Jai Carey
IThe product of a lower class broken home, he was raised on hip hop, comic books, Saturday morning cartoons, and a split between New York education and Columbus Ohio public schools. Evident in the creativity both within his writing and his freestyle ability, he has demonstrated on numerous occasion his willingness to go above and beyond the average lyricist by becoming the first person to ever win back to back emcee freestyle battle championships in the Ohio hip hop showcase and the Ohio Hip Hop Expo, as well the first person ever to win the Ohio Hip Hop Expo and the Ohio hip hop showcase in the same year and the only 8 time emcee battle champion for the event. Crafting metaphors that exceed the expectations of the current hip hop community, and topics as creative as they are complex, Jai has elevated himself to stand apart from other rappers in his generation. With a smooth poetic delivery complimented by a constant changing rhythmic flow reminiscent of jazz scat, this one of a kind lyricist takes pride in combating poor lyricism through concepts that range from conscious awareness to scientific and mathematically calculated word play, but also provides a complete 180 with his catchy club songs riddled with punch lines that would quench the current dry spell in modern rap music.
Stop Watch- Jai Carey-
The _reality_show LP
The Greatest Story Ever Told- Jai Carey- Fire Sale EP
The Official Strategy Guide For Head Games-Jai Carey Feat. Kim Joyce
Music Resume
2014 Ohio Hip Hop Awards Nominee for Best Live Performance and Best New Group (8 Bit Genetic Code)
2013 Ohio Hip Hop Awards Mid Term Showcase Columbus Winner (8 Bit Genetic Code)
2013 Bus Town Home Grown Freestyle Clinic Competition Winner
2012 Bus Town Home Grown Freestyle Clinic Competition Winner
2012 Ohio Hip Hop Expo Emcee Battle Champion
2011 Ohio Hip Hop Expo Emcee Battle Champion
2010 Ohio Hip Hop Expo Emcee Battle Champion
2008 Ohio Hip Hop Award Nominee for Best Live Performance
2008 Ohio Hip Hop Award Nominee for People’s Choice Award
2008 winner for the Ohio Hip Hop Awards Columbus Showcase
2008 Ohio Hip Hop Expo Emcee Battle Champion
2007 Ohio Hip Hop Expo Emcee Battle Champion
2006 Midwest Hip Hop Showcase Emcee Battle Champion
2006 Ohio Hip Hop Expo Emcee Battle Champion
2006 International Songwriters Competition contestant (3rd round)
2005 Midwest Hip Hop Showcase Emcee Battle Champion
2005 Midwest Hip Hop Showcase Production Battle Runner up
2002 CAPAcity City wide Open mic Emcee Battle Runner up
LOCAL ROUNDUP: Midas Touch, Jai Carey, Fumes, Ben the Rapper – The Other Paper
Midas Touch improves; Jai Carey remains great
By Wes Flexner
"The rapper whose new album I had a lot less skepticism about is Jai Carey. The Columbus emcee has won the Columbus Hip Hop Expo battle eight times, and the last time I saw him rap, in March, he won the Bustown Hip Hop Clinic battle.
Carey’s latest release, Fire Sale, starts off with “The Plot,” which begins with a grim a cappella and settles into a classical loop and some low-budget drums. “Purple Skies,” which ends with a poem by Barbara Fant, has a similarly dark but hopeful aura.
The next song, “Angry Bird,” is a tale of disgruntled women spun over a synth bass line that, on the whole, sounds like a D12 album cut. The ominous but cocky “The Greatest Story Ever Told” follows this.
“Face Down” flips DJ Assault’s “Ass and Titties” with 2 Live Crew into a mid-tempo hardcore hip-hop song. It features Te Mo of One Hood and Mz Lita. This is followed by the much smoother sex song “The Head Game,” featuring Kim Joyce.
Fire Sale ends with the raw posse cut “Robbery,” which guests Trillis and Scopes, and then a moody double-time track featuring Breath of Fresh Heir.
The sum total is a solid EP that is something like a mixture of Spitball and Jedi Mind Tricks."
Well-timed diss wins Bustown rap contest – www.theotherpaper.com
"The final four freestyle contestants were announced, and a nasaly kid named Random who sounded like either Asher Roth or local legend Andrew Bagadonuts made quick work of a rapper whose name I didn’t catch. This lined up Random with Jai Carey, a stout emcee who won the Columbus Hip Hop Expo battle last week.
After they were announced, neither of the finalists immediately dissed each other. Instead, they spontaneously took advantage of the energetic backing band, which consisted of members of MojoFlo. Both emcees perfectly sequenced their rapid-fire raps over the horns, drums and guitars.
After about five minutes of this, Jai Carey finally dissed Random. I think it caught Random off guard, and he retaliated somewhat meekly. The two emcees exchanged more disses, but the judges eventually named Carey the winner.
The night culminated with at least a dozen rappers ciphering over the live band. For this Bustown hip-hop head, the entire event was a nice consolation prize for the Buckeye loss."
Wes Flexner