Up-and-coming rapper and Emery/Weiner sophomore, Jacob Akalou, also known as Jay Screw, recently released his highly anticipated album, FOR THE FUTURE. Akalou’s approach to the album was influenced by Houston’s own DJ Screw, and various styles like Samba and Bossa Nova, which he came by from his time spent in Brazil. Elements of DJ Screw’s style of ‘spaced out and psychedelic’ tones are distinguishable in FOR THE FUTURE. 

When asked what inspired him to create an album Akalou shares “for as long as I can remember I’ve been around music. My parents had a keyboard in front of me since the time I was able to walk.” His dedication to music is apparent in his discography with an impressive feature of his album at the end of “04.09.07” when the beat picks up and then the song switches seamlessly into “FAITH,” the next song on the album. 

It is easy to see that Akalou makes music for others to enjoy. He explains, “this album has taken me places I would never have gone and given me memories I’ll carry with me for life.” Akalou spent the entirety of summer working on the new album whilst meeting many different people, which helped further the production of the album,, “a gas station worker I befriended ended up narrating the intro to the album “04.09.07.” Akalou stated. Around the same timehe also met band leader Isaiah Rusk, of Fade ‘Em All, and tossed around a couple unreleased tracks with him in his studio. 

If you want a general sense of the album, “DREAMER (outro)” would be Akalou’s pick, “It came really naturally for me and only took us about 30 minutes to record but it still has an authenticity that attracts me to it over other songs,” he explains. 

One might think that Akalou is just messing around making music but his meaning stretches deeper than that. He explains that his “goal with this project was to show the world who [he] was and for people to take me seriously as a creative and not just see [him] as the ‘soundcloud rapper kid.’”Akalou is proud of his album and shares that it is incredibly unique because “the experiences we’ve had making this album wouldn’t be possible if we were working in fancy studios under a labels schedule and I think you can hear that rawness in the music.”