Semaj McLeod on Turning His Passion for Music Into a Career

By Isabella Kooch

Artists and fans alike have celebrated the increase of venue openings and the return of concerts, but those behind the scenes in the music industry may be the most joyous of all. Semaj McLeod (he/him), the 20-year-old concert reviewer and journalist, has produced more and more content every day due to the increase of normality within shows and branding. 

McLeod grew up in Jersey City, one of the most diverse cities in the country, allowing him to be surrounded by different cultures and influences. McLeod's single mother, originally from Trinidad and Tobago, had a significant impact on him. She contributed to McLeod's drive to find a career path that he could strive for both his family and himself.

 "I work and do this to potentially return on that family investment because I know that's not easy. I watched it happen," McLeod said. This allowed McLeod to be conscientious of his lifestyle and make sure he was content with what he was doing, which brought him to take a gap year from college after his first year at NJCU. "I felt like I wasn't learning much, and [it] was holding me back from getting to that position of what I wanted to do," McLeod said. He acknowledged that college is not for everyone; because of this motivational drive he created he was able to construct a new career path of his own. 

Music was one of the biggest influences on McLeod growing up. In middle school, McLeod enjoyed the playlist his soccer team practiced to, although there wasn't much depth to his knowledge of music yet. After discovering College Dropout by Kanye West in 2016, McLeod established a deeper connection with music that went beyond simply enjoying a song. When trap rap came, a new wave of hip hop entered that McLeod was eager to dive into, and started to understand connecting influences within rap. His discovery of Jaden Smith introduced alternative hip hop and other musicians that represent a wider realm of the genre. Inspired, McLeod helped represent Jaden Smith and his Misfit label for years. He was exposed to the inner workings of the music industry during this time, and it wasn't as glamorous as he had hoped. 

"People in Hollywood choose to associate themselves with really shitty people, who do really shitting things," he said. This realization allowed McLeod to reconsider his efforts to fulfill a happy career working with artists, "I'm happy I was exposed to it because I'm even more aware of things to look out for, and said 'when I get where I want to be, I don't want to emulate this energy.'"

McLeod was offered the opportunity to express his interest in music in new ways when he began writing for SOHH publications, an all-black-owned news site. "They're really invested in giving black creators and journalists a platform.," he said. In his writing, McLeod has focused on following trends hip hop artists promote. 

"My two favorite things are clothes and music. I want to find a way to integrate my personality into these pieces,"  McLeod said; since establishing a platform, he has been able to produce articles revolving around promotion and branding. His most recent piece described rapper A$AP Rocky's new collaboration with Mercedes Benz and how different brands are eager to relate fashion to music. To stay on top of trends, McLeod relies on Instagram to find promotional branding on the app. 

In response to his concert reviews, McLeod makes sure to intake every experience at a show. "I had to pay attention to details of the environment, and what's going on around you, which is really nice to visibly see the adaptation of what works and what doesn't," McLeod said. He argues that natural writing comes solely through immersing yourself in the experience and giving it your full attention. 

McLeod has found ways to advance his writing skills, develop time management through creating consistent articles, and has goals to remove the editorial aspect of writing as a whole. From his first article, he has grown to value being concise for his pieces to become more reader-friendly.. He has taken his experience in the industry as both a learning experience, and an opportunity to have fun within his passion. "My goal is just to consistently get better," he said.

Check out Semaj’s articles here https://www.sohh.com/author/smcleod/.