If you ever get to meet one of class of 2015’s campus celebs, you’re bound for an inspiring conversation. This celeb is one of the most kind, humble, and hard working students on campus, with some of the most amazing college experiences. Meet James!
Name: James Supreme
Major: Marketing
Year: 2015 (fall)
Hometown: Lower Hudson Valley, New York
Hobbies/Interests: attending concerts, reading, cooking, hiking, good convo with good people
Her Campus: How are you feeling about your last semester at GSU?
James Supreme: Ah, my last semester… it’s bittersweet. I know I’m about to transition to a different part of my life, but I also want to leave behind something. I feel like, you know, a lot of the upperclassmen before me, they were able to leave their legacies behind, so I’m trying to figure out what mine is going to be. And yeah, I just want to graduate. I’m so close, it’s been a long time coming.
HC: What are you involved with on campus?
JS: On campus currently, I am only on the advisory board of the 1913 Society. But previously, I’ve been a member of Infinite Appeal, where I started a fashion panel with a group of other students in my class (2011), I have also been a part of Campus Events. I’ve been on the Associate Board for Campus Events, and then I became a director for Campus Events. I worked in the Public Relations and the Marketing and Communications Department for three years, up until recently in May. I decided that as a part of my transition, I’d let my position open up, so that someone else could take it. I have also contributed to the official student-run blog for Georgia State, studentsinthecity.gsu.edu.
HC: What are your plans after graduation?
JS: After graduation, I plan on going on tour with an artist named G-Eazy. I’ve been working for a management company, The Revels Group, for about a little less than a year now. So, I plan on moving to LA in January, and I think we also start tour around then too.
HC: What would you consider your dream job?
JS: My dream job, something I know I can wake up to looking forward to everyday. Something that allows me to help my friends reach their goals through their talents because I don’t really have any tangible talents, I’m not talented in dancing, I can’t paint, but one thing I can do is help push my friends. So, with my management company that I hope to start one day, I want to oversee a group of talent and do whatever I can do to allow them to reach their dreams.
HC: Now that you’re a soon-to-be-graduate, what is something you would tell your freshman self?
JS: I would tell my freshman self, there is no blueprint for leaving a legacy at Georgia State. The only thing you should be worried about is doing what makes you happy. Do not get caught up in the flavor of the month, you know, stay true to yourself. Do everything within your power to walk in yourself and to know your truth everyday, and everything else will follow. I would also tell myself to enjoy the moments, to make memories because you know, when you’re old and on your deathbed, all you’ll have are your memories. So, make sure they’re positive ones.
HC: Speaking of memories, what has been your most cherished memory or best experience at GSU?
JS: At GSU, I would say, came in the last few months. In June, I summited Mount Baker with 10 other Georgia State students, and our president, Mark Becker. This was something that we didn’t just wake up one day and decide to do, we trained for three months. I would say it was my most rewarding Georgia State experience because mentally, physically, and even spiritually, I found something that I didn’t really knew I had in me. I was able to do something I never thought I would through this opportunity that only came because I go to Georgia State University. It was probably the best moment of my life reaching the peak. It took us seven hours to summit the mountain, and in the second hour, I can’t lie, I was like ‘why am I doing this? This is the most difficult thing I’ve ever done in my life’, but it was worth it as soon as we got to the top. We had a great group, we had a great leader in President. Becker, who really does this, he really summits these mountains and he was able to give us this experience that we’ll be able to take with us for the rest of our lives knowing that we can accomplish anything. So, that was probably my most memorable Georgia State experience.
HC: I consider you the celebrity on campus, or in my words, “The Lowkey Mr. GSU”, how does it feel to have so many students and peers look up to you?
