A rapper mixing their influences together is what makes their artistry unique, especially when it comes to their sound. Back when he was a tween in Ohio, Jasiah started to make beats on programs like GarageBand and Ableton in 2011. Three years later, he started using the beats he produced for his own music. Jasiah, who sings opera and is inspired by artists like Denzel Curry and Lil Wayne, dropped Antisocial Extrovert, his first project in 2016. Mixing in screams like the leader of a rock band with his rapping delivery, Jasiah's style remains unique.

All of that groundwork played out with his first real shot in 2017, when his girlfriend at the time sent his song "HAHAHAHA" to Ugly God. Ugly God posted the song on Twitter, and it started to pick up traction. Jasiah, a music school student at the time, believed he could really compete with other artists out there, and fully committed to music. Now, he's an Atlantic Records signee and released his project, Jasiah I Am last July, on the back of his big songs "Case 19" featuring 6ix9ine and "Shenanigans" with Yung Bans. Both tracks have been streamed over 50 million times combined, and his 2020 single "Break Shit" is on a similar trajectory.

Catch up with Jasiah and learn more about his winding journey in this week's edition of The Break.

Age: 23

Hometown: Dayton, Ohio

I grew up listening to: "My mom would always play J. Moss. My dad would always play Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Prince, Erykah Badu, Michael Franti, Lil Wayne, DMX, Mystikal. [Lil Wayne] is the reason I even at 10 picked up a pen and tried to make raps, even if I was shitty at it. My first rap name was fucking MPZ or Meezy. I remember saying like, 'His name is Wayne, bruh. He said Weezy, my nigga. He took his first name and put eezy on it, bruh. I'm doing that.' So, that was my first rap name, dead-ass."

My style’s been compared to: "Zilla[Kami], Scarlxrd. Anybody that yells… to specify anything. If you wanted to say looks, if I wear my glasses, [Lil] Tecca. Enough is enough. The joke is stale."

I’m going to blow up because: "I'm good at making music. I feel like people are good at making music. I'm good at making new music. Everything I drop, I feel like you could play next year. The next year, the next year, the next year. I'm infinite with my sound. I feel like, fucking imagine in 50 years, people are still listening to 'Crisis' because that shit helped them get through some angry times. I feel like I came out with a fresh sound. Even though a lot of people want to compare me to stuff, no one is doing most of the shit I'm doing, for real."

What’s your most slept-on song, and why?: "I've never thought about that. I think all my shit is slept-on, for real. I should have a hundred million on everything, everything. Probably, the opera track honestly, because voices… even though it's short and I don't say a lot, it's just who's done it. I don't like being that guy that like, 'I'm the first nigga to do this,' because, probably, I'm not. There's like people that fucking do rock and opera."

My standout records to date have been: "'Shenanigans,' 'Crisis,' 'Case 19,' and 'When I'm Gone.'"

My standout moments to date have been: "I don't think anything has felt as big as even the Atlanta show. It felt like every single person that came up to me, cared about me. So, it was like, Damn, this is love. People crying when they see you. People dancing, screaming your lyrics in front of your face. You see the image that you wanted to see, that you talked about for fucking years. All I said, 'This is going to sound so fucking good when they know the words.' Performing is my favorite thing to do in the fucking world. For me to be able to go on tour for myself, that's crazy, and do bigger than what I did last time.

Most people don’t know: "[If I] wasn't taking off right now, I would stay in school. I would try. The only thing I was good at in school was singing opera."

I’m going to be the next: "Jasiah."

Follow Jasiah on SoundCloud and Instagram.

Standouts:

"Crisis"

"Case 19" featuring 6ix9ine

"Break Shit"

Jasiah I Am

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