THE RISE OF JAREZ BARON AKA DOUBLE 2x "Double 2 Times"
Updated: May 12, 2022
The various styles of music from rapping to the belching of the soul goes on in a never ending cycle. Some people do it as a hobby or as a way of distraction from life. And some are simply born for the lyrical form of expressing emotions and harmonic power into others.
For Jarez Baron, music came in the form of a gift. A rough around the edges, yet pure, hard to the core gift.
Baron's rise into his double career began at the tender age of 14 where he would do rap battles as a freshman and sophomore along with others involved in the rap scene.
The move took the meaning of local creative to a whole nother level. Baron was setting in stone a name for himself as a rapper, not just at home but in surrounding cities as well.
"They used to have these things called Smack DVDs that had battles and rappers on there so I would try to be like that." Baron said.
Rap legends come and go but they're legacy lives on. Baron took inspiration from legends such as The Diplomats (Dipset) in order to absorb and represent the image that they portrayed in a positive way.
"Used to cut up bandanas and have it tailored to our air-forces and our shirts. I would try to do everything that they would do." Baron continued. " For a long time I was just a street rapper and everybody just knew "that person raps."
To get your name out there is support others, stay true to yourself and go where the money and good business takes you. Baron jumped through many difficult hoops to get where he is today. It took faith, patience, dedication, motivation and most of all-never losing his passion.
His beginnings in the music industry started from the streets in high school to later doing showcases from Elizabeth, NJ and Manhattan, NY to North Carolina and Washington D.C. Everywhere Baron set foot, good vibes and hot lyrics came alive and the passion for his craft only intensified.
"Everybody called me Double, Double R. A Rebel with Reason. I never used to take this serious, I used to pay a lot of money in the studio to go record, to not even drop a tape. Just go have fun. That was me and my friends way of staying out of trouble, just go to the studio, record the track and go listen to it in the car."
When a passion rises, evolves and becomes apart of you, there's no stopping it. It evolves into something bigger than imagined and Baron, who wasn't serious about rapping in the beginning of his career, decided it was time to take it to the next level. Time to become a brand and thus Wavy Goonz Mafia the label and Baron's 1st solo album "New Jersey Drill" was born.
Baron's time and effort was put into overdrive when he released a few EPs, one end of 2020 solo drop being called "2 Times" and another called "Trap Rhythm, and Blues Blood" in collaboration with Rapper and Singer Nite Shine that was released in March, 2020. Baron's 1st solo album "New Jersey Drill" was released in May, 2020 respectfully.
"Collaborating means more marketing, more streaming. I like doing collaborations but you gotta network with people and a lot of people don't work as hard." Baron said of working with other artists on projects. "If I'm going to collaborate with somebody, they gotta be able to keep up, gotta be able to work."
Collaborations is a great way to get more projects released but sometimes it can be a hassle to gather all necessary sources. If you want to be on team Wavy Goon, you got to put in the work!
"You want to shoot a video, you want to record a song and put it on a tape, you gotta keep up and not a lot of people is able to do that," Baron said. "To get people to catch on to me, I hit the ground. Old school method of a street team."
Starting a clothing business can have it challenges especially when you are an fully operating business. It can be draining trying to decide on not only the layout and the clothing material, but also the cut, color and styles have to be precise in order to make the impression one is expecting to display.
Baron with his multi-membered team including CEO Gmvcc Bandz has fully expanded on his creative wave in not only elevating the Wavy Goonz Mafia image into a record label but into a clothing brand that anyone and everyone can rock in style.
"I hit the pavement. I would go into all the clubs, I would give away free merch, set my merch price at a low price where you couldn't resist it," Baron said. "It's custom colors and I call it a quick flip. You giving people quality stuff for the lowest price."
Building a brand from the ground up takes courage, discipline and dedication. Fame and money isn't the end all be all as Baron puts it, but because he changed his life around for himself, for the better, Wavy Goonz Mafia in all aspects is able to flourish and continue to shine.
"Everything I had negative going on in my life that I did wrong, I turned it into a positive and it worked out for me. It ain't stop working for me yet."
By selling merchandise in the way Baron does, he is able to give back to a community that he himself was apart of. His character shows up in the work he puts out and it all comes back in blessings full circle.
"I love to give back because nobody gave nothing to me. I had to figure it out. Whether I help five people start they business, I don't print no one else stuff," Baron explained. "I give back by not holding back information, I give a lot of charity. That's just the type of person I am, I want to make a legacy cause I got big dreams."
Jarez Baron is a jack of all trades, an artist with a variety of skills and knowledge along with
a drive to achieve and succeed. Despite the obstacles he's faced, he is able to focus on his craft as a rapper and entrepreneur, giving people sides of him that he is proud to share those that continue to love and support all him.
"Even if somebody doesn't like my music or my clothes, at least they can say "Dang!" I like him as a person," Baron said. "I like his work ethic", or "how he presents himself or "I like his passion."
And yet, there is still a part of him, the "Jarez" part of him that he keeps private and sacred, only so he can keep a sense of peace while living life constantly busy.
"I'm going to give you all I got as an artist. You can't give it all away but I save something for me. My privacy is my peace."
As long as the passion is still sizzling, the creativity is still blossoming and the music is still bumping, Baron can continue to evolve in all aspects of an artist.
"Long as I invest in myself and have the motivation, whose stopping me? I try to incorporate Jarez in everything I do. I just found out who I was, but now I gotta be Double at the same time and still be Jarez who I just discovered," Baron continued. "I can be a rapper, clothing designer, a Wavy Goon but Jarez is in there, in everything I accomplish."
Follow Jarez Baron via: