We had the good fortune of connecting with CarlJ and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi CarlJ, what do you want people to remember about you?
If their’s any legacy I want to leave with my career, it’s being genuine and helping people out. The whole reason I make music is to help people; music helped me get through so much in life. Whether it was listening to my favorite artists, making the music myself painting every emotion in my voice, or confiding with my friends through the energy music creates, music has helped me through every major stepping stone in my life. If I can be apart of that help for just a few people, I’m content. Too many people feel healthy emotions they don’t think their validated towards, and I want someone to listen to my music & feel validated, in whatever form that may come as. If I’m remembered for anything, I want it to be for the love. Too much hate in the world.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’ve learned a lot in my journey of making music. At first, I got a lot of initial eyes looking at me, just for the fact that I was doing music, whether it was good or not (in my opinion). Opened up for Chief Keef my first year and my whole world changed on the industry side of music. From there, I’ve been steady honing my craft along with my friends. We all learn off of each other, and I’m proud to say I make the music I do today as a result of working nonstop all these years. People start out and don’t realize what it takes to prove longevity; you have to have the willpower to progress, evolve and take constructive criticism. I always loved the music I make, but the past few years taught me how to write my heart on the page, and my soul on the mic. If you’re listening to my music, you’re listening to nothing but raw emotion, whatever that emotion may be, and i’m really happy & proud to say that.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Haha, funny thing is this has happened before plenty of times. LA is a fun place to be if you know how to get around and find the cool stuff. We’d probably start the day off at the beach, catching the morning fog off the pacific smoking big ol’ joints. Next stop is breakfast, which for some reason everyone wants to order avocado toast so I just roll with it. There better be mimosas! A hike in Griffith Park would be a great next stop to get lost in Cali’s mountains; get a different perspective on the city. Best believe I’m rolling up too. From there maybe a rest, dinner, then some type of underground show. If you know the right people, there’s a lot of connections to underground parties, performances, concerts, you can really have plans all night. Tourists spots are cool, but come chill w/ CarlJ B).

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I wanna make a special shoutout to two groups of people. The first is my immediate family, including my Abuela; they encouraged my high hopes as a kid, fueled my imagination and told my siblings & I that we could do anything. If I didn’t have those formative years, I wouldn’t have the perspective I needed to make the jumps in life I needed to take. Without their support, I would not have gone anywhere, & I owe it all to them. Family is forever, & I’m proud of where I come from. I could easily group my friends into this category of “family”, because a family has many faces; love has no boundaries. If it wasn’t for my friends, I wouldn’t have people to really open up to, break down my walls and be myself. I struggle with a bit of depression, & my friends are always the reason I keep on pushing. We are all walking inspirations baabbyy! SlimTrxx, FlossyFlo, Skevon, Mark, Chris, Jake, AnakBaby, JoelGhsty, Laz, Kam, Vee, Stevie, noturlover, all love we all on <3! Shoutout Miss Lynch in High School Honor Choir too, she’s the goat.

Website: https://carljmusic.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carlj.music/?hl=en

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH78zjzgfhKiwbumfZ6rRPg

Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/71zXkRRyJvn9OpPdmlOLzP?si=k0_7k11HSjWcJG0L1kGtCw

Image Credits
@Skevon

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