When I think of Ju-Taun the song that plays on heavy rotation in my mind is Drake's "Successful" because these four gentlemen epitomize the true hustle and journey to success. Its been a few years since their debut album release How Bad U Want It and now they are taking another step out on faith with their independent album Love Changes Things, which fans locally and nationally have been anticipating.
Ju-Taun definitely brings back that true r&b flavor to the industry. Pete, Jake, Samoeun, and Jamie's voices are smooth as satin and their musical style is reminiscent of Shai, Blacksteet, and Boyz II Men.
Talk about a group that has paid their dues, built a strong foundation as friends, and experienced a taste of the good life as they starred on last years hit show MTV's Top Pop Group. Ju-Taun has been grinding for ten years and Love Changes Things is beyond overdue, but somehow they're just in time to give the industry what its been missing... Its been over a year since the last time i've spoke to these fellas and it is amazing how they have evolved as artists and its evident in their latest single "Get @ Me", which has a magnetic affect that will draw ladies to the dance floor.
So, fans old and new its time to exhale because June 30th is here and you no longer have to wait to hear the sweet sounds of Ju-Taun... If you thought you were knowledgeable about Ju-Taun's journey to success then you need to think again because there is so much more to the four humble, handsome, and talented New Jersey natives.
Check out Part 1 of the exclusive interview with Ju-Taun!
In your own words who is Ju-Tuan?
Jamie: in my own words Ju-Taun is a group that is a real group. We're friends, we were just hanging out together and we decided to sing together, which is how groups normally started back in the day. It wasn't something that was manufactured, it wasn't something that was put together by producers who were looking for a certain type of sound or looking for a certain type of thing, it evolved on its own. Its just something that has been a real natural progression, a real natural process, something that wasn't in our hands, so I think that Ju-Taun is a real vocal group. Its not like four solo singers that are now singing together and will be broken up tomorrow, this is a group of guys that are making music together and its not just your normal typical group of singers, we also write and produce our music together.
So, no Making The Band Here.
Jamie: No disrespect to Making The Band, but we didn't make the band, we are the band!
Thats right! So, when I interviewed you guys last year we were talking about your journey as emerging artists and performing at local colleges and pushing your album on the streets of Philly and Times Square. Describe your journey thus far from then to now.
Pete: Since, the last time we spoke with you the biggest thing that happened to us was being on MTV's Top Pop Group and we met so many people and we were exposed to a whole world that we knew existed, but we never knew how it worked. And, it just made us see how many people we could touch. Millions of people saw us on TV and til this day we still get responses today all over the net when we're talking to all of our fans about how that affected them and how all the people that we met on the show we affected them also. The name of our album Love Changes Things is like when we meet people we want to make sure that when they meet us that we affect the way they live their life. Just working on our album has been a long journey and it feels like its all coming together and its all suppose to be like this, it wasn't something that was fabricated, its all destiny.
Okay, that goes into my next question. How was your experience on MTV's Top Pop Group?
Samoeun: Actually, the show was like a vacation. We were so used to being in the grind and working 24/7. We were working in California, the weather was nice, we got paid to do what we loved, and worked with the top choreographers, and the top vocal coaches in the country. It was just awesome! We met beautiful people that we are still friends with today. It was a total blessing!
How has your fan base grown since the show?
Jake: After we got back from the show and about a month later we did a concert in Mississippi in the middle of nowhere and they wanted us to go to the schools to get the kids hyped about the show. We were like why would we do that because nobody really knows who we are, but we went to like five different schools and when we got there people went crazy and when we got on stage and we asked how many of ya'll know us and the kids went crazy. So, we realized people actually watched us when we were in LA in our little bubble and you didn't realize how many millions of people are watching the show all over the world.
Is it crazy going to the mall today?
Jamie: Yea, Its crazy cuz when we were around in our own area before people always recognized us because we were always out selling cds in the mall, putting posters up everywhere, and people were like, "Oh, you guys are the group thats always selling ya cds!" But now its like, "Oh, wassup we saw you on TV!" Its a totally different vibe, so we still get the same core people that remember us selling our cds, but now they know us as being on TV as a group.
Now, you worked with a lot of different artists on MTV's Top Pop Group, what did you take from that experience?
Jamie: I think one of the biggest things that we took away from that experience is that it was another challenge that we conquered. We were saying that it was a lot of pop music and choreography that we were not normally doing, but we knew that we were capable of. Even the choreographers were amazed at how well we picked it up and how good we did with the choreography. They were expecting us to come in and only be able to do a couple of things, but if the show would have lasted longer I think we would have been able to go a lot further with the choreography. Being on the show we really saw a lot more of what we were capable of doing.
How did you guys feel about not winning?
Pete: We couldn't have lost to anyone better. When we first started the show everyone was good. We love everybody and Mosaic was the group that won and we felt like they were our mentors. So, for us to lose to them its a compliment to be so close and be right behind them and it was only by a couple votes and we love those guys either way.
Well, for the record I was little upset at you guys lost because my friends and I were voting for you guys all the time.
Ju-Taun: Aww... Thanks!
Love Changes Things is being released digitally and I know you guys have been pushing your album hard on the web. How has the internet played a role in your career and help put Ju-Taun out there?
