Soulful Sounds and Global Grooves: Unveiling Musical Unity with DJ Jay Rags
S6:E99

Soulful Sounds and Global Grooves: Unveiling Musical Unity with DJ Jay Rags

Brief summary of episode:

Jay Rags is a deejay, poet, creative, promoter, and former coffee shop owner from Baltimore, now based in Medellin, Colombia. To hear him dj is to hear a soulful House, Afro-beat, & discofied funk.
Jay is from the Baltimore/DC area now living in Medellin, Colombia. He is the creator of the Baltimore based house music & open-mic website blackbookscafe.com( circa 2002), a co-creator of what would become known as Baltimore’s Collective Minds festival, Poetry4People 2006 “Walkit-Talkit Integrity” award winner, creator of the Soul Fiesta party started in 2003-present, FELA! cast party in Baltimore, Baltimore Felabrations, creator of Studio Sessions Live at Artscape, author/poet of Tribe Called Soul Fiesta, a prolific dj that rocks underground House, afrobeat, latin, and Soul music. He is the self-proclaimed Baltimore king of cultural dance music. Before moving to Colombia he had a weekly Soul Fiesta show on handzonradio.fm. Jay was also creator and owner of NuBohemia coffee shop in the Mt. Vernon area of downtown Baltimore(2013-2018) The coffee shop sold great coffee, hosted many artistic events, sold vinyl records, and was in at least 3 national magazines.
While being a super creative, Jay Rags produced an underground mashup for his deejay sets called "Baba Yaga's Revenge" which he helped to make sure it found itself in dj sets all over the world. He also has spoken word on record labels like Spiritual Blessing and POJI records

The Truth In This Art
The Truth In This Art is a podcast interview series supporting vibrancy and development of Baltimore & beyond's arts and culture.

Mentioned in this episode:
Soul Fiesta

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Creators and Guests

Rob Lee
Host
Rob Lee
The Truth In This Art is an interview series featuring artists, entrepreneurs and tastemakers in & around Baltimore.
John M. Johnson Jr. (Jay rags)
Guest
John M. Johnson Jr. (Jay rags)
Out of the urban setting of Baltimore comes one of the most unique talents to ever come out of the shadows of just being a dancer. In his childhood John M. Johnson Jr. aka Jay Rags was exposed to club life and disco music through his parents/elders taking him to the kiddy discos of Baltimore’s famous Odell’s nightclub.