J. Irja. The Spotlight Queen. The Sexy Psycho. Whatever you call her, one things for certain. One encounter with her music or presence and you’ll never forget her. From her ballsy head tattoo to her rapid-fire in-your-face lyrics, she is a ton of dynamite packed into a tiny but solid 5’0″ frame.

Born and raised in Canada in a poverty-stricken 7 person family, J. Irja channeled her pain and sadness through singing and songwriting since an early age. She moved to Wisconsin, became a published poet and graduated high school early. Determined to never have to struggle the way her family did growing up, she turned to hustling and exotic dancing before her 18th birthday. After traveling to almost every major city in the MidWest, she began freestyling in Detroit and started performing and recording in Wisconsin, shortly thereafter becoming the First Lady of SpotLight Ent.

After taking Wisconsin by storm with her debut Mixtape “Blessed With The Curse” (Hosted by DJ Pain 1) and tearing down stages across the MidWest, J. Irja turned down a contract with her previous label and re-emerged as a solo artist, Hungry and Ready to take the industry by storm.

Since going independent, J. Irja has shut down stages in WI, IN, KS, and IL and opened for headliner acts including T-Pain, King Louie, and Bandman Kevo.

Who is J. Irja?
Scheduled to drop in 2016, J. Irja’s second mixtape “Blessed With The Curse: RELOADED” promises to be even more explosive than her first and includes songs featuring renowned Chicago artists Bandman Kevo and Infamous D. The two videos she has already released from this upcoming project “PSYCHO” and “Let It Die” proves J. Irja is poised to one-up herself with harder-hitting beats, increasingly intricate wordplay and gripping story-line visuals. In her own words “Stay Tuned and Get Ready. The best is yet to come.”

Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?

 I was born in Canada into a poverty stricken 7 person family, we moved around a lot while I was younger just trying to make ends meet. My parents moved us to Wisconsin when I was in elementary school in search of better opportunities and the American Dream. Music and writing was always my escape from the pain and sadness of watching my family barely scraping by, it gave me an outlet. Ever since I was a baby I loved music, I got on stage with a mic in my hand for the first time when I was 3 and and started writing songs and recording into my TalkGirl, haha. I was eventually published for poetry, and graduated early from high school. That’s when I turned to the streets, I started hustling heavy because I never wanted to be poor like I was growing up. I ended up on Detroit’s West side in my late teens where I started freestyling with the guys on the block. They looked at me skeptical until they heard me spit a rhyme then they were like “damn white girl you actually got flow, you should start rapping for real” so I did. The rest is history!

Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?

J. Irja is my real name. My first name is Jessika but everyone calls me J, and my middle name is Irja which is Finnish for “earthworker” or “one who changes the world”. I was named after my great-grandmother Olga Irja, God Rest Her Soul, who was one of the strongest and most determined women I ever met in my entire life. I rep my real name proudly.

Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?

Online music sharing has changed the way artists get paid, it has really changed the whole landscape of the music industry. These days in order to be a competitive force in the market, especially on the come up, you almost have no choice but to share music for free. With free music sharing having oversaturated the market, everyone wants to and can be a rapper. So, in short, yes, I do make my music available for free and also give people an option to buy my songs on iTunes if they are true supporters!

Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?

Be original, be yourself, and be confident! Make goals and stick to them, stay focused and work hard. Network like Crazy! Having talent is important, but a weak artist with a committed grind will outshine talent all day. You can make the best song in the world but if no one hears it, it doesn’t do you any good. Rise, Grind, and Shine Everyday!

Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?

Being an entertainer is all about confidence, rolling with the punches! When I get onstage or in front of a camera, an energy takes over me and I just go. Performing is natural for me, it is what I love to do.

Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?

 I have done quite a few out of town shows and probably one of the craziest experiences I had onstage was when I opened up for T-Pain in Kansas City. The crowd started going crazy while I was performing so I jumped onto the speakers so I could reach into the crowd and shake this young female’s hand. She grabbed me so hard and wouldn’t let go, almost pulled me right off the speaker and into the crowd. But I kept rapping anyways the whole time and made it look to the rest of the audience like I was just shaking hands with her, haha. That was wild, but I can’t blame her, when that energy hits you, it hits you!

Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?

 All of my music is based on my real life experiences. That is why if you listen to my catalogue you will find such a wide array of music from upbeat to slow, happy to angry. A lot of times I’ll be in the middle of something and a song just starts coming out, almost like I hear the whole song and see the video in an instant. It is an exhilarating dose of inspiration.

Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?

My official website is www.thespotlightqueen.com which has my instagram, Facebook, twitter etc listed. I also am sponsored by a clothing brand and lifestyle movement called the Female Empowerment Movement Militia (aka F.E.M. Militia) and that website is www.FEMMilitia.com

Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?

I don’t know if I’d exactly say embarrassing since I like them, lol, I would call them unexpected. I rock with all different kinds of music from Frank Sinatra to Justin Beiber. And I most definitely jam to my girl Britney Spears hard, lol. Yeah I listen to a lot of rap, but I am an eccentric and diverse mind so you shouldn’t be surprised to find me listening to almost anything.

Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?

If I was given half a million dollars I would spend that year investing and opening businesses, then hiring people in need of jobs. I would create profit and spread wealth. I especially have a soft spot for underprivileged women and children, I have a dream of assisting mothers and kids that were abused or are struggling and giving them a helping hand up, to begin a new life. I’m all about Female Empowerment!

Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?

I have a home studio I record at called TripleGreen Studios where I am part owner and engineer where we operate on Reaper, my go to mixing studio is Black Military Studios using Logic, and my mastering studio is Rock Garden which utilizes ProTools. The skill of the engineer is more important than the equipment. I’ve heard great music come out of a closet and garbage come from ProTools studios. It’s all about the engineer.

Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?

 I use social media and blogs to promote my music. Of course the most important thing is loyal supporters who share your music and expose new fans to your sound!

Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?

 I would love to be on stage with Eminem and Tech N9ne because they are two of my biggest inspirations and it would be in Detroit because I remember being there and being homeless and finding new inspiration for life when I found my true passion: rapping.

Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?

This new club banger “Goin Ghost” is actually off my upcoming mixtape “Blessed With The Curse: RELOADED” dropping this year around summer time. Until then expect to keep hearing new music!

Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?

I honestly can’t imagine a world without me doing music! I feel like music is my mission in life!

Exposed Vocals: Do you remember buying your first album? Who was it? What was going through your head?

Yes of course it was The Eminem Show. I needed to have the album, I loved that way Eminem got on the beat and tore it apart, he never held anything back, he was real! He said things that other people were scared to say. He was at that time a serious minority in the hip hop culture and he inspired me. I thought since he could make the impossible happen, maybe I could too, he made me feel like no matter what obstacles were in my way that I could defeat them all and emerge victorious.

Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life? 

Music is an integral everyday part of my life, like breathing or sleeping, I need to do it to feel complete. As for the rest of my life, it is all a balance. You gotta know when to push and when to take breaks.

Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?

My next mixtape “Blessed With The Curse: RELOADED” is dropping this year and its full of bangers! of course there will be more singles and videos, but I just can’t wait for everyone to hear this mixtape, it’s definitely my best work yet! I’ll be doing a lot of traveling coming up, a lot of exciting things in the works for this Summer!