People who are born and raised in the south has many admires, and Pop/Soul singer/songwriter/dancer Ja' Pan Nation is being admired for many things; his singing, songwriting, dancing, his muscular body (the brother does has a lovely physique) and his southern hospitality. Born and raised in Texas, the talented singer became found his calling to be an entertaining after watching Grammy-Award winning entertainer Janet Jackson's social-conscious video "Rhythm Nation." After watching that video, he began to hone his chops by rehearsing and singing on a daily basis, and all that work has paid off; the singer has released two hits, while his current single "Club Banger" which was produced by Kay'Vion Sire was elected to be on a mix-tape. The singer had took time out to speak via telephone about his career, the importance of putting on a good show and music with a positive vbe.
DA-PROFESSOR: How are things going for you in 2012?
JA'PAN: It's going really good. Everything is moving along faster than I expected so it's already set in stone that's it's gonna be a busy year.
DA-PROFESSOR: How did you become involve in music?
JA'PAN: I was about 5 or 6, and I saw Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation 1814" and that was like the video and artist that inspired me to be great (so) I found my nitch and I've been doing it ever since then.
DA-PROFESSOR: Who else inspires you besides Miss Janet?
JA'PAN: Besides Janet, Britney Spears, Beyonce Knowles. We can't leave out Michael Jackson, Usher, Marvin Gaye, James Brown and Prince. I really love Prince.
DA-PROFESSOR: Tell me what do you admire about those artists?
JA'PAN: I just love the fact they embody definition of (what) an entertainer is. They all have the full package, They can perform at sold-out arenas and they can give you your money's worth. They can sing, They can dance. They have very creative mind sets and are unique in their own way.
DA-PROFESSOR: You have a unique stage name. How did you come up with it an what does it stand for and represents?
JA'PAN: (J)aunted (A)ndrogynous (P)latformed (A)dvantegous (N)oteworthy (Nation)symbolizes what influenced me to be who I am. (Janet Jackson - Rhythm Nation 1814 ) it is also a reminder of my god given mission. Which is to go to the NATIONS ans save souls for god thru my Musical Prescence, Performance, Advice, and Salvation.
DA-PROFESSOR: Very interesting. I've listened to your music and I noticed that your music has all elements including Pop, Soul and Dance. What prompted you to include those genres in your music?
JA'PAN: Well because I want everybody to have something to listen to. I don't want be come one of those artists to be categorized to one thing. I love all forms of music. I believe in loving all forms of music gives me an advantage to give something to enjoy for everybody. Something they will enjoy.
DA-PROFESSOR: Ja' Pan. You brought up an interesting point. Many Black artists feel that they have to only perform R&B and Hip-Hop music, and they feel they can't branch out due to fears of being called sell-outs and not being Black enough. How important is it for Black artists to explore other genres of music?
JA'PAN: I would say the very first thing is that they gave to remember we're put on this earth for a reason. We're all people. It doesn't matter color or not. So the best way to go about it is if you want your craft to reach out the world and unfortantely, it is not just made of one ethnic person, so you have to be able to change a whole different race. I wouldn't be afraid of what my ethnically say and I understand cause I know the ones who understand understand. That's how I look at it.
DA-PROFESSOR: I've noticed that you do a lot of dancing. How long have you've been dancing?
JA'PAN: I've been dancing about the same amount of time. Since I was 4 or 5.
DA-PROFESSOR: I appreciate the copies of your music you send me. What was the inspiration for "Get Loose?"
JA'PAN: The inspiration for "Get Loose" was the Jackson family. I don't feel like the industry would be the same without them, and (they are) such great idols for me. That's part of me. I can make their legacy can be lived on through me, cuz there's so much of them in me, plus I have my own twist to make Ja'Pan, but those (2) Jacksons. You know what I'm saying? So for "Get Loose" I was thinking M.J. all the way.
DA-PROFESSOR: I told you my favorite song of yours is "Make Love." What inspired you to write that pretty ballad?
JA'PAN: For "Make Love" the inspiration was I show my fans that I'm human too and we get sexually frustrated and we all have those fantasies and things that we want with whoever we love. That's what inspired it and I can be open-minded when it comes to making love,
DA-PROFESSOR: That's been on my playlist all day. (Both laughs and giggles).
