Once upon a time, aspiring music artists would place higher education ambitions aside for superstardom or vice versa. That doesn’t even count rappers who took an interest in professional basketball or NBA players who dropped music. From Megan Thee Stallion spending her time as a hot-girl queen before becoming a Texas Southern University alumni to Louisiana State University women’s basketball guard Flau’jae Johnson getting features with NLE Choppa and Lil Wayne, music industry democratization has made anything possible. 

The same can be said for Josiah Gillie, who has spent the past year balancing life as a viral hit-making rapper under his stage name J.P. with his time at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point between basketball alongside a major in music performance and minor in communications. How does he balance all of this? According to the Milwaukee native, it’s about maintaining a solid schedule while leaning on his biological brother, who also serves as his manager. 

“I get up every day around five or six in the morning, pray and get myself together,” said J.P. “A normal day consists of me doing that and having my brother keep me posted on what I need to do as far as bookings, radio drops and things of that nature.”

Though basketball season ended in February, he balances school, practice and content creation, often filming viral videos after team activities and making music on his phone whenever he finds the time. His phone has become his greatest creative tool. In fact, multi-million streaming viral hits such as “Juicy Ahh” and “Bad Bitty” were all recorded on his iPhone with wired headphones and software BandLab. 

“I didn’t start making music in the studio until now,” explained J.P. “I got a pretty good ear for music and I know what stuff it’s supposed to sound like. I might not know all the music theory but I know how s**t’s supposed to sound what it ain't.”

Then there’s the pure charisma and attitude that comes with a track like “Bad Bitty,” where he spits melodically, “You ever told a b**ch I got G’s / You ever make a bitty hit her knees / Well, guess what? I’m J.P. / I’m like I’d make a b**ch say ‘hey, hun baow.” That same level of over-the-top personality comes up in his latest release, “Freak Girl” which samples the intro to the popular animated series Gravity Falls. J.P.'s confidence level is pretty easy to understand after a conversation with him. 

“I’ve always been like this and I just always felt like what I had to say was law,” explained J.P. “You can say I don’t really care that much about what everybody else can say because in my head, if it ain’t bout no Mun Yun, or Fun Yun then I ain’t study-un.” 

Even the way he handled being outed as bi-sexual was humorous and filled with a pure level of nonchalant conviction. “I don’t like ni**as, I just tapped that ni**a,” J.P. said during an Instagram live. “The same way you decide to crack a bad b**ch, I made a decision to crack a nigga.” His unique approach to life emphasizes disregarding societal pressure and standing on business. 

“It takes a different kind of man to walk this dismal journey,” explained J.P. “I’ve always been that kind of person. Even with that whole outing situation, I took it and I flipped it so cool. Anybody that knows me, they know it was never a secret or anything like that to begin with. I had just started getting a name for myself and people were trying to be funny. They were trying to get their little time and get their little clout and that’s okay.”

J.P. attributes his upbringing around older family members, and church influences to shaping his demeanor and style from a young age. His exposure to classical music, particularly through watching musicals with his grandma, laid the foundation for his musical journey. As he grew older, he drew inspiration from legendary artists like Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, and Luther Vandross, blending diverse influences into his own unique sound. When it comes to Hip-Hop and R&B, modern playlist culture has made it hard to pinpoint artists who have inspired him. 

“So many of them and over various time spans which is why you’ll hear me blurt out a lot of’em in my music because they just come to me,” explained J.P. “I don’t really have an artist to pinpoint because it’s so many people I listen to.”

Though J.P. is well aware of the backlash he may get for simply being himself, he rides a fine line between being humble about his current viral fame and taking in personal glory. 

“Would be foolish of me to get in front of somebody and go out my way to try to demean that person or give a response to that person because of something that they said to me when we are all living completely different lives,” said J.P. “I got here and they stayed there. That has nothing to do with me. It would be foolish for me to engage.” 

Despite the newly found fame, J.P. plans on finishing school as this is only the beginning for him. 

“I think looking forward to the future, man, I'm going to be an icon man,” said J.P. “I'm definitely going to be a legend in this game. But everybody, we got to grind and we got to strive to get there and you can't just say nothing about putting the work in behind it. So I am fully prepared to put in the work needed to be a legend or in this game necessary.”