After a busy 2024, Anchorage R&B singer Jay Simmons is currently working on his fourth album, and has some exciting projects for the new year.
“I’m ready to level up and take it to the next step,” Simmons said. “I’ve been making projects since I was a senior in high school back in 2016, and since then I’ve put out four mixtapes, and I think I’m ready … I know what my sound is and what the people want.”
The singer says that his fourth studio project is going to be an “elevated, updated sound” and showcasing himself on a bigger scale. Inspired by Ashanti, Bobby Brown, Sade and Maxwell, Janet Jackson and Aaliyah, Simmons says he has been writing since they were six years old.
“My mom, she found my lyrics and was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this makes sense.’ And I think that was the moment it all clicked for me. I was like, ‘Okay, this is something I really want to do.’”
Being a musician came naturally to Simmons; he grew up surrounded by music and says just about everyone in his family were musical in some capacity.
“I think I learned how to sing from my mother, she would always sing Mary J Blige, Faith Evans, SWV around the house, and I just caught on and taught myself from listening to her to sing,” he said.
Simmons has collaborated with other Anchorage artists, including “musical soulmate” and rapper Nichole-Lee, most recently on their song and music video, “Nasty Boy.” Simmons describes it as “very 80s pop-R&B” and what listeners can expect on the upcoming album. He has also collaborated with Nick Carpenter of Medium Build; his first show was opening for Carpenter and they eventually worked on Simmons’ song, “Valley Boy.”
“You will never have to worry about me not making music, it’s therapeutic for me,” Simmons said. “It gets me by, when I’m happy, when I’m sad, when I’m down — I just write and create.”
Simmons’ music can be streamed on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and other streaming platforms.
“There’s people like me that want to relate to someone, so I gotta keep pushing on, keep keeping on with the music — I’m going to hopefully help someone,” Simmons said. “When I put my last project, “SONGSABOUTYOURFAVORITERAPPER,”, I had so many people, boys like me contact me, like ‘Oh my gosh, thank you for this, this helped me.’ And that’s why I do it, and I’m never going to stop.”
Sam Davenport is a writer residing in Anchorage. She's a leo and a plant-person, and loves spending quality time with her dog, Aspen. She is a Real Housewives fan and has been called a Bravo historian.
