Jelani ‘KingIzHere’ Lofton is a 14 year old actor, dancer, songwriter, and recording artist from Atlanta, GA. He’s worked with a handful of industry professionals including Childish Gambino on the hit FX series “Atlanta,” Queen Latifah on the Fox series “Star” and more.

In this interview spotlight, I chat with KingIzHere about his latest release, motivations, challenges and more.

Full Q&A along with links and music below.

Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)

“I’m from Atlanta, Georgia and I create music that’s pretty energetic and upbeat for the most part.”

What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?

“I started dancing at like six years old, but when I turned 12 or 13 I decided that I wanted to create my own music rather than dance to somebody else’s.”

How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?

“I think this release gears towards one of those songs you’d listen to at night while in the car or on a plane. I was tryna make a song that had a night-time vibe that you’d just nod your head to, no matter how many times you’ve heard it.”

Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this oversaturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?

“Being overlooked and not taken serious. But, technology helped a lot because I never had to physically go out and hand out CD’s to a hundred people a day because people prefer streaming services.

What was the last song you listened to?

“1400/999 Freestyle by Trippie Redd (ft. Juice WRLD), that’s like the best song ever right now.”

Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?

“MP3’s cause I don’t remember the last time I played a CD, and I’m not even sure what a Vinyl is.”

How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why? 

Definitely Spotify, I got a playlist with about a 120 songs on it that I can’t go a week without listening to.”

Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?

Probably Instagram, cause I’m not that boujee and actually try to reply to DM’s.

Anything else before we sign off?

“Make sure to connect with me on my socials, so you’ll know when I release a music video for another unreleased song called Deposits.”