JS: It’s interesting, I mean I don’t see it that way, number one. I only have to come to campus three times a week now, I’m not really around as much. But when I first got to Georgia State, I saw a few role models, who became role models to me, and I remember the feeling I got when I finally got the chance to learn something from them, or to have a conversation with them. It changed my outlook on how I was going to spend the rest of my four years. I would say, if I could give anybody the same confidence, or if I could give anybody some words of encouragement throughout the next few months that I do have here, then that would probably mean the most out of this “celebrity-ness”, because it really does make a difference. I don’t always see it as being celebrity.
HC: Who are your role models?
JS: Well this guy name Michael Oloyede, he goes by @themikeo on Instagram… follow him, shout out to him, Grace Lee, and also Marcus Kernizan, he was my Inceptor. Those are my top three GSU role models, who are no longer with us, they’ve graduated.
HC: Explain the story of how you got involved with Drake and OVO, and what was your position.
JS: So, I was trying to get to the OVO Fest I think last year, didn’t have a ticket, and I reached out to some guy who was claiming to be Drake’s tour manager on Twitter… and it actually turned out to be Drake’s tour manager. He put up a tweet and he was pretty much asking anybody to help him run this festival. I was in New York at the time doing an internship with Macy’s, and it ended a week earlier. So, I emailed him, didn’t really hear much back, and i decided to just get on this bus to Toronto and it took me like 12 hours. I got there, didn’t know where I was going to stay, I just knew I was going to find this guy, and he was going to let me work this event. Drake is one of my favorite artists. I remember when I first found out about him, I think I was a freshmen in highschool, and I didn’t tell my best friends about this new artist I just found out because I was like no, nobody else was going to find out about this. So, I showed up to the amphitheater where they had it, I said “look, I’m here for a meeting with Jamil”, Drake’s security guards buzzed the office, he was like “yeah, tell him come by”, they escorted me in, and from that day I started working. I followed up after those two days, I went back to Atlanta for school, and they pretty much told me whatever you need just let us know, any internships or jobs. But I wasn’t satisfied, so I hit them up when they came to Atlanta, went out to Houston, did a couple of shows here and there just to show my face. A few months later, they just continued to offer me great experiences, and I’m actually working with this artist named G-Eazy.
JS: He is managed by Jamil, who’s also Drake’s tour manager, and that’s who I look to be on tour with in January after I graduate, doing assisting tour managing for him. The moral of the story is don’t take no for an answer. If you want something, no matter how glamorous you think it is, just know it comes with hard work. The 22 hours before the celebrity, the artist, or whoever goes up to do their thing and be seen in the public eye, they’re spent working hard in the studio. Those 22 hours nobody gets to see except for them, and then you’re out there for two hours. It’s a lot of hard work that’s involved, but as long as you’re willing to be humble, work hard, and to be uncomfortable, I think anybody can make their dream come true.
HC: What advice would you give GSU ‘19?
JS: Ooh wow, we’re at GSU ‘19? Wow, that’s crazy. I would say to really lose yourself in Georgia State, and I mean that in every sense of that word. It wasn’t until i lost myself in Georgia State that I really found who I was. So, take advantage of all the professors because we’re all here to get a degree. Take advantage of all of your peers, take advantage of anybody that’s willing to sit down and talk to you, and give you words of advice. It’ll make your experience.
Quick Quiz!
- favorite movie? Seven Pounds, by Will Smith
- favorite song right now? Highs and Lows, by Zip K, an artist who went to Georgia State. It’s on Spotify and iTunes
- biggest pet peeve? My biggest pet peeve is being late, and I was late to this interview, I’m so sorry! I apologized to Ashley like 15 times. Being late, that is my pet peeve.
- Something not a lot of people know about you? I am Haitian, and I actually went to school in Haiti for a year in like Pre-K. Not a lot of people really know that about me. And I’m also O Negative, that’s my blood type if anybody ever needs a donor
- Celebrity crush? oh my goodness, if I ever am introduced to Rihanna… I’m not really enamoured by celebrity anymore, I’m kind of used to meeting a lot of people, but Rihanna, I would probably be speechless. I wouldn’t know what to say. I’d be nervous and everything.