allaussie hip hop

Joshua “Jay Daniels” Neal (born August 23, 1990) is a 21 year old writer, rapper and singer from Sydney, Australia. At the age of 16 Jay began writing lyrics and recording songs out of his own bedroom. Jay developed his own style throughout the years, and improved his craft as he posted his music on various hip-hop forums, receiving feedback from other unsigned artists across the globe.

2010 was the year which Jay decided he really wanted to push things forward, which began with Jay building his own home studio, which he had worked towards setting up over a period of time. Jay began recording his first project The Drop-In in August, 2010. Early in the process, radio presenter Christo, whom at the time was working for The Edge had shown interest in Jay’s record Man Of The Hour. The song was soon after featured on The Edge’s unsigned hype mixtape, promoted on air and via their official website. Meanwhile, Jay rocked his first open mic set at the Loft Bar in Sydney, and shortly after, Jay teamed up with fellow Sydney hip-hop artist Carter (formerly known as Syko). Together they performed shows in various locations around Sydney’s western suburbs.

Carter & Jay began working on music together, which resulted in a song from Carter’s debut album titled My Own Worst Enemy. Shortly after the two released a free viral record titled Change. This provoked a strong buzz surrounding the two artists collaborations. In a defining moment in his early career, Jay teamed up with Hip-Hop Legend Royce Da 5’9″ for the very successful Long Way Home record, produced by UK beat-maker Charlie Hilton. The song was featured on all the biggest hip-hop blogs across the internet. 2DopeBoyz, NahRight, Hear-It-First, HipHopDx & DJBooth were among the list of well known websites to support the record. At the time, this would serve as the first official release from his upcoming project.

Jay was hungry for more exposure, and began emailing various promoters around Australia, he finally came across the Kings Cross venue, Bank Nightclub. Jay had his first nightclub performance on a Saturday night, peaktime. At the time, Jay Daniels teamed up with local film crew Question to shoot a video for his record Too Many People that he wrote for himself & fellow Sydney artist Lana Rita. The video was released online via youtube and facebook, and gained Jay much of the local attention he’d been looking for. After previous turn downs from local radio, Jay Daniels’ record Ain’t From Round Here was accepted by Sydney’s The Edge 96.1 for airplay in August 2011. Jay has successfully wrapped up his first project The Drop-In, set for release in later this month.

Taken from Jay Daniels upcoming project, The Drop-In. 

With the support and encouragement from fans and friends, and a strong confidence in what he does, he’s ready to push his music career further than ever before. Keep your eyes peeled.

Facebook  ||  Twitter  ||  Triple J Unearthed