It’s A Musical Metamorphosis from Rapper, Songwriter and Producer, Jay Light (formerly known as Music Bear Tony Banks). The Toronto based New Yorker has found fresh musical freedom in the electronic music world. His self-accepted, full-grown bear’s sound infuses melodic, electronic and dance grooves with Hip-Hop flows and R&B stylings, resulting in creating a unique style that weaves its way through a multitude of genres. .
In order to showcase his artistry, Jay Light needed to break free from the established cultural embellishments synonymous with the gay Hip Hop scene. He now has an ever-expanding vision of personal style and artistic evolution in the fashion and music worlds. No longer does Jay feel creatively stifled or the necessity to be anything less than his true and authentic self. Jay cites Frankie Knuckles, Missy Elliot, Azealia Banks, and Hercules & Love Affair as some of his influences. This comes as no surprise as he states, “I fell in love with house music at a young age and have always been inspired by the mixture of sounds and creativity in all its forms. House music was created by queer people of colour for the enjoyment of all. I want to make sure the electronic music community remembers that.”
will never forget March 13, 2020. It’s not only the date I turned 39, but also the date that much of my world turned upside down. Luckily, as an introvert who doesn’t get out much, I was already prepared for this kinda life. In fact, It was a welcomed change from having to go out in the winter. It also helped me focus a lot on my career and the next moves I had to make. I was able to get my “house in order”. Got my website and socials up and running again, looked after the business part of the music business, did a few visual projects, worked on some amazing collaborations and released my first EP as a dance artist.
Switching from Hip hop to dance music was hard, especially when people were preparing for festival season and the industry was coming out of the winter blues. Covid, in a way, allowed me time to catch up to the other players and start to communicate with those in the dance world because they were all sitting at home on a computer or phone like me and not touring and playing shows.
It also changed the political climate of dance music. Many people of color, who were tired of being overlooked, finally had a spotlight placed on them. The way the community operated came under scrutiny in a way that would have been brushed off pre-covid. Now people are realizing the errors of their ways and looking for helpful solutions to make sure that the dance community is open to everyone, no matter your race, gender or sexuality. The doors to the “boys club” are finally open and many of us are walking through.
None of this would have happened if it weren’t for covid. How will we adjust in the next few months, we shall see.
Not the Usual LICK Publicist! 27 yrs in the biz ~Worldwide! Actual Peer of the Realm~Unitarian Universalist Pragmatic Buddhist~ PROUD GAY Liberal
