Faces of Long Island celebrates the uniqueness of everyday Long Islanders. In their own words, they tell us about their life experiences, challenges and triumphs. Newsday launched this social media journey into the human experience to shine a light on the diverse people of this wonderful place we call home.

‘It came to a point where I would never truly feel OK with myself if I didn’t take a chance to go all in on my music and see what could happen.’

Huntington

“I went to school at Temple University, where I studied advertising, specifically copywriting, which is basically writing headlines on billboards and scripts for TV commercials. I really felt like I found a niche in college, and I was enjoying it. I got to express myself creatively, something I always wanted to do.

“I graduated in 2020, right at the start of the pandemic, and started working full time four days later. I’ve been working remotely for the past 18 to 20 months, but over that time I did a lot of soul-searching and wondered what I wanted to do with my life. I wasn’t really getting the fulfillment that I thought I would from my day job.

“Music was something I had always created on the side, but it wasn’t something I always wanted to pursue. It seemed like one of those unattainable goals. Like, it is not really realistic; at least that is what people tell you.

I really felt like I found a niche in college, and I was enjoying it. I got to express myself creatively, something I always wanted to do.

“It came to a point where I would never truly feel OK with myself if I didn’t take a chance to go all in on my music and see what could happen. I started to take it seriously last summer and recorded a bunch of songs in my home studio.

“Somehow, one of my favorite rappers that I grew up listening to, The Game, responded to a message I sent him asking for a feature on one of my songs. He said he was looking for independent artists to work with, so I sent him some of my music. He really liked it, and was like, ‘All right. I’m gonna hop on,’ and he sent me a verse for one of my songs.

“It got a lot of traction when it first came out in December. It’s at about 250,000 streams across Spotify and Apple Music. That has been a really cool jump start for me and my career because it gives me instant credibility. People who have never heard of me were like, ‘Oh this kid, JaySix, has a song with The Game? He must be doing something.’

“It was something I always felt I had the ability to do, but there was always this mystique about being a rapper. The more I learned about it, the more I began to understand that this is a business like anything else, and there are certain steps you got to take.

“So far, I’ve gotten off to a good start, which I am really thankful for, but I’ve got whole lot more work to put in.”

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Faces of Long Island is produced by Newsday Consumer Marketing. This content does not involve the reporting and editing staff of Newsday’s Editorial Department.