Quickly rising singer, rapper and multi-instrumentalist Jay Bizzy unleashes his latest single, Diaries, a sleek depiction of honesty and realism. 

Their is confident in the flow, tone and allure of Bizzy. He blends the grit of UK rap with the ear worm melodies of R&B and the heart-rendering timbre of pop. Having unveiled his debut EP Motions back in Spring, Diaries sees the return of the revitalised rapper, and is the first offering from his upcoming sophomore project. 

It’s a track about seeing the light amidst the darkness, elevating yourself from adversity and seeing the big picture concisely. Jay offering a variety of chiselled cadences whilst exploring his difficulties and dreams atop a slick, emotive and bouncy instrumental. An unconventional and powerful addition to the UK rap space, expect to hear plenty more about Bizzy in the coming months. 

I spoke to the artist about the single, his sound and his future plans.

How did you find yourself in music?

Well since I can remember from like the age of 5/6 I've always had a passion for the performing arts - I thought it would be acting I'd dabble into as an adult but when I turned 12 I got sent to a boarding school for a year. It was here I started picking up instruments one by one because what else are you meant to do with all that past time? I started with piano, guitar then drums, bass and so on. Over the following years, I just perfected each instrument and didn't hesitate to show off my abilities at any opportunity I got. School assemblies, weddings, churches - anywhere I could I'd perform because it's what I love to do and best believe I know I'm good at it.

Your sound is a merging of styles, how did you first discover and develop it?

I'd call my sound unique, not because there aren’t many artists who have adopted it but because my musical background is just that unique. I've had a lot of performance experience across so many different backgrounds. Classical, Blues, Rock, Pop, Gospel, Afro and probably the most influential in my music now Hip-Hop. I believe it's my experience in these various fields that give my sound such a unique edge. From Classical and Pop melodies to catchy choruses and the thought-out structure found across all those genres. The moment I blended all my sounds together when I was 19 it felt like I'd solved a puzzle in my head. Now 10 years on from when I picked up my first instrument, I feel like I'm finally able to reap the hard work, long hours and late nights I've put in over the years.

Talk us through the process and meaning behind the new single?

When I wrote "Diaries" I was in the mood for declaration which I guess is what a Diary is, someone stating how they feel or whatever they want to express down on paper. My chorus has a yo-yo effect. What I mean by that is one moment I'm speaking about future positivity "I'll be a legend" but the next moment I could be reflecting on a negative past experience "That boy he crossed a line so he ain't bro no more". This yo-yo theme is repeated throughout the chorus and I believe I did this for two reasons. The first being I knew I wanted to write a song that could be titled Diaries so I decided to fully open my head and feelings with no filter. Now when you've got no filter in place, no set of rules mentally, you are setting yourself up to think about the good things on your mind and you're also going to stumble across the bad, which is what the beauty of a diary is. People tend to add entries into their diaries at any given time in any given mood. I had the difficulty of writing a whole diary at once instead of the span of time people get so I decided instead of this diary/song ending up being one tone/mood, let me clear my mind and anything that comes in can go down.

There are some personal topics I touched on like one of my best friend's incarceration, the same friend's mother dying, staying true to yourself in a very judgmental society etc. Take a listen and you'll understand what I'm putting across a bit more.

What's to come from you?

This is the first release from my upcoming EP Hoodsomnia that’s set to drop in November. I'm really excited about this project and this will be the 2nd EP of this year so keep an eye out. I've got another single dropping next month titled 'Superstar' so keep an eye out for that one as well.