Mason J Presents: Hyway Jackson

[boss]

You only need one person to believe in you, if you already believe in yourself.

And that’s what Hyway Jackson (Hakeem Nickerson) had to learn to beat the odds that were stacked against him, and smash through the prison of his past to escape the inner-city slums, if his v ision to become a recording artist were meant to be his reality.

That “believer” would be super-producer Christopher Starr, who founded CSP Music Group. Starr, who has worked with the likes of Mary J. Blige, Christina Aguilera and Chris Brown, carves out his day in his Atlanta-based recording studio sculpting the careers of aspiring recording artist and songwriters to help them fulfill their dreams of becoming successful in the music industry. During the process of their sessions under his guidance, artist are also coached on the business of the music industry and what it takes to be successful in their art.

Starr’s firm provides services equal to most major labels, but differs in the sense that the company allows artists to take creative control of their profession. The label’s infrastructure and the opportunity to work with front-runners who have vast knowledge of the industry appealed to Hyway Jackson and his management team. And it was Hyway’s genuineness to lay down the tracks to his troublesome past and to use his visions for his future to serve as a positive example to others who can learn from his bygones, that was equally appealing to Starr.

Sensing Hyway’s pledge to encourage others for all the right reasons, Starr assembled his crew of engineers in his state-of-the-art studio, and took Hyway Jackson under his wing. It was there that the process for Hyway’s debut single, VISIONZ was shaped.

VISIONZ, which was written by Hyway Jackson and produced by Starr and Bishop, gives insight into his thoughts as he fulfills his dream of becoming an artist. The song takes you on a visual journey about embracing your ideas, speaking them into existence with confidence, and then having them revealed from the spiritual into the physical realm. The track gives you an entire picture of Hyway’s life and how his thoughts and dreams are now manifesting right before his eyes.

On the first verse Hyway depicts how he started from scratch and built his foundation from the bottom, as he raps, “I built me up some s*** from the Ground Up, from Rough to Real to Rich….,” and goes on to explain how the spirit of his music and patience has elevated him to a greater state of existence, “ I’m hanging out the sun roof I feel so alive.” On the hook, he slams on the track, “I have been having Visionz of making some Billions, I have been having Visionz of owning some buildings, … I been having Visionz that we going to make it, Cuz Risk Takerz Global that D like the Ravens,” - summing up his dreams.

Circumstances led to him being sent to live with his grandmother, who raised him during his young years. Deprived by the conditions that was an everyday way of life in the projects, Hyway knew he didn’t want to become another black male casualty of the reckless thug crime that wrapped around his environment in the hood. He loved shooting hoops on the basketball courts, in neighborhood community centers and playing ball against his peers at his East Orange high school gym which was the sanctuary that would keep his mind off the streets. But as a kid who existed in trappings that made him vulnerable to the neighborhood gangsters mirrored in front of him, in time, he would get sucked in. Fast money, women, nice cars and dope, spelled Fame, Power, and Respect, where he came from. It was a lifestyle that seemed desirable. Why wouldn’t it? It was all he’d witnessed and known growing up.

Soon he was on his own fast track chasing quick money as a means to provide for his family, but not wanting to do much to earn it. It would eventually become his downfall and land him in prison on a federal drug trafficking charge at the young age of 20. Upon his release he knew he had to focus on a more positive way of making a living. To have any kind of future away from his past, he had to end ties with bad circumstances that could potentially be a huge setback. So he moved away from destructive people, places and things - but he didn’t move away from the address of faith. He shifted.

Against all odds, [he knew there were many people who didn’t believe in him], Hyway says,“God gave me a vision and I ran with it.” Now the victory is his! In addition to VISIONZ, [scheduled for release April 26, 2016] Hyway plans well ahead to release his debut EP on Risk Takerz Global, through Mason J Records, a subsidiary label of CSP Music Group. He describes his breakout project as “being the power of having a vision and staying true to what you believe, regardless of any challenges you face. I want others to understand that you have to keep trying.

Hyway Jackson
Mason J Records
CSP Music Group