12 minute read
interviews
SONÉT Built to Win
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@nine5fourmagazine @inprincewetrust
What’s your name and where you from? I was born and raised in Pompano Beach Broward County Florida.
How long have you been making music? I’ve been writing music since I was 14 years old.
How would you describe your sound for those who have never heard your stuff? I would describe my sound as engaging.
Who are some of your musical influences? Some of my musical influences are Whitney Houston & Michael Jackson.
When did you realize you had enough talent to take music seriously? I was in high school, about 15 years old, when me and two other friends were sitting in my mother’s Jeep and one day we decided to play some instrumentals and do a couple of freestyles. From that, I found an instrumental, wrote to it and the rest was history. The next day I had a full song and we went to my friend’s cousin’s house to record it. There was a mic stand in the middle of the room and I had to record in front of about 10 people. Once I got the finished product, I thought this was something I could do for a very long time. Especially since it came so easy to me.
What are your writing prices like? Do you write to a beat or do the lyrics come first? Depending on the mood, I don’t always need a beat but some of my most inspirational songs come from a true story with a fire beat in the background.
Tell us about the song “fake everything”? The song fake everything is based on true experiences. And what I took from those experiences is that not everyone you encounter, whether it be friends or even a family member, will always be capable of reciprocating what you invest into a relationship genuinely and transparently.
What do you think you can add to the game right now? What I would bring to the game is an original and refreshing sound. I don’t only make music just to have a whole lot of body of work. I create music to inspire.
If you can choose any mentor to help you navigate the entertainment industry who would it be and why? I would have to say Master P or Jay Z. Reason being?... The names speak for themselves.
What is your motivation to succeed as an artist? My Ol Girl! Most definitely. She taught me to always have a vision. Put passion behind it, build it, push it and above all else be CONSISTENT!
Who would be your dream collaboration? My dream collaboration would be with Michael Jackson & Bruno Mars.
What are some of the things you want to accomplish as an artist? Some of the things that I would like to accomplish as an artist are to perform in London, China, Africa & Australia. I’m talking global baby!
If people want to get a better feel for your sound what projects should they check out? They can definitely take a listen to the last project I put out in September 2019. Verbatim. I allow the listener to be able to choose from a variety of styles from pop to hip-hop and R&B.
Do you have any projects coming up that we should be on the lookout for? I’m currently working on my 1st EP. Self-titled Sonét. I’m working on releasing it this summer in July.
Tell our readers now where they can follow you on social media? You can look me up on all the major social media platforms. I’m on Instagram @iamsonet. Facebook SONÉT. Twitter @IamSonet_ And YouTube SONÉT.
Peace to the people, you can just call me OC I’m here with Ford ent Magazine and I have a special guest, Mr. Jabari Hayes. We’re gonna get into this interview I’m gonna let him introduce himself and tell you a little bit about his story and then get into some of these questions. First, let me tell you why he’s here. He has a documentary that he stars in, produced by himself and Mr. Shawn Mathis. Just tell us a little bit about that. I’d rather you tell us what the documentary entails. My name is Jabari Hayes, and my documentary is ‘Miles in the Life’ directed by the infamous, the vainglorious, Shawn Mathis. It’s a story of redemption, the story of inspiration from the crackhouse to Moorehouse, to prison house... All the houses. It’s a story! A lot of people when they think of BMF, (Black Mafia Family), they think about $270 Million cocaine conspiracy, 2,500 kilos every month. They think about the parties, the strippers, the clubs, the money, the cars, and the houses. But it was really about a brotherhood with the sole purpose of being the best at what we were doing at that time. So we wanted to give the audience and the world a different perspective, like fathers, men who took their talents and put them in the wrong direction like trafficking and selling cocaine. But we’re just a collection of men who tried to do something different. It was wrong, and now we’re rebuilding our lives and we wanna show the world that you can be a father, you can be on PTA, you can be a faithful husband, you can be a business owner, you can get everything back you were chasing and more, just legally. The one question I’ve been waiting to ask since, you know I watched the documentary, me personally, I don’t know how you feel about it but when you came up with this concept, did it ever cross your mind, that “somebody might look at me as a snitch” or somebody be on my heels or something. How did you deal with that thought process? I love that question! Number 1; What I tell people all the time, number 1, in this life, for us, I would have been dead. Period. Someone else was on house incarceration like I was, as a condition of my bond. Unfortunately for those people, don’t know em, don’t know anything about them, but the girlfriend and him didn’t live. Number 2; Paperwork is paperwork. Number 3; I have family members who allegedly associated, and this isn’t just a light question, its a very heavy question because my own family would do me. And it sounds crazy to even say that but this is the reality. I sleep good every night, I slept good inside too, because I know what I did, and it’s just a blessing to be home, to be free, to live good. Never have to look over my shoulder, still in communication, at a distance, from a lot of people coz they’re still in prison or other places so the communication isn’t good, because things have a way of intertwining. When your circle is that way and you’ve got that skill set, people that may be listening, they put you together. But I’m glad you asked that question because that’s always something I like to address upfront. I still speak to people, go to birthday parties together, I don’t go to no clubs... but that’s a big question, people don’t understand when you’re reckless and you don’t know anything, this is for real life. Because you see me in a suit, coz I’m a happy guy and all the rest of that stuff, but don’t try me, and I couldn’t try them or else I wouldn’t be sitting here today. And I’ve been free for 10 years, go anywhere I want, any city, anybody, any place.
