J.I.’s Journey In ‘The Rap Game’ Is Coming Full Circle (Exclusive)

<p>You couldn&&num;8217&semi;t turn on the radio during the summer of 2019 without hearing rapper <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;instagram&period;com&sol;iamj&period;i&sol;&quest;hl&equals;en" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">J&period;I&period;&&num;8217&semi;s<&sol;a> breakout single&comma; &&num;8220&semi;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;youtube&period;com&sol;watch&quest;v&equals;akThxQgKWvs" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">Need Me<&sol;a>&period;&&num;8221&semi; The song begins&comma; &&num;8220&semi;I swear this gon f&ast;&ast;k the summer up&&num;8221&semi; — and it did&period; The single racked up millions of streams&comma; and in August of that same year&comma; J&period;I&period; signed a deal with Interscope Records in partnership with G&period;Starr Entertainment&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>However&comma; this wasn&&num;8217&semi;t the first time the public became familiar with the young star&period; Two years prior&comma; the world watched the rapper as a 15-year-old contestant on season two of <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;mylifetime&period;com&sol;shows&sol;the-rap-game&sol;cast&sol;jermaine-dupri" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener"><em>The Rap Game<&sol;em><&sol;a> — a reality television series led by <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;dev&period;theshaderoom&period;com&sol;jermaine-dupri-babyface&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">Jermaine Dupri<&sol;a> that gave six competitors a shot at a recording contract with the music producer&&num;8217&semi;s label&comma; So So Def Recordings&period; Although J&period;I&period; did not win the series&comma; he undoubtedly won fans over with his &&num;8220&semi;lyrical sharpness&&num;8221&semi; and &&num;8220&semi;impressive freestyles&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><amp-youtube data-videoid&equals;"e6Zm7suoSDE" layout&equals;"responsive" width&equals;"1000" height&equals;"563" dock&equals;"&num;dock-slot"><&sol;amp-youtube><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Today&comma; at the age of 21&comma; J&period;I&period; is a platinum-selling artist with multiple EPs and a catalog that has racked up over 1&period;1 billion streams&period; However&comma; despite his burgeoning success&comma; the Brooklyn native maintains his humility and continues to pay homage to his predecessors as he paves his unique path forward&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The rapper sat down exclusively with <em>The Shade Room’s<&sol;em> Senior Editor&comma; Jadriena Solomon&comma; and shared his take on his unprecedented rise to stardom&comma; his fearlessness when sampling classic records&comma; and how he maintains his unique sound amid growing music trends&period; J&period;I&period; also shared why it&&num;8217&semi;s important for him to pay homage to his Puerto Rican roots&comma; as well as what longevity looks like to him&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;