I would not want to be California dreaming when Ms. Jenae Williams walks into the room. Also known as, J-Star, the Bay-to-LA transplant is an accomplished singer, with experience playing the piano, the acoustic and electric guitar. This scintillating artist is perfecting another craft that would be a delight to our HipHopDX.com and Beauty & Brains readers -- J-Star can spit a mean verse.

Raised amongst brothers who stayed with a pen and a pad, Ms. Williams became immersed in the culture of hip-hop and of the sounds bumping out of the West Coast. Influenced by everyone from the late, great Tupac Shakur to Too Short, the 20 year-old is looking to cut her own path into the spotlight.

Having lost one of her brothers, adversity has not dampened the spirits of this West Coast champion. With an amazing vocal tone that would have one say, “Who’s that?!” Ms. Jenae Williams is putting her life in front for all to see and hear. Beauty & Brains is pleased to interview her as she talks about the ups and downs of MySpace, why she doesn’t have time for crybaby dudes and says that Jay-Z is overrated.

HHDX: You have beauty galore, obviously the look of a model, but what made you want to get into the music game?
JW: I just grew up around a musically inclined household. I grew up loving my parents, my brothers, Tupac Shakur, 50 Cent. I grew up listening to a lot of Lil’ Kim, Foxy Brown, Too Short and Nas. I think that Jay-Z is overrated. Don’t get me wrong, Jay is tight, Nas is too, but he [Jay-Z] is kind of overrated to me. There’s something about Nas, though… I think that he’ll fuck Jay up!

HHDX: Do you think that by having your look that people are quick to give you a shot or put you in a specific genre-oriented box?
JW: Yeah, because some of the pictures that I have are provocative. So, they try to put me in the pocket of a Lil’ Kim. I think that I’m coming with another flavor. I’m from the Bay. The game needs some youth. Kim is too old to mess with me. When I spit, I rap like an MC! I don’t try to put myself in a female rapper’s category. I want to be in there with the big dogs. Don’t get me wrong, I look up to Kim, I would be blessed to be able to do a song with her.

HHDX: Well, you play the guitar and you’re also a singer – what is one thing that no one really knows about you?
JW: I keep my friends to a minimum. I don’t talk on the phone or text on a regular. Something that people don’t know about me… is nothing pretty extreme. A lot of people don’t know that I’ve played the guitar for awhile. People get it twisted because every time I go somewhere, people think that I’m a singer. A lot of people didn’t think that I was a rapper at first. I have been playing for about, man… four years.

HHDX: MySpace has become the place to go if you’re an independent artist looking to get exposure. So, what has been a positive of joining MySpace and what has been a negative?
JW: I’d say that the positive is that I get hits everyday about a magazine, TV show, club or whatever. Promotion wise, it’s great, too. The negatives, for example are: I was in the Beverly Center, some lesbian was passing out a flyer with my picture on it for a lesbian event. I’m not a Lesbian. No offense to anyone who is, but that’s not my type. There was some chick that came up to me and said that I knew her from MySpace. I had never seen the girl a day in my life [laughs]. Someone who was faking my pictures had hit her up and she thought that I was her. So, I’d said the negatives are all the fakes. The people putting my images and making fake pages claiming that they’re me. I used to have twenty fake pages on MySpace. There are some sick weirdo’s out there. The craziest thing that I’ve ever heard was that someone had said that, “I would f*** your brother just to get with you.”

HHDX: All I can say is “wow” to that comment. Since you’re originally from the Bay and relocated to Los Angeles – what’s the difference between the two areas?
JW: The Bay is more like a community. Everyone has each other’s backs out there. You could get your records played out there. In LA, everyone is trying to make it to the same place. It’s more cutthroat. That’s the major difference. In LA, you’d take ‘em to a club to entertain. But in the Bay, you could go to a house party or something like that to have fun. We’re like a big ass family in the Bay. My mom is a broker; she flips houses, so we moved around to different places. After my brother had passed away, she moved to LA for a change. So, I just kind of followed her out there.

HHDX: Here’s a question for the ones who don’t really read the interviews. Are you currently single or dating?
JW: Single. I haven’t dated anyone in two years. I don’t like dealing with bullshit. I don’t have patience. I’m not on that drama tip. Dudes are emotional. A lot of people don’t like the fact that I’m busy and always doing something. Guys who I have talked to didn’t like that because I’ve been on my grind. So, it’s steady drama. Dating to me is like pointless. You go through a thousand people before you meet that one person, so I don’t understand it.

HHDX: Most men would say off first look that a woman like you has to be stuck-up or some other negative comment. How should someone approach you if they’re trying to get closer to you?
JW: Just have normal conversation; don’t come to me with no wack shit. Like, “How are you doing, today?” Just keep it real. I really get stupid stuff. Usually people think that I’m stuck up. I don’t mean to look stuck up. Guys are really emotional. I don’t want to take the time or effort to put into a relationship. I’m focused on my craft. I’m stubborn. You’d never know if I liked you. I don’t think that I should have to take the initiative. If he does and says something, I don’t really go for it. I like to keep things at a friend level. I like to keep people at bay. I’m open and ready for disappointment, but I really don’t like to be let down.

HHDX: Your musical influences are a lot of West Coast artists. If you could do a track with any one artist, dead or alive, for your first single – who would it be and why?
JW: Tupac. He’s the greatest… dead or alive. We’d do a straight club song, in the vein of “How Do U Want It” or “California Love.” It would definitely be something that would go down in history.

HHDX: People think that your life must be perfect based upon your life. Talk about your hardest moment in life and how you preserved.
JW: When my brother passed away; I was in high school at the time. I graduated early and I had to figure out how to take care of my mom and all that. I just started grinding. I went to college and it wasn’t for me. That wasn’t where my heart was at. Music is what made me happy. It’s the only thing that helped me get through all that. Well that, my family and music.

HHDX: If I may ask, what did he pass away from?
JW: He died in a car accident.

HHDX: Last question… When you become successful – how do you manage being a new face in the spotlight with being regular ole’ Jenae?
JW: I’ll always be myself… always. I have never put up a front for anybody. I would tell an exec at a major label, “Fuck you,” if I had to. I don’t want to sugar coat anything about myself.