Celestial Slams into the Hip-Hop Scene

Ryan Jafar is something of a superhero. By day, he spends his time at UCR as a third year political science major. But once night falls, he assumes an entirely different persona: Celestial, an up-and-coming hip-hop artist from Los Angeles. The 21-year-old writes, mixes, and masters his own music, combining his experience as a slam poet and an underground rapper with his personal brand of solid rhymes.

Once a member of renowned rap groups Project Blowed and Crown Fam, Celestial has since garnered national attention. He has been featured on CNN, NBC News, the LA Times, HBO, KissFM, and Grind Time, the largest hip hop battle league in the world. So, the guy’s got some serious credentials. But who is Ryan Jafar, and what’s it like balancing college life with a burgeoning music career?

UCR

What is your favorite part about being a student at UCR?
I would have to say the diversity that I get to see around campus. My first year in the dorms was dope because I got to meet so many people from all backgrounds. I know, and have heard from friends that many other universities are very heavily populated by a few dominant ethnicities.

What brought you to UCR?
The real reason why I came to UCR was for its distance relative to my home in LA. Los Angeles was where I began doing all my rap related activities from underground open mics to weekly battles. Due to this, I didn’t want to simply pick up and leave everything I’ve built in terms of my music career so I decided to come to a UC that was away from home but not too far at the same time. 

How are you able to balance your music career and student life?
It’s a continuous process, haha. I try lots of different things honestly. Between school, my fraternity, my social life, and my girlfriend, many times I find myself with no time at all to sit down and write or produce some music. I usually try to utilize weekends and lock myself in my room away from everything, for about the entire day, to just focus on making a song. So, if you’re not seeing me much, that is probably why.

The problem is it takes about an entire day, literally, to mix and master a song to a solid point, and that’s excluding hours to write it, rehearse it to vocal perfection, and all the minor tweaks post-mastering. Due to this I can’t make music on weekdays, so I just write and mix whenever I’m free, even if it’s an hour. Two quarters ago I implemented an interesting method: I scheduled my classes to be on 3 days out of the week so that I would have 2 entire days off to work on music. The schedule worked great, but class schedules, unfortunately, don’t always line-up as such. 

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Music

How would you describe your music?
My music encompasses multiple genres with raw emotion diced in. My rap style is not limited to a certain tone, or “sound”. My style changes constantly with each beat and I am able to make music on just about any beat. Furthermore, I am in the process of learning to sing and by the time I get that to perfection, I’ll be able to have an even wider range. I am a true lyricist and I can go raw with hard-core lyrics, touch your soul with poetic diction, or make you bump your system to party bangers. 

Who are some of your biggest musical influences?
My biggest influence has always been Eminem. His lyricism is unmatched when compared to the types of rappers that break-through in the industry. Other influences have been the LA head Dumbfoundead, who I actually knew personally as a teenager. He influenced me a great deal in my style and direction as a lyricist.

What has been the most exciting event of your music career so far?
That’s a tough one because I have many moments that come to mind. It has to be between the Warped Tour show that I was at this past year, where I was on stage before thousands of screaming people, and a spoken word event I performed at about a year ago, where Sharon Stone attended and afterwards she told me I was a genius! Blew my mind!

You have experience as a spoken word artist. How does slam poetry compare to rap?
Very, very different. I have seen so many people try to bridge the two and few do it accurately. Many people think spoken word is just a rap verse done slower or without a beat, but it’s not. Spoken word requires a totally different mindset because you are not confined by a rhythmic beat – not to say you can’t use rhythm.  In spoken word, there is a greater emphasis on elaborate imagery without the need for rhyme.

What are your ambitions as a musician?
Easy: to be the greatest artist that I can allow myself to be. I don’t want to be just some successful artist with millions of dollars. Fame is just a stepping stone to do more. I want to be a personality who shares his ideas and philosophies with the world on television. I want to make music that is not defined to any one genre. I long to be extremely multi-talented, and in the future,  I’d like to to even try an acting career. And when it’s all over, I want to be remembered as one of the most influential artists of this century. These are all still a long ways from reality, but I say aim as high as you can while you’re living. Never settle for less.  
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Personal Life

How would you describe your perfect girl?
Brains before beauty. I don’t care how fine you are, if you can’t hold an intellectual conversation, it’s a turn-off. Furthermore, she needs to be open-minded to the world and doesn’t allow her beauty to overfeed her ego. Finally, she needs to have strong goals in her life. Going to college doesn’t cut it, she needs to know what she really wants and be taking steps to attain it. 

What would be your ideal first date?
Something different, anything. All the socio-typical places for first dates, such as eating at a restaurant, are lame. I don’t want to sit and eat food with you because I can do that anytime. I took my current girlfriend to the botanic gardens on our outing, but not just the bottom area, to the very top and outside the gate to the farseeing rocks. It was dope at night with all the stars and real relaxing.

Ryan Jafar proves that it’s possible to balance your lifelong passion with a steady academic career. Want to check out Celestial’s music? Follow him on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/celestialbcf

“Cali Conundrum” Music Video:

“Grind Time” Rap Battle: