What's up, I'm Jerry, otherwise known as Jakfat. Native of Philadelphia, PA and a fan of many styles of music.
.
I've always
been the creative type, and any outlet to being creative will
grab my interest in no time. I used to draw all the time when
I was a kid, but I'm not really into drawing at all anymore. I guess I ran
out of ideas, or maybe, ran out of things to draw? I'm also "all for"
clay modeling, model railroads, DJing, LEGOs, robot designs, origami,
animation, game designs, story lines, etc. etc.
My only
problem seems to be that I'm not interested for very long. I will
take up a project, but if it isn't done quickly, I just toss it.
Thanks to the Lord, though, He kept me interested in completing
Crossed Out.
The coolest
thing about rap music is that it's all in the words. The music
is just a scene setter. If the music was not looped
but just kept on going like a rock or pop song, it would take
too much away from the words, and the message would be lost. Since
rap music has so many words, it is easier to get out a whole idea
to the listeners, whereas rock and pop are more limited in wording.
I know
that rap music is not very high on a lot of peoples' lists, but
I hope you enjoy what I have put together. All glory goes to the
Lord above.
He is Worthy.
In October of 1996, I first decided that I wanted to become a musician. I was ready to turn my life around, and playing music sounded like something I would like to do to replace some old habits.
The Lord blessed me with the talent to learn music quickly. by the winter, my cousin asked me to play keyboards in a smalltime Christian band consisting of him, and three of his brothers. We played some htmns and soft older Christian songs like Rich Mullens, Ray Boltz, and Philips Craig and Dean.
In August of 1997, we hosted a concert/hymn-sing for the members of our church. It was a lot of fun for me, I remember crying with joy at the end. I hadn't even been playing music for a year, yet the Lord took me that far. It definitely was worth the effort.
That night, I took a bunch of keyboards and other audio peripherals home with me and set them up in my bedroom, thus starting my studio. I didn't do much at first, just taught myself how MIDI works and how to recreate songs I heard. Eventually I got the hang of it, but I still didn't accomplish much.
I wrote a lot of dance tunes, some good, most not. I started to incorporate other elements into my studio, such as a sampler, Cd players and a mixer, recorders, a computer, etc. Still, I had few songs that were really worth sharing. I was still experimenting.
In 1999, I wrote my first real song, that actually had recorded music and lyrics. It was a rock tune called "A Christian in Disguise" that spelled out a bad time in my life, from my own point of view. Nothing ever became of this song, and I have no recording of it anywhere.
However, the following winter, I started writing my first rap first song. I called this one "HypoChristian" and based it on the song "A Christian in Disguise" but this time, writing from an outside point of view, looking back at my past.
Before HypoChristian was finished in spring of 2000, I started writing Death by Cash. For a while those two songs were the only rap songs I had. Whenever I got bored at work I would rip out one or both of those songs. I became very fluent with those two songs, but I didn't even give them any music, nor record them.
In spring of 2001, I decided to write a few more rap songs so I would have more I could spit out when I needed something to do. I started Vacancy and Lord Help Me around the same time. I usually messed with them and added more as I was out walking.
By about mid-summer I knew I had to keep going. I had all the audio equipment I needed to make a complete album and hand out to my friends, so I set about writing twelve more songs to make up an entire album.
In March 2002, I thought I could complete the album, but I was wrong. Recording took a lot more time than I had thought. I promised my friends it would be soon, but again I was wrong. I spent the entire springtime of 2002 recording, and just as I thought I was done, I realized that my recording didn't live up to par.
I knew that the recordings were going to come up short in the volume department, and if I increased it any more, I would only get distorted signals. I didn't know how I should finish it, I became discouraged, and I just dropped the whole thing, just inches from the goal.
When fall rolled around, and after about a hundred inquiries from my friends about when I would be finished, I decided I would just go ahead and finish what I started instead of starting over. It only took one weekend to wrap it up, and now I am handing out copies to my friends.
Hallelujah!
So what's
next? I can definitely tell you that I'm not gonna do just this
one album and quit. I have ideas for more albums, plus I have
had some offers to help others make their own albums.
If the
Lord wants me to continue, I know that He will give me strength
to do so. Making Crossed Out was not easy. Nevertheless, His strength
is perfect, I only need to trust Him.
Jakfat
Creations Ltd. is the title that I slapped on this website, and
my album. I'm interested in many things, so as the Lord guides
me, my "limited" non-profit business might pump out
other things besides CDs.
You may
contact me at StarvingRtist@aol.com Please do not send me
any mail saying how great I am, and you want my autograph, and
my favorite T-shirt, etc. etc. I would like to hear your comments,
but remember the Lord God gets any and all praise. Even if there's
not enough left over for me. Peace-------Jakfat.
Special
thanks to kwake for song 12: "Stop and Think."
Thanks
to kwake and Seffy for "earing out" my
album.
Thanks
for checking out this website. If you don't have a copy of this album, and want one, just E-Mail me (StarvingRtist@aol.com) and I will try to get one out to you.
And to the
True Body of Christ: Don't just sport Christ... Support Christ!!! People don't fall in love, people only fall in hatred.
Thank YOU
for your participation!