Don’t let the suit fool you... It’s not something I brag on, but unfortunately, I got caught with $586,000 and 100 plus kilos of cocaine. But that wasn’t the first time, or the second time. That wasn’t the third time or the 4th time. So when you have a certain position in an organization, you need to play your role. So you need to look like the average person because they don’t think you’re a drug dealer. When you said that in the documentary, I said “that man is smart.” So how was it dealing with when you were first brought into the organization and they saw you in the suits. Did any of the guys try you? They didn’t try me, but a lot of them didn’t trust me in the beginning. But they didn’t know coz if you look at me you would never think I started trafficking at 6. At 6 years old I started trafficking trading bags of weed for my mother from next door to home. I was gun-running in my teens. So a lot of people didn’t understand it. Until you try, test it and true and you get pulled over, you got bricks in the car and your homeboy in the back and you cooler than a fan, and telling him to calm down. Lifetime ago. So yeah, it’s a time thing. People watch you. But after a while, you’re just there. Because what happens is, they never see all of us coming. BMF is comprised of Mexicans, Cubans, Blacks, Light skin, Dark skin, everything. We get to the same point, we get it done. It’s a business. That’s what people forgot. They thought it was just drugs, but it’s a business. Telling those stories of when you got pulled over, you seem pretty calm telling those stories. At that moment, were you as calm as you spoke about in the film? I felt it, but I didn’t feel it from me. I felt what the whole mob’s money on my back, I felt it for everybody else because I had been used to it. I had been doing it by that time, for 20something years so that shut-off valve wasn’t there. You know it’s wrong but this is part of life. It’s what we
do for a living. And not only is it just the mob’s money, but it’s my family too. People loosely say things, but they don’t understand that the whole family gets killed if things aren’t right. If the paperwork ain’t right, if when they look on that sheet, what the police wrote down, if that’s not right, everybody dies. It’s not just “oh he done told on us.” No, it’s a whole lot different and it’s a weird feeling. You get so brazen that you want them to pull you over. You done got away so many times. Like, you want them to. I know how yall live. I know the question they’re gonna ask before they even ask them. I know what spots they’re going to in the car because I’ve read everyone else’s paperwork and discovery. It wasn’t a game. I remember the story you told about they wanted to look inside the limo. Me, I would have just said No. I wouldn’t have thought to take them through and actually run it like I’m a car salesman. Meanwhile, they’re turning up seats. For you to hold your composure like that, what was that like at that moment? At the moment, it’s your time to shine. Because your life depends on it. They can kill you, take the work, or you can go to prison for who knows how long, so at that time it’s a surreal time. You’re a different person because you want to make it home. You want to get away from them, but you gotta be calm. It’s the craziest feeling you’ll ever have but you know you have to be calm. Because if you’re not calm, you’re gonna blow it, you gon be in the back of that car and it’s over. And after they let you go you just... *Exhales* I’ve never robbed a bank, nor do I want to. But I could imagine, the adrenaline rush. See my drug of choice was adrenaline. I don’t use drugs. I don’t taste drugs. I sample nothing. ‘92 was the last time I had a drink, but trafficking drugs, that was my everything, I lived for it. It was my everything in my life. It wasn’t my child, my mother, my father, my wife. It was BMF, them drugs, and feeding my addiction. Those were the biggest things. Number 1, number 2, and number 3 in my life, then me. Going back, all the way back to the beginning, what made you dig within to find that desire to pursue the BMF life. I had a cousin. He didn’t bring me into it. I actually wanted in. He wouldn’t let me in, because I was his cousin and at that time, when he was the king of St Louis. He was bigger than Meech and T, so I had an instant pass into the life. And for somebody who liked to have a lot of money, I love to drive, still, and that was an adrenaline junkie that was looking to replace that runner’s high that I had from track, I was All American in Track and Field at Moorehouse. So getting into trafficking, pushing myself, being part of a team, it was so intoxicating. That, to this day, that is my drug of choice that I fight against myself every day. Last question, the two businesses, the valet service and limousine service, cover-ups, or true entrepreneurial love? Both. I started the valet company, no drugs involved, I started the limousine company, no drugs involved. Then they transitioned from there. But now the Body shop business, collision repair, paint and auto body insurance stuff, that business gives me everything I need. It feeds my addiction to cars, to being a part of a team, to still giving people something that they didn’t have before or when they brought it in. Yeah, it feeds all of my addictions.
Interviewed by OC IG: Oc_Vibez
