trying to hear, okay, what is this call for? A lot of times people are typecast too. So a lot of times people, they might want me to come in and do something, but J, we don’t want it to be poetic. And I’m like, I know, I don’t want it to be poetic either. It just depends on what the project calls for. So it goes back to listening and goes back to flow, goes back to being flexible. And just knowing where we’re going, because once you know where you’re going, then it’s easy or easier to navigate and figure out how you gonna get there.