By Mary De- Wind
A De Montfort University student from East London has released a Valentines single called G.T.K which has had 1,600 plays within 48 hours.
Lamar Jackson, known as Ljay which is his artist name, grew up in Newham, East London.
Growing up he aspired to be a lawyer. He explained: “Coming from a family of immigrants and watching what they went through I wanted to make a change. I wanted to save the people who saved me.
“I asked my mum to sign the papers so I could enrol at a good sixth form to study law and other subjects, but she was too busy with my sister. I got mad and threw everything away. I decided to enrol at NewVIc college and study performing arts.“
Ljay started making music during his first year at Newham Sixth Form College (NewVIc), where he used to write lyrics for fun until his friends persuaded him to take it seriously. He and his friend decided to go into a studio and record some music.
“It was alright, but I signed it away,” said Ljay.
Studying Performing Arts at De Montfort University as well as doing music part-time has increased his creativity and has helped him with exposure, he said.
Being well-known has helped him to expose his music to a wide variety of people and he believes, as an artist, it’s necessary to get as much exposure as possible.
“Technically, being in Leicester has helped my latest song G.T.K. The growth of this song is definitely due to the people I know in Leicester,” said Ljay.
