In an era of watered-down, copy-cat MC's, Jay Money is a living definition of what an Emcee should be about; originality and versatility.  Original, so as not to sound like someone else, and versatile, so as not to sound the same everytime.  Today's artists are mostly one-sided with their material and delivery.  They lack the skill to expand on a subject, hence, they come out sounding simplistic.  Jay Money may have been raised as a battle emcee, but, his experience has taught him that a Tru Emcee is one who can spit or write on any subject.  As he still displays his battle technique, Jay also injects his personal experience and political views into his music.  By doing this, Jay Money can never have one type of emcee label placed on him, only the label of emcee.  A Jay Money album will always be a well-rounded piece of work. 

Jay Money began to experience music at a young age, beginning with playing the trumpet in the 3rd grade. His father, who is a Baptist minister, plays piano and used to sing with a national gospel mens chorus called "The Hub of Harmony." Jay discovered Hip Hop at the age of 12, freestyling on the school bus. Soon, he went from the school bus to house parties and became known as someone to deal with on the m-i-c. A few years later, at 17, Jay met Omaha DJ legend, DJ Suicide. After hearing Jay rhyme, Suicide immediately began making beats for him, and in return, Jay would rap on the intros to Suicide's mixtapes, which brought him more recognition through the city. After a few years of struggling to record, Suicide teamed up with a long time friend to form Thumpin Hard Records. On this label, the first project recorded and released by local artists, "Parental Advisory," was put together. It sold well through the Midwest, but, the money wasn't handled properly. Suicide, along with Jay and other artists, left Thumpin Hard to form Crossphade Muzic. 

Under the Crossphade Muzic label, artists began to release individual projects. Jay Money linked up with four other top Omaha emcees to form a collective called Da Basement Society. Their campaign reached Midwest regional status and they went on to release a 7 song EP called "Who Downstairs?" which was the most successful selling project under the newly formed label. Jay Money was a member and also producer of the group. Unfortunately, the agreement that Da Basement had with their financier went sour and they never released another project. Jay Money became involved in "street activities" to raise money for the next project, which resulted in Jay being caught and convicted for selling drugs. He was sentenced to 4 to 6 years with the Nebraska Dept. of Corrections and was released after a two year bid.