Zay realized he could rap his sophomore year of high school when he ended up rapping in a freestyle session in the back of the school bus. After a kid offered to sell him a beat for $250, Zay realized; he was going to have to learn how to produce music for himself. Looking back, he realizes how much of a blessing this was. Zay’s musicality shines through his beatmaking just as much as his rhymes; it’s one of the things that makes his work special.
Speaking about the pressure that the industry expects from growing artists, Zay admits that for a long time he wasn’t making music that felt true to him. Notions of quick success kept him from following his own path and expressing his musical gift in an organic way. Over time, he’s made his way back to that original spark. “The music I’m making now is very similar to the music I was making when I first started.” In a capitalistic culture that values all things external, Zay considers that return to his original passion and rediscovering self-authenticity an accomplishment.