Born and raised in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, Jay Kila is an entrepreneurial emcee that is half-Indian and Jewish (a Hinjew). His rapid fire delivery and witty lyrics have found him legions of YouTube viewers and Twitter followers. He also is a co-founder of the GiftRapped website, a service that creates personalized rap songs for celebratory occasions.
His newest project is to make music videos of songs off his new mixtape called Upper East Beast. In fact you can help support his video making on Kickstarter!

“I’m hoping to create some really awesome content that will take my videos up about 20 notches. Making this mixtape has been a very, very long process and it means a lot to me. These music videos will be at the head of the marketing and promotional campaign that I’m going to be doing over the next 3-6 months so they will really help get the word and my music out there.
You can check out the streaming sneak peek version of the tape here:http://www.uppereastbeast.com. The videos I’m looking to make are “Year of the Rat”, “In the Jungle” and “You Ain’t a Kila”.’
Before you read our interview with him, make sure to support Jay’s music videos on Kickstarter -and if you have some ideas for his videos reach out to him on Tenlegs!

TENLEGS: Tell us about how you came up with the idea for the mixtape?
JAY KILA: The mixtape is called “Upper East Beast”. I’m from the Upper East Side in NYC and the original idea was to paint a portrait of what growing up in this part of the city is like. The UES is one of the most affluent areas in New York, and as a teenager in school I was surrounded by kids from families who were extremely wealthy. In high school this made for interesting sights / stories – you would hear of 14 or 15 year olds buying bottles at clubs with fake IDs, going on yachts in the South of France, etc. These kids were living the lifestyles that adult hip hop artists like to brag about. So the tape is sort of an inside look at this life from the perspective of someone who was able to view it up close but still from a distance.
What has been the biggest challenge of producing your music?
The biggest challenge in producing the tape, which I think is a challenge to a lot of artists is that you have to be your own boss. I’m not signed to any record label or anything, I don’t have someone telling me “Jay, we need to have these songs finished by such and such date.” It was all on me to make my own deadlines and finish the tracks, and at times it became hard to stay focused and motivated.
As you move into producing videos to promote your music what are you most excited about trying? What challenges do you think you’ll face?
As we move to producing these music videos I’m most excited about having a crew to work with, as well as interacting with actors. I used to do some video making in the past, and it usually involved just filming myself on a green screen. It will be nice to work with others. In terms of challenges I think there’s always the challenge of sticking to a budget and using your time / money efficiently. With more people involved in a shoot there’s a lot more stuff to handle and its important to keep everyone on track.
Can you give us a tease on the vibe of the videos?
The vibe of the videos will be somewhat in the nature of old Eminem videos like “My Name Is” as well as some Beastie Boys videos. My style is more east-coast lyrical but there is also an element of comedy in my music, so this will definitely come out in the videos as well.
Do you have a crew already assembled for your shoot -or at you looking?
We have a crew for a few of the videos. There is a director I’ve worked with in the past that I’m looking to work with again, but we are definitely open to hearing new ideas / treatments for videos from others.
Any advice to creative professionals out there who haven’t released a project yet?
“It doesn’t matter how fast you go, as long as you do not stop” & “Real artists ship”. I think these two quotes sort of embody the mindset that all artists and creative professionals should have – it’s important to finish what you are working on, no matter how long it takes you.