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Local San Diegan Jay Cree Makes A Way

A whole city was wide awake, a complete language that could be spoken by the patterns of people in America’s Finest City… a language defined in the habits and places of gathering for people, the emotions and desires that stand as the precursors behind the internal mechanisms that keep us pushing forward. A language when spoken has the power to motivate us to leave our comfort zones, seek connection in new and unfamiliar heights, the juice that gives us the courage to pursue the stuff of dreams and rise to the occasion.

June 6th, 2017, it was a cool night in El Cajon, California. An outlying county of San Diego. A Saturday… needless to say, a day where people make plans to cut loose, giving themselves permission to go with the flow or even against the grain. One man of a very exceptional character made plans to bring together a select group of individuals together. But not just in the effort of kickin’ back, having laughs and a good time… in the name of creating a vision, a masterpiece like Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel. That man is known as Jay Cree.

The gathering was to take place in the second level of the parking structure at Parkway Plaza Mall. As I rolled up from the bottom of the structure I could hear my dude’s music bumpin’. The festivities had already begun. I made my way to the second level and saw a stranger smokin’ a blunt so I asked him if I could hit it; we exchanged words for a minute or two, introduced ourselves, bid him farewell, and strolled over to the video shoot no more than 60 yards away.

The music stopped playing for a bit of time and right then as I approached Cree came up and greeted me personally. It had been awhile since we last saw each other. He was glad to see me and the feeling was mutual. I must digress for a moment, there was only one other familiar face in the crowd, Eazy B. It had been years since I last saw Eazy, as well. During one of a few breaks he personally handed me a copy of his new album “Silence is Golden”. I bumped that CD the day after Cree’s video shoot and I could tell that Eazy B had consciously spent time improving on his craft. The man’s style is reminiscent of “G-Funk” Hip Hop.

In present time though, the gettin’ was good and I showed up right on time; right in the middle of the video shoot, to be exact. The song that the video was being shot for was titled “Make A Way”. Cree is not your average Rapper/Music producer out of San Diego. Which is not to imply that any rapper out of San Diego is average but I know Cree so his sound and style are all the more appealing to me as a person who identifies with the message in his lyrics. We resumed filming in the parking garage for a few more minutes, shut down the filming for that portion of the video, we all conversed for a short while longer and those of us who didn’t have other affairs to attend to made our way over to Reynette Park to finish filming. There were at least fifteen heads before-the group dynamic was a lot smaller when we made it over to Reynette. Jay Cree was the only one who needed to be on camera for the remaining portion of the video. The rest of it was to be filmed on the basketball court. Within thirty minutes to an hour the whole event was complete and we all headed off our separate ways… it was lowkey but it was Cree-just like Jay will tell you.

There’s a reason Jay Cree titled his song for the video “Make A Way”. The man’s message in his lyrics is multi-layered and the point at which these perspectives in his message synergize all converge at one vertex… that vertex is a little thing called truth. But truth is not a small matter in the eyes of Cree. It’s his Modus Operandi-his weapon of choice-and he would never go into battle without it. The truth by its very nature tends to expose things, open them up, or point to the source of a leakage. The truth can hurt, it’s a double edge sword; people underestimate the power of the word and its power to manipulate or compel the human spirit. The word can bind you. It can also set you free.

Jay Cree doesn’t use the truth against other people in an effort aimed at hurting them. His endeavors are quite literally more auspicious. He’s speaking truth in the name of freeing minds. Minds enslaved to the likes of hatred, fear, and resentment. He wants to set a precedent for the city of San Diego and its livelihood in the music industry. And to do that he is-one of several men-willing break down some of the most potentially treacherous barriers that San Diegans have become so accustomed to constructing around themselves. My dad once told me… you can put up as many walls as you want and you can build them as high as you want… and while they prevent other people from getting in, those walls also keep you from getting out. Humans throughout the course of time and evolution have learned to fabricate these methods of self-protection without realizing they can potentially do more harm than good.

The San Diego rap scene is very unified. There is a lot of salt being thrown around within the community at large. Unsavory attitudes being tossed carelessly with the intent of cursing another man’s craft instead of standing in support of a prospective ally. You’ll see it play out to a religious degree if you happen to be in what one might consider the right crowd at the right time. It’s been stated before… if every rapper in San Diego stood in support of each other instead of against each other… San Diego would have been on the map already. If you imagine the possibility and consider what a coalition of San Diego artists can achieve under one umbrella… it’s kind of beautiful. It’s possible. But the hate is real and so being the opposition to that effort. Jay Cree is announcing a call to arms, to lay down the hate and kill the pettiness in honor of that vision. Soldiers that gather in honor of peace and prosperity, not war and viciousness. Can you picture it?

“Make A Way” addresses some of that hate going around and how it is directed at him more frequently than he’d like. His lyrics convey a sense of ownership. Which also tell of his formidable command of self-possession. The grit, the grime, and certain manner of the dark nature within his own experiences have compelled him to take a hard look at himself and the world around him thus gaining a renewed perspective on life. His experiences have imparted him with the strength of mind necessary to tackle unforeseen and formidable challenges which lie ahead of him. The basis of his work starts with sharing that renewed perspective with others.

His lyrics also touch on how he’s made a way for himself and the notoriety gained as a result of some of his choices. And the beat is reminiscent of an inner-city hustle “go getter” vibe. The verses are ice cold and the hook is raw. His transformation from a broke boy mentality to a self-made man. While I would love to be able to speak about how he fought to make a way in a more in-depth fashion… it’s not my place to do so. That’s his story and in “Make A Way” he delivers a taste of his story and his life style. Enough of a taste which is sure to keep you coming back for me.