00:00For a while people have been saying like I should give up music, which can be
00:04discouraging to most, but for me it's just motivation. It's all about the
00:10journey and I think that all these trials and tribulations, they create a
00:15story of longevity instead of something that's just here today and gone tomorrow.
00:19That's what I'm in this for.
00:28I'm Justine Skye. I'm a singer, songwriter, and an actress. I think it's so dope that
00:33I'm from Brooklyn, New York. Like to just be able to say that. Every time someone asks me
00:37where I'm from, I'm like, Brooklyn.
00:41My family's from East Flatbush and if you know anything about Brooklyn or New York, you know
00:47like that's where a lot of Caribbean people like reside. The West Indies just
00:50ended up in East Flatbush, which brings us to celebrate the Labor Day Parade every
00:54single year, which is like the West Indian Day Parade. I played mass this year and it
00:59was raining insanely, but I was like, whatever, rain or shine, this is what we do.
01:08My culture, it's just deeply embedded into me. Throughout my career, it's kind of been
01:13something that people like stayed away from because they just didn't want like
01:16comparisons. I listened a lot to what people were saying instead of just like trusting
01:22my instinct. I think that at this point, dance hall, Afrobeat is a lot more like accepted
01:29as of recent, like the past year or two, but it's been something that I've been listening
01:34to my whole life. So it's really dope that I get to really show that side of me and my
01:40culture and my music now.
01:50I've been putting music out since 2012 and since I was like 17 and I'm 24 now and Bear With
02:00Me
02:00is definitely like a body of work that I'm most proud of. When the EP came out, a lot of
02:09people were asking me what my favorite song was and Secrets, which is the, I think the first
02:16song that I cut from like since I became independent. It's my favorite song on the EP.
02:24It definitely is empowering being a woman of color and being an independent artist, especially
02:30with a lot of people saying that it's not possible. Being newly independent is a moment
02:38of just me taking control back of just myself and my career. I feel like for a while I kind
02:47of got lost in the sauce of just like this industry and like how things are supposed to
02:52go and following this structure that they have for an R&B artist. And in putting my trust
02:59in that, I kind of just disregarded my own feelings or opinions about things.
03:04Said I just need something to myself. I don't need your help.
03:12For a while people have been telling a lot of artists who are extremely successful today
03:15that they should be giving up on music. And imagine if they did. Imagine if SZA just quit.
03:22She would have never been able to reach her full potential and be this international
03:26artist that she is today. Imagine if Janae Aiko quit.
03:31When I'm performing it and I'm singing it, it doesn't matter if there's one person in the
03:35crowd or one million people in the crowd. You always got to be happy with what you're doing.
03:40You have to enjoy what you're doing. And for the first time in a long time, I actually
03:43enjoy performing my music. And I feel like I'm just beginning.
04:03Thank you guys for watching Refinery29. To watch more videos, click here. And to subscribe,
04:08take care.
04:09.
04:09.
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