Jay Critch is a renowned singer, rapper, and songwriter who was born on February 25, 1997. He grew up in Brooklyn with a Trinidadian mom and British-Guyanese dad, Jay was surrounded by Caribbean tunes. His older brother put him onto rappers like Fabolous and Lil Wayne. Even his sister is making a good fortune with her fashion empire.
Now Jay is best known for his remix of the global smash “Did it Again.” In that remix, he receives a guest appearance from another rapper, Rich The Kid. His journey to musical prominence began with SoundCloud. He began releasing music on SoundCloud in 2016 and became famous a year later.
Jay Critch’s Siblings and Early Life
Jason Cole Critchlow was born in Brooklyn, New York on February 25th, 1998 to a Trinidadian mother and British-Guyanese father. Though his birth name is Jason, he later adopted the stage name “Jay Critch” when he pursued a career in hip-hop music.
As a child, Critchlow was surrounded by a wide array of musical influences right in his neighborhood, from Haitian songs to Jamaican reggae from his parents and popular New York hip-hop radio shows. When asked about his early exposure to music, Critch said:
“When I was growing up in Canarsie, my dad was Haitian, so I would always hear Haitian music. Go down the street, someone is playing Jamaican music, go a little further, somebody is playing Funk Flex on Hot 97. That was my entry into music.”
Jay Critch grew up with two siblings – a younger brother and a sister. His brother was the one who first introduced Jay to rapping and played influential hip-hop artists that he looked up to like Fabolous and Lil Wayne. His sister Kae Critch, now 22 years old, has also found success at a young age by starting two businesses related to clothing and beauty products in Brooklyn. Jay Critch has spoken proudly of his sister’s entrepreneurial success.
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Though Jay Critch graduated high school in 2013, he did not continue his formal education, likely due to the musical ambitions he had from a young age. He has said that he was recording makeshift songs in his friend’s home studio already in 6th grade. In high school, he realized his songs were getting local attention and popularity among his friends. This early traction convinced him that he could make it as an artist someday if he kept perfecting his craft.
Jay Critch’s Music Career
Even from a young age in middle school, Jay Critch was recording his tracks. He has said that in 6th grade he was already “making little tracks” at a friend’s home studio. In high school, his songs were gaining local popularity, which made him believe he could make it as an artist. Critch has stated: “I had songs that everybody liked. So I knew something was gonna go somewhere.”
As Jay Critch kept developing his music skills in high school, his friends noticed his talents and motivated him to keep working at them. Critch has recalled: “When my friends used to talk about it, I used to tell friends all we gotta do is keep persevering and this thing gonna go. I always knew in my heart something was going somewhere.” He realized he struck a chord when his friends were listening to his songs casually in their regular playlists.
In 2015, Jay Critch secured his first major collaboration on the song “Man Down” with popular rapper Rowdy Rebel. This early feature helped him gain some recognition. A year later in 2016, he started releasing songs on SoundCloud to grow his audience. His big break came when rapper Rich the Kid remixed Critch’s track “Did It Again” and signed him to his label Rich Forever Music in November 2016. Their remix went viral immediately, amassing over 1 million YouTube views within a week.
Jay Critch dropped his first official solo mixtape “Hood Favorite” in November 2018, featuring appearances from Offset, French Montana, and Fabolous. Over the next few years, he released two more mixtapes “Signed With Love” (2020) and “Critch Tape” (2021) boasting features from today’s popular artists like Lil Tjay, Fivio Foreign, and Drakeo the Ruler.
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Most recently on February 17th, 2023, Jay Critch released a new studio album called “Jugg Season” under his current label Talk Money Entertainment. The album contains hit songs like “Handle” and “Minutes” that also have buzzworthy music videos.
His Presence on Social Sites
On Instagram, his verified account “@jaycritch” has amassed over 1.1 million followers. In addition to Instagram, Jay Critch has grown a respectable YouTube subscriber with over 219K subscribers as of 2023. His YouTube handle is “@JayCritch” where he posts new music videos. He also has a Facebook page with 202K followers.