Jake: [laughter] Its meant everything for us man! The web has changed the game for independent artists and has put us on a platform to the world. The only thing is a lot of artists don't want to take advantage of it and we're just hungry, so we've been trying to go as hard as we could to get our name out there. Its just amazing how many fans we have, but we're doing a video together now of our fans all over the world just saying the statement, "I believe love changes things!" to go along with our album and we're getting people from everywhere like Ukraine.
Jamie: So, it just shows you how you can just touch people from all over.
How long have you guys been pursuing a career in music?
Jamie: Well, we've been singing together for ten years, but we actually put our first product together six years ago. Its so funny because we were just talking about the first time we ever sold our cds is when we went to this event out in Philly and we didn't have our cds yet, but we knew they were coming so we went out there selling cds to people without the cds and promising them that we were going to mail them to them when we get them. We actually sold a bunch of cds and that date was June 30, which is so crazy because our new album is coming out June 30th. We just recapped and realized that it is actually a complete 6 year cycle.
Hmm... Thats a good sign guys! Its just amazing to me how you guys just stayed so tight throughout the years and maintained that same grind. How do guys stay so focused and together?
Jake: Its called a higher power! We had a vision for the group and its bigger than each individual and thats something that we keep close to us and that vision is what keeps us going. So, when we're writing these songs, listening to them, mixing them, and mastering them, and we hear them all the time and each song represents where we need to be. We're not even there yet, its just where we need to be. Its kind of like a prophetic thing, so we have to think like, if we don't make it these songs don't mean nothing to us. So, its kind of like we have to keep going not just for us, but for other people because its bigger than us.
Jamie: Plus, its like this whole thing for us from the beginning- you know people always say, "you guys are living your dreams," but I think thats where a lot of people get it wrong because for us its not a dream, to us its a reality, its what we do everyday. We quit our jobs for this, so there is nothing else, when there is nothing else you have to work it, or else you have nothing else. Its just complete faith that we have to have in what we're doing and as you can see if you know the group we have lost a member along the way.
Describe the vibe of the album and what will your listeners receive when listening to Love Changes Things?
Pete: I just received a message yesterday and it said, "I really love the way that you guys give us what love is from a man's point of view". And, it really sums it all up for me and its not just romance love, its love from all angles and how a man should live his life and should look at love and how he wants to give love to others, the way he wants to change others with the love that he gives for other people, and thats why the name of the album is Love Changes Things. So, thats really the whole focus of the album and there's different genres pop, R&B, hip-hop, and whatever you want to call it, but for us its good music because it comes from the heart, and it all has the same message that love can change things.
Jake: At the same time this is something that was inspired by our journey. Like, everywhere we've been, we've realized that even if somebody does us wrong we've realized that if we just continue to show them love in a loving way and say okay we have to work this out because its bigger than them, we always went further. We've been through some horrible situations that nobody would want to go through, but we always try to keep a positive outlook and [figure out] what [we] could we get out of this-there's something there, we didn't know what it was, but there was always something there and you have to keep that and stay in that love perspective. Every time something always good came out of that situation.
Well, describe a situation where there was a road block.
Jamie: When we were on MTV we made up in our minds that we were not going to be into the whole this is a competition, so we need to be rude to everybody, or act like we have egos because thats what you do to stay on the show, or just feed into the drama that you can get into when you do these types of shows. In doing that, the cast of the show became so close, it was truly a huge family-all of the groups and even some of the staff and camera people.
What do you think stands out about Ju-Taun that makes other groups look up to you?
Samoeun: We've been together forever like we were friends before we even became a group and we just had this bond. I think thats what some groups lack is a bond where you don't care about yourself, you care about other people in your corner.
Jake: To just add to that, like I said before we have a vision and its not about me Jake personally, its not about Samouen, its not about Jamie, its not about Pete. Like, whenever we get into an argument we know to refocus because its not about us and that dismisses all things. When your in a group you have to look pass yourself.
Samoeun: Yeah, and another thing you have to go into it knowing that-if you don't want to be in a group its not gonna work. You have to really want to be a group and think I want to make music with these guys, so if there's ever a issue its something we've worked out, and us being together for ten years we've had time to really get to know each other and work out a lot of issues. I mean, there's things about myself that i've change just by being in this group and being around people that are constantly a mirror for me and tell me like, yo thats messed up what you did right there. And, because we love each other we can do that, we can call each other out and not take it personal.
Do you guys feel like you've been preparing this album your whole lives?
Pete: It really does feel like all of our experiences, all of our hurdles, it all came down to this, and it just feels like this is suppose to happen the way we're releasing this album, the way we're touching so many people and we're still independent. It just feels like its suppose to be this way, we've worked hard for so long, and of course you know the story about us hustling in the streets, and that just really humbled us, and we've met so many people along the way and we've treated them with respect and we've learned from other artists that we've ever opened for. So, just having that love and respect for other people it just opened so many doors for us and it just lead us to the point we're at now.
How are you feeling its almost June 30th?
Jake: We're ready! Just working, we're working 16 hour days, and it really has become a Love Changes Things movement. A lot of our fans have been really, really supportive and promoting us. We just feel even before the album comes out so honored and loved by our fans just by the way their supporting us and promoting the album. We definitely understand that its the people that keep you alive.
What interest me about you guys is the connection you have with your fans and how you never seem out of touch from your fans. I mean they can reach you on Myspace, Twitter, and Facebook and your really good about responding.
Jake: We never want to lose that.
To be continued...
