Tokyo Jetz is known as an ascending star from the depths of Jacksonville, Florida, with prominent punchlines and gorgeous looks. However, she is much more than meets the eyes or ears. Her soul sticks out the most, and the essence of our conversation captured in general why black women need more respect.
I’ll not call her strong because black women are subjected to have to be that too much. To me, she’s adaptive and resourceful. During the events of the pandemic over the past year, Tokyo raised her son Amir in peace and is still making money moves. Two of my favorite ones are her book and her latest project ‘Cancel Culture.’
Mind Over Matter, Tokyo very own way
Her book titled ‘Mind Over Matter is a more in-depth look into Tokyo’s battle with depression and anxiety during her rise to fame. The transparency and enlightenment from the can be appreciated, especially during an era where mental health issues are at the forefront of the conversation.
In her words, “during my pregnancy, I started changing mentally, and I was inspired to write about what I go through. The books contain my perspective pre and post-pregnancy, which can relate to women and moms all over. I’m glad that it sold out and it was well-received.”
Writing the books proved to be more challenging for her than usual. Being Tokyo’s first experience in curating novels while also be open about her life, it’s easy to understand her troubles. She complied that with raising her son during the pandemic; it’s incredible to think that she did that and came up with a project.
She credits her sister for providing her solid advice that sticks with her this day that helped her. “Learning to accept help from others and allow yourself to be open is key to going to other levels,” Tokyo said.
The success of her book release and sales built momentum for her to come back musically in 2021.
The making of ‘Cancel Culture’ and dealing with the world
After giving birth to Amir in late 2019, Tokyo had plans to drop music when she could tour again. Unfortunately, COVID came and switched up everything for everyone. Coming up with the concept and tracklist proved to be a bit more challenging than usual.
Challenges bring the best out of people
The good news, though, with Tokyo’s new resolve, she tackled the issues head-on and came up with ‘Cancel Culture.’ What makes this project unique is the variety of its parts. Being recorded in many settings and environments allows it to showcase Tokyo’s ability to hit different audiences. The story in particular about how she recorded “When We Ride” featuring Kevin Gates while on tour is extraordinary.
Some of her favorite singles off ‘Cancel Culture’ are “WTYD” Ft. Toosii, “At Em’,” and “Intro.” For me, she and Toosii are a perfect combination, but we knew that from social media. Shockingly, she didn’t like “At Em” at first, but everyone does, so Tokyo likes it now!
“Intro” was her getting a lot of thoughts out of her head and reminding people that she rap raps! Other tracks that stick out to me are “Gang” and “YAK” ft. Jackboy. Overall, it’s a solid body of work and should remind people that Miss Jetz doesn’t play with her wordplay!
A remarkable fact is that the Toosii feature came from years of support before his current rise to fame. Tokyo posted his car freestyles all the time, and that contributed mightily to his current standing. It’s phenomenal to see how the simplest of gestures lead to tremendous results.
The meaning of ‘Cancel Culture’ and what’s next for Tokyo Jetz
The title itself is a clever play-off explaining how people “cancel” people on social media due to one mistake; regardless of the circumstance or if the “cancellation” is warranted, it happens. We’re both people’s people, so it’s refreshing to hear and see artists take on controversial topics with looking to understand instead of judgment.
People on the internet feel like they have the right to end somebody no matter how hard they do. Even if you don’t know what’s going on, they seem always to get it their way. It’s crazy to think about.
Tokyo Jetz on the status of how social media apps on Twitter leads to “cancellation.”
I think my conversation with her about that specifically reinforced a thought I always had. As a society, we need to stop expecting celebrities to be our role models 24/7/365. Yes, they do have responsibility, but they’re human, and we gave them that power, not them. To be honest, most of the ones I interviewed, including Toyko, are good people who want to be private.
That’s why ‘Cancel Culture’ and my interview with Toyko Jetz hits a bit harder. Imagine if Tokyo had to deal with that while raising her son during tough times worldwide? It would be tragic, but I’m glad she’s doing well.
To put it simply, Toyko Jetz is back and in full command of her life. ‘Mind Over Matter is a must-read, and ‘Cancel Culture’ is available on all platforms to stream!
