Today we’d like to introduce you to Jaquisha Durant.
Hi Jaquisha, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I got into music because of my trauma as a child. I started out writing poems, looking back I wrote poems as an outlet for emotions I couldn’t explain at such a young age. The poems use to be so relieving, like releasing pressure that was built up. I would say I started writing poems when I was maybe eight or nine, because that’s when I genuinely started writing as a whole. I use to write short stories and plays all the time, way before I even knew what a poem was but poems was my strong suite. I always had a knack for writing, no matter what it was. I even use to freestyle for fun with the guys that hung around my mom. My main influence for freestyling was her friend, Luigi, pronounced “Lucci”. He use to give me a dollar when I would freestyle the hot stuff, he ended up calling me “Baby Dollar”. I think that was my first rap name, I use to always ask for a dollar. He knew I use to like poetry though. The poems was the darker side, they were so deep for me to be so young. That’s why I say I use to write based off experiences and emotions, things I saw around me and felt inside due to them. As for music, I didn’t find my true love for “writing music”, until I was 11 or 12 because I was in the 6th grade. I think I ended up rapping after poetry because I got introduced to instrumentals and I loved pianos and violins. I’ll never forget, I was in science class and my teacher, Mr. Jones claimed to had been a music producer and says he played a role in Bobby Valentino’s “Slow down”. He said he could play a piano. It was in his class I use to write songs and freestyle with the boys who thought they were better than me because I was a girl. They never were. The two or three who knew they weren’t, started a rap group with me.
We called ourselves “407 click”, it was 407 crew or group at first but we thought it sounded lame. We had maybe four to six songs written, but only one stood out to me that I could actually remember; which was “rocking girbauds”. I wrote the chorus; I usually wrote all of the choruses to our songs. We never took it further than that science class though. I never stopped writing music but I had never recorded so I wasn’t considering myself as a rapper or whatever. I started getting into trouble, I got caught stealing and had to be in a diversion program right before I started high school. In High School, I took music a little more serious, but I still wasn’t recording music. I was getting into more trouble. During my sophomore year, I met Mark, Mark was nothing like my friends from the neighborhood and Mark use to record music in his living room. Me and Mark had a lot in common, because I too was recording on a desktop with a guitar hero mic or a mic similar. So we had the same idea and the same drive. When we got together, we formed a group as well. We went through multiple names before we stuck to one, which was “Snazzy Gang”. We created a nice buzz for our music on MySpace, and I myself had my own solo songs on MySpace as well. Collectively, I had over 60 tracks on my MySpace page. As a group, we recorded I think two mixtapes and a few singles. We had a nice work ethic when it came to putting our music out. We never really had the funds to do the videos and photo shoots and things but we definitely had a good social media approach. I don’t think that was enough for me though. I started wanting things rappers had. I started robbing houses and even people if needed be. I got caught up with the wrong people, the kind that wasn’t in the streets for real and a situation ended up resulting in probation for me just a month before my high school graduation. That ultimately gave me the push I needed to attend college because I felt like I needed an environment change. I ended up getting accepted to Bethune-Cookman, I studied Psychology from 2014-2018 and achieved my B.S. During these years I wasn’t focused on music at all, not saying I wasn’t recording here and there. I probably recorded a good 12 songs during my time at BCU. None I put out or even took seriously, I recorded one music video and never released it. I think I use to doubt myself a lot, I went through the stage of being unsure for the longest.
At the start of 2020, I was working for sprint as a sales rep. It was cool, but it wasn’t where I was supposed to be. It wasn’t until the pandemic and me being promoted to an assistant manager at Sprint that made me realize I wasn’t living in my purpose. In July, work had been iffy for maybe a week or two before I recorded the song that I shot my actual first video too; “in my feelings”. In this song, I reminisce on struggling, going without and basically just being depressed with life and experiences. The song was so poorly recorded, mixed and mastered that I didn’t even put the video out until late October. The Sprint store closed back in March, so from April to July, I was strategizing ways to get my music heard and start my brand as an artist, as “Cliché” and I had hustled over 30k and started acting on my plan. I found myself traveling more from July through September. So I quit my job in September while I was on vacation in Houston because I wanted to go to California the following week. I don’t regret it, because while In Cali I was so inspired. The lights, the hills, the stores, the cars, the houses, all of it made me want to live in my passion more. I ended up releasing the “in my feelings” music video, which I shot with soon to be rich films & it actually hit 2 or 3k views in the first or second month and I was surprised because I didn’t promote it or talk about it much on my socials.
It’s like people just tuned in. That motivated me to work on and release an EP and I had just discovered a studio home in Orlando, which is my hometown. So I felt it all tied into one meaning, which was “get back in the studio”. I released my debut EP “Pieces” on November 26th which was Thanksgiving day, it consisted of five tracks and since it’s been streamed over 20k times on Spotify in 19 different countries. I was proud of my end of the year wrap up seeing that I only had maybe 48 days in the calendar or a little bit over that and still did substantial in numbers. At the end of the year I released a single titled “owe nobody” which has been my hottest track to date being streamed 15k times since its release & previewed on more than five blogs on Instagram. The song is still growing to date and I think it will have its moment still, even if it’s 6 months from today. I haven’t slowed down though; I shot the video with JMB in Miami but I haven’t released it due to wanting to brand and promote it more.
I’m currently working day to day on singles, I dropped another single Feb. 24th & it’s also streaming well on all platforms. The video to that song also is ready to be released and was directed by Ghost in Orlando. So I’m working constantly every day, right now my studio home is based in Longwood at JAICA Creative Studios, I try to record at least three times a week and push out four videos each Quarter. I do not plan on slowing down or letting up on this momentum as I do have goals to be the most talked about artist this year, most influential female artist ever and the biggest freshman artist of 2022 for sure if not 2021. My biggest project this year will be titled “before the rain” it will be my documentary album at the end of the year and will include 13-16 tracks. In the meantime, stay tuned for Freestyles, music videos & new singles that’ll be dropping every other week for the rest of the year.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, but also haven’t been the bumpiest either I think with less baggage and passengers your mission goes a lot smoother. The main struggle for me is lack of support if anything.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a music artist, I’m known for my charismatic ways but I am most proud of me taking this step into my artistry. I think what sets me apart from Others is my hunger and tenacity to win. My ability to be “struggle proof.”
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
What makes me happy is making other people happy and I think it stems from being hurt a lot and experiencing pain so young.
Pricing:
- Booking for walkthroughs $300
- Booking for Outreach Programs Speeches $150
- Booking for Features $500
- Feature with a music video $900
- Cliché merch $33 T-Shirt
Contact Info:
- Instagram: 1_cliche
- Facebook: Real Cliché
- Twitter: 4themonie
- Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UC07X2tcK3bl0O1MnXpfzieg
- SoundCloud: Cliché
Image Credits
Astrop world media Directed by Ghost Shot By Exotic Studios Danny2x9
