Ask the epitome of cool; the delectably funkadelic, high-struttin’ pop phenomenon – the indisputable Prince of R&B: Jay-R!
"For me, it’s all about confidence," he says. "It’s all about being sure of yourself, about harnessing your talents to the fullest, and sharing that gift – that unmistakable energy – to everyone."
"It’s that same confidence that I get from Colgate Fresh Confidence, with its Cooling Crystals," Jay-R adds, proudly flaunting his sparkling set of pearly whites.
On March 13, the ever-smiling Jay-R, together with Shaina Magdayao, kicks off Colgate’s latest promo, the P1-M makeover shopping spree via a mini-concert at the Glorietta Activity Center at 5:30 p.m.
The makeover shopping spree gives 10 lucky winners P100,000 each and a chance to go shopping with Jay-R and Shaina for a day at the Glorietta Mall. The day’s festivities, to be anchored by MTV VJ Mariel Rodriguez, will be capped by sizzling performances from top bands including Cueshe.
With his forays in theater, movies, jingle-making, songwriting and print/TV ads through most of 2005, the Prince of R&B spread his wings further and reaffirmed his stature as a truly formidable multi-media pop icon.
"It’s the best way to go," explains the toothsome charmer. "Luckily, Gameface went platinum, but for this album, I’m really aiming for world-wide distribution, particularly the Asian market, the US and Europe. My co-producer, Ray Brown, will help me out in that regard."
With the recent release of his eponymous follow-up effort (under the Universal Records label), Jay-R is still in the thick of various promotional sorties, including some mall shows and a month-long bar tour.
Two years in the making, the new album boasts of 18 tracks, three of which are Tagalog originals penned by Vehnee Saturno, Jay Durias and DJ MOD. "Vehnee did two of the songs, Ngayo’y Naririto and Di Ko Sadya. South Border’s Jay Durias did the music for the second song. DJ MOD did Paalam, which is his first OPM ballad, and it came out pretty nice," Jay-R elaborates.
He’s also channeled his songwriting flair into more lucrative ventures, such as jingle-writing. Together with friends Jimmy Muna and Star in a Million champion Kris Lawrence, Jay-R formed Smash Brothaz, a production outfit which has so far done jingles for Sun Cellular, Colgate and other corporate entities.
The cool part is not only does he get to do jingles for commercials he gets to star in them, too. After all, the hip and suave groovemeister continues to exude a charisma that makes him instantly appealing to fans of all ages. He can look meekly angelic in his spiffy all-white outfits, but he can turn devastatingly sexy at the drop of a shirt, especially once he steps into the beat and flaunts his sure-footed moves.
It’s not surprising how he’s been tapped to endorse a wide range of products and services that reflect his lifestyle. He’s made pitches for Bench, Bioessence, Tropicana, Unisilver, Colgate, SunCellular and TechnoMarine.
He is still one of the hottest contract stars of Universal Records, Regal Films and GMA 7.
Still, the biggest surprise he pulled on his fans was his theater debut last year, via Stages’ Footloose the Musical, the stage adaptation of the ‘80s hit movie. But it wasn’t all surprising since the lead role seemed tailor-made for his personality and dancing/singing talents.
As if that weren’t enough, he still appears regularly on GMA 7’s S.O.P. and Encantadia, where he plays Prinsipe Azulan.
While he may have upped his bearings by taking the multi-media path, a few quarters feel that he may be spreading himself too thin. "Actually, there are two ways of looking at it," he points out. "My main focus is really my music, and I’ve always prioritized that. Now, everything else that’s not directly related to my music, believe it or not, in one way or another, it does help in promoting my music, so it all evens out in the end."
That’s Jay-R in a nutshell – hip, cool and confident.