Jax Jones shares inspirational acceptance speech as he picks up his doctorate
Dr. Jax Jones has a ring to it
Jax Jones recently accepted an honorary doctorate from Brunel University, where he previously studied Financial and Accounting. Taking to the stage, the DJ, who has had hits such as 'Never Be Lonely', 'Instruction', and his breakthrough track, 'I Got U' with Duke Dumont, gave an inspirational speech to the audience.
Telling the crowd about his upbringing, and how he started out, Jax explained: "I graduated with a Financial and Accounting degree, and my mum and stepdad were so happy. They came to this country as young adults from Nigeria and Malaysia, for them to have a child to complete university... well that was mission complