The Tribune

By FARAH
Tribune Features Writer

jgibson@tribunemedia.net

THE OVERLY Genius musical conglomerate hosted its first artist showcase, which served the purpose of formally introducing two new budding Bahamian musicians.

The event took place at Volume Music Bar last week and featured performances by Jay Complex, Adria J and guest artist Judah Tha Lion.

Overly Genius, commonly referred to as OG, was founded by Jay Complex, producer Rambo, Adria J and Holiday Soul. They are managed by Timothy Bain, who is also a co-founder of Three Amigos Media.

Jay Complex and Adria J have been building their fan base over the past few months and wanted to give listeners a taste of the music they can expect to hear as they develop as musicians.

Jay recently released his album, “religionROUGE”, which features songs such as “(Still) Can’t Get Right” and “DUI (Drowning Under Influence)”. He performed the all of the songs from this project during the concert.

In addition to performing his current single, “Swerve In”, featuring Chase Fernander, Jay also performed “S.H.I” which features No Hit Wonders’ artist Judah Tha Lion. He also joined Jay for a rendition of “Lavender/Super High”, which also features Adria J. Judah then performed his current single, “Outlaw”.

“I feel pretty good about it. My performance was not perfect by any means, but that is to be expected for my first experience in performing a full set of songs from an entire project. However, I am also appreciative of what I was able to accomplish despite it being a new experience,” Jay told In Ya Ear.

“The most satisfying thing about the showcase was the crowd that actually showed up to support us, as well as the random patrons that stumbled into the bar without prior knowledge of the evening’s agenda. There was a fairly decent number of attendees, and both parties gave us a gratifying level of genuine interest in what we were trying to accomplish on stage. And that is one of the most powerful driving forces that an artist can thrive on.”

Adria J, who is also in the process of establishing herself on the local music scene, performed her debut EP, entitled “Amaretto”, in full. In addition to performing her popular single “Breakdown”, which speaks to volatile, intimate relationships, Adria J performed a fan favourite, “G.A.N.”, with a several audience members singing along.

“The performance was really stellar. I was incredibly nervous and had enormous butterflies, but I got through it without picturing anyone naked and heard more than five people clapping.
The most satisfying part of the performance was realising I survived the whole thing. I kept looking over at Jay on stage like, ‘Is this really happening? Are they singing my lyrics?’. I thought I would die of happiness,” she said.

The OG teamed would have wanted the show to move along without any mishaps, unfortunately that was not to be the case.

“The showcase was initially intended to have a full live band, but that plan was not able to come to fruition this time. That would have made the biggest difference in the energy of the show. There was a general ambiance of a lounge singer type of performance, which is not a bad thing at all, as OG is a relatively mellow group of creative minds. But the energy I hoped to infuse into my physical performance was difficult to ignite due to the loss of the full live band being able to accompany us on stage,” Jay said.

In spite of this glitch, Jay said they are proud that they were able to leave the audience thoroughly satisfied by the end of the event.