JA'PAN: That's really good to hear.
DA-PROFESSOR: Have you done any performances?
JA'PAN: My last performance was on December 16 for a record label and it was exclusive and I had a great time and met a lot of great people.
DA-PROFESSOR: You're from Texas. They are many talented people who came from Texas including The original Destiny's Child, Johnny Taylor as well as Kirk Franklin and H-Town. How does it feel coming from that state where these talented people are from and how do you feel you're gonna add to their musical legacy?
JA'PAN: I actually feel honored and the reason I feel honored is because we all represent Texas in different ways. Beyonce Knowles opened the door for the female genre. Especially for the group genre with Destiny's Child and we have a lot of rappers that paved but we don't have anybody from Dallas except Erykah Badu, but she's Soul. If we can get a male Pop star, I really thing that will really complete
Texas.
DA-PROFESSOR: There's a-lot of people who love southern people. Tell me from your perspective, what is about southerners that makes northerners want to holla at them?
JA'PAN: One thing I can say is that we're really considerate people. Southern hospitality. We're out going. We're ready to meet anybody. Just the way of being brought up I guess.
DA-PROFESSOR: What are you comfortable with? Dance songs, ballads or both?
JA'PAN: Well actually, I'm working on every type. I really want to first and foremost promote the fact that I'm an entertainer, so I always want my fans to be up and dancing but at the same time, I want them to relate to them with the ballads as well. I want to be respected as an entertainer, but as a vocalist as well. So I'm thinking I'm going half and half with that.
DA-PROFESSOR: In addition to singing and writing, do you plan on doing any acting and modeling?
JA'PAN: Well of course. Modeling comes with the territory. There's photo shoots you're taking and it's building up your portfolio, so I guess you can say I'm modeling already. Acting definitely I want to look into after I inspired the world musically.
DA-PROFESSOR: If you had the opportunity to work with any musician mainstream and independent, who would it be?
JA'PAN: I would have to say Lady Ga-Ga, I would also like to work with Miguel. He's an up and coming artist star.
DA-PROFESSOR: Miguel who performs "Quickie" and "Vixen." I love Miguel.
JA'PAN: Right! Miguel is hot. My favorite song is "Girl Like You." I would love to work with Usher, Tyresse and Janet.
DA-PROFESSOR: Speaking of Janet, what are your favorite songs and albums of Janet's?
JA'PAN: WOW! I'm a die hard Janet fan, so I love every single album she's done. Even the undergrounds people don't know about, but I would have to say that my favorite album would be "The Velvet Rope."
DA-PROFESSOR: Mines too!
JA'PAN: Really?
DA-PROFESSOR: Yes!
JA'PAN: Velvet Rope. That's great. "Velvet Rope: has so much richness. I love that side of Janet.
DA-PROFESSOR: You also have a nice physique. How do you keep that physique?
JA'PAN: It's that I'm making sure I diet correctly and working out to the point where I can't do it no more
DA-PROFESSOR: So when will the album be released?
JA'PAN: Actually, I don't have a tentative date. I really want to have a lot of material under my belt. I want everybody to love the album from start to finish.
DA-PROFESSOR: Ja'Pan you brought up an interesting point of making sure you're album comes out right as opposed to be putting it out just to put it out and thinking that because you have a muscular physique you can walk on the stage without giving a good show.
JA'PAN: It's very important to me. It's almost as important is me making sure I'm right with God before I sleep at night type of thing. I want fans I have starting out to know that are already aware that I'm giving them my all. That's what separates the men from the boys (and) the that's what separates the adults from the children in the industry. Showmanship is everything. Sometimes the material on the album may not be that good, but your showmanship at the end of the day is that sells you, so I feel like the more time you put into your production, the people would want to see you. That's how it started out until the late 90's ended. Showmanship is everything. It's not about taking your shirt off. It's not about walking back and forth across the stage. It's just making sure everyone is entertained from start to finish. You make sure you have a memorable performance.
DA-PROFESSOR: What do you want fans to get from your music?
JA'PAN: I want fans to get from my music positivity. Every subject I'm gonna write about it is gonna promote positive direction and that's basically what I want to talk about. Even the sexual songs are still gonna go in a positive direction. It's not gonna be in a way to disrespect a woman.
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