BABY JAYMES

In any event, Baby Jaymes is a hip-hop generation throwback to the days when you just weren‘t hip if you didn‘t have a stack of soul 45s under your arm at all times.
- XLR8R Magazine

Born and bred in Oakland, CA singer/songwriter Baby Jaymes grew up with soul music running through his veins. Writing his own music since the age of 7, Baby Jaymes was influenced by the songwriting greats who created the Motown sound. Today he is a seasoned musical veteran with a critically-acclaimed album, The Baby Jaymes Record, to his credit as well as collaborations with Bay Area R&B legend Raphael Saadiq of Tony! Toni! Toné! and funk innovator George Clinton of Parliament-Funkadelic fame.

Bridging the gap between music and Hollywood, Baby Jaymes has had songs credited to motion pictures, recording a duet with actor Jamie Kennedy for the hit film "Malibu's Most Wanted (2003)", the urban comedy "My Baby's Daddy (2004)" and "Any Given Sunday (1999)" by special request from the director himself, Oliver Stone, who was so impressed after hearing Jaymes' socially aware lyrics. His music was also featured in the Nicole Kidman film “The Invasion (2007)”.

More than just another soul singer, Baby Jaymes is head-and-shoulders above the rest when it comes to writing lyrics, songwriting, arranging and producing his music either by himself or with Garvey, the other half of his production team. “I don’t play (instruments), but I can hear it in my head, the tones and the direction of the music. We add strings and horns and we hire musicians to play in studio, so we keep Hip Hop in bottom and add the pretty music to the top.” And it’s the “pretty music” that defines the Baby Jaymes soundscape. “Its very rare that someone just gives me a track and I sing over it, I always add to it because I am used to orchestrated music. For my ear, it is not a Baby Jaymes record until there is some real music on it.”

To understand Baby Jaymes’ influences as a songwriter, you have to take a trip down memory lane, decades back in time to the glory days of Motown. Baby Jaymes explains, “Stevie (Wonder) and Marvin (Gaye) and Curtis (Mayfield) are great songwriters, but they wrote more from their personal place and their view of the world and themselves; or making some social commentary. Smokey (Robinson) is a genuine lyricist who writes songs that may even seem trivial, but always clever, he puts a spin on something that makes it so unique.” Smokey’s style guided Baby Jaymes through his journey to find his personal style as well. “I had a thing about words and finding unique ways to express something that could be cliché, finding a new way to say it. I write from a personal place a lot of times, or more than anything I write as a voyeur -- I am always writing from a perspective of how people see the world.”

Although Baby Jaymes has been influenced by the great soul artists of the past, he is no throwback artist. There’s an edge to his music and arrangements that lead many to compare him to Prince, George Clinton, Andre 3000, and some even call him “the Black Beck”. The future of Baby Jaymes sonically will not follow a formula, or be dictated by trends in music or style. Only one thing is certain, Baby Jaymes is quick to point out… “Similar to when Michael Jackson or OutKast gives you a whole experience with their album, the Baby Jaymes album is going to be an experience. You won’t have to fast forward or skip through the experience.” Prepare yourself for the Baby Jaymes experience and be ready to be transported by the magical voice of Oakland’s oldest soul.

An eclectic hybrid of hip hop funk pop and soul, representing a new style and language that's currently gaining currency within hip hop...intertwining social issues and intertwining bodies."Baby Jaymes'...a fully realized masterpiece" - SAN FRANCISCO REVIEWS