Jay Versace has evolved from making funny-faced comedic skits on social media into making quality music for hip hop stars. The memeable viral social media personality that gained fame for making hilarious shareable content has now used his popularity to launch his career as a music producer.
Over the years we have watched Jay Versace grow, both career-wise and in maturity, many of us following him consistently since the mid-2010’s when he made goofy skits on the now defunct app Vine. The now 23-year-old social media personality getting into acting, possibly starring in a buddy film, was more foreseeable than him becoming the next Pharrell Williams.
Nevertheless, Jay Versace is diversifying his creative talents, utilizing his artistic skills to create dope beats for big time hip hop stars like Tyler The Creator. Beginning his beat-making career in 2018, Versace delved into his new craft by experimenting with Ableton, synths and a MIDI keyboard.
“When I first started, it was just Ableton,” Versace told Vice News. “All my friends use Ableton and my friend came over, he put Ableton on my computer, and that was it. My other friends told me to get a little MIDI keyboard, then I started getting synths, and it just went from there.”
It wasn’t until two years later that Versace would release his beats to the world, debuting his production abilities on Griselda member Westside Gunn’s 2020 single Versace—an apt song title. That same year he created the beat for JID’s 2020 single Through the Sky, further solidifying his space within the music industry and building his music production portfolio.
Despite Jay Versace being a novice rap producer, his breakout contribution to Gunn’s Versace validated his position within music enough to become an executive producer on Tyler The Creator’s 2021 album Call Me If You Get Lost.
To unbelievers, Jay Versace’s June tweet confirming that he produced Safari—a record on Call Me If You Get Lost— was a trolling move, but it’s legit. Just three years after his transition into the music scene, he already has landed on an award-winning project of a Grammy-winning artist and produced Lay_Up.4a for popular indie rapper Denzel Curry.
Jay Versace’s existence is the living embodiment of artistic exploration. His willingness to not be shackled by his comedy persona, what people think he should be doing, or expect him to be doing is proving to be beneficial for Jay Versace. Not allowing himself to be pigeonholed, Jay Versace is recreating himself, stepping into a new era of his brand identity.
Whether or not Jay Versace will go back to making comedy videos is yet to be determined, however as of now what is determined is his upcoming success in the hip hop world. Those still unsure of his music skills should take a listen to the latest song he produced for Westside Gunn, Free Kutter—which features rap legend Jay Electronica. That alone may change your mind.