Artist Bio Jamal Jones was born the youngest of six in Arlington, VA. As a child his first love was art, drawing on any and everything he could find. But as he grew older, it became clearer and clearer that art in the form of multimedia was his true calling. At age 10, rapping became a promising hobby of his. He worked hard to improve in every way, spending hours scouring the dictionary and thesaurus to expand his vocabulary and apply it to his music. At age 12, he began to shift his creative energies towards music production and multimedia production. At 13, Jamal -then nicknamed Stu- began to record songs in his TV/Multimedia class for various school projects and later decided that it was time to record his first album; one that he titled “Killah Flow”. Even though the rap group Wu-Tang Clan in part inspired the title, “Killah Flow” was an amateur experiment that only showed his capabilities as an artist, thus going unreleased. After the completion of Killah Flow and middle school, Jamal continued to pursue multimedia and a music career through high school. After forming a few short-lived rap groups and duos (VA’s Finest, City Boyz), Jamal began to learn that his journey was one better off taken alone. After the disbanding of City Boyz, Stu changed his name to Jay City (Jamal = Jay, City = City Boyz) and launched Fulcrum Entertainment for his music production. For years he used Sony’s Acid Music Software to produce his music until he learned of a more suitable means in Fruity Loops Software, a widely used program by many urban music producers. In 2006, Jay City reached the 100-track benchmark after two years as a producer on FL Studio and still pressed on. In 2007, Jay City had to complete a mandatory Senior Project to pass high school. He chose his subject to be music and his challenge to be to complete a music album. With over 150 instrumentals at his disposal, and pages of old songs and new ideas at his fingertips, he began his journey. He researched artists of all genres and eras to expand his knowledge and appreciation of music beyond raps roots. His goal was to make music that didn’t fit in any specific category or have a style that was bound to a label; his goal was to be come an icon of innovation and versatility. After months of searching for a studio and a mentor figure to work under, Jay City met Oba Harris, a family friend and jazz musician/band manager that offered Jamal the opportunity he needed dearly. For three months they worked hastily to finish the project in time for his presentation. In the end, Jamal “Jay City” Jones presented a 12-track rough sample version of his debut album, “The Mind of Jay City” to his Senior Project panel. After finishing his Senior Project with a Pass+ and graduating high school, Jay City knew he was ready to take the next step as an artist and begin promotion. He spent the remaining summer single-handedly recording the final tracks from his album, mixing his music as an intern studio engineer at Oba’s SHH Studios in Clinton, MD and designing all of his album art. After more months of mixing, editing, revising each track and doing a couple of live performances, “The Mind of Jay City” was finally ready for public release in 2008.