Braxton said he took some art classes but decided against art as his major.
He felt he would be doing himself a disservice to get a degree in something he was already skilled in. Instead, he chose to learn something completely new.
“Really, I just have a creative spirit,” Braxton said. “It doesn’t matter what I’m doing, it’s going to be great.”
He said he has been interested in art and music his whole life.
Braxton said his mother was really into photography and his dad was a musician, so music was always around as he was growing up.
However, he said he didn’t start taking art seriously until his junior year of high school when he began producing music on his computer. Braxton then started learning to animate and became interested in visual arts.
“I just need to create,” Braxton said. “It’s not really an option for me. It’s something I need to do every day, or it just doesn’t feel right.”
In his time at IU, Braxton has created two video games, designed his own website and produced his own album. He is currently working on a third video game and his first ever cartoon, which he said he wants to pitch to big television networks.
Braxton’s album is called “Sjape,” and he released it on SoundCloud last August.
Braxton said, when it comes to his music, he liked to experiment with different sounds he’s never heard and see what evokes emotion.
“That’s the cool thing about sound — there is just so much,” Braxton said. “I feel like the sonic rainbow is infinite.”
Braxton said the music always came first, and the lyrics followed. He said his overall message in his songs reflected life and the beauty around us because he thinks we often take for granted what surrounds us.
IU sophomore and friend of Braxton’s, Carter Barrett, said Braxton is probably the most creative person she knows. Barrett said Braxton’s songs reflected his personality.
“I see Jeron in his music and his art,” Barrett said.
Braxton has multiple love songs on his album, which he said he wrote about the women he has been in love with and also for people who need some help putting their feelings into words.
Every song has a different feeling, he said, but he said he wanted his listeners to feel what he feels. Braxton said some of his songs also touched on social issues and socioeconomic barriers. He said he wanted to be the voice for his generation and change the world through his success.
“I just realized that I am human being on this earth, what do I want to do?” Braxton said.
Although Braxton said many people thought it would be hard to be an artist, he said it would be harder for him not to be one.
He said creating is how he self-actualizes, and the process is him using his mind, body and soul at their highest capacities.
“I want to be one of the best artists in the world, and I know that I can be,” Braxton said.
Sometimes it’s as simple as asking for what you want, he said.
