Why Sniper J will take over the underground rap scene.
By: Azaar Ali
Tags: Sniper J, Rap, Jay Johal, Hip Hop

When I listen to Sniper J, I get the true feeling of someone who is passionate. In the long run, you can’t fake it when creating genuine art and this is why Sniper J is such a gem.

Songs like ‘fell asleep on a train’ and ‘Can U Hear Me?’ show that sometimes simplicity is the most powerful method when it comes to conveying a message. Simplicity gives you room to think and add.

Although Sniper J is a vulnerable, heartfelt and soulful artist, this is just one side of him.

Sniper J is also a master in my opinion when it comes to the art of lyricism. He meticulously structures his lyrics to come up with advanced rhyme schemes and mouth grabbing wordplay.

This can be shown in songs like ‘Any Day’ or ‘Suicide Note’

Sniper J is truly a diverse artist and this is the reason I feel like he will not only take over the underground rap scene, but also make a change in the world.

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Who is Sniper J?

Jay Johal (born: March 17, 2001 [age 19]), better known as Sniper J, is an Indo-Canadian hip-hop artist born and raised in Winnipeg, MB. He is known for his songs, such as ‘Sorry Not Sorry’ , ‘Addicted’, ‘Nas Is Like Remix’ , and more. He has been making a variety of different types of music but mainly hip-hop since he was 10 years old.

History

Sniper J began songwriting at the age of 10, inspired by watching the movie 8 Mile and being heavily influenced by Eminem. In 2014, when Sniper J was in junior high school, he and his friends would begin to have rap battles at lunch time. This is what caused Sniper J to put more thought into his lyrics as he would go home to prepare lines after school and memorize them for the next day at school. Sniper J started taking music more serious in 2015 at the age of 14, creating a mixtape, titled Far From Finished.

Sniper J would then go on releasing another mixtape the next year (2016), titled ‘Myrical Mind’ featuring artists such as F8L, T. Chandy and more. In 2017, Sniper J showed major improvements and proved that he was more than just a kid making mixtapes and throwing them online. He began to structure songs better, his music started evolving, he started incorporating visuals and from there he would gain his core fanbase. In October of 2017, he won the ‘R.O.O.G Records ‘ contest with a mic video titled ’16 YEAR OLD KILLS BIGGIE BEAT!!’. The falling of R.O.O.G records would begin with two of the members lashing out on each other through diss tracks and ending with all of the artists going their separate ways. On August 8th of 2018, Sniper J would go on to collab with Dax on a song titled ‘OH 3x’. On August 31st, 2018, Sniper J teams up with Aw6ken and Asa Jake to release his biggest song ‘Sorry Not Sorry’ with over 500k+ streams on Spotify and 100k+ on YouTube and SoundCloud.

On January 3rd of 2019, with Sniper J being a majorly improved version of himself, he decided to release a 7-track EP titled ‘Fictional Existence’. This EP has hints of indie-rock and lo-fi fused in with hip-hop. Fictonal Existence is filled with substance and goes deep into the unfiltered thoughts of an outcast in society. On the 15th of August, 2019, Sniper J headlined his first show in Winnipeg, MB, at the Park Theatre , along with two other artists, named MC Lam and TTCruise. On the 5th of May, 2020, Sniper J releases his second 8-track EP, titled ‘Retina’ .

In Sniper J’s words, “The Retina is a part of our eye that no one can see, but we need it to see. So this EP is how I see things. It’s a combination of different emotional phases. Some tracks are vulnerable and some are ignorant because that’s life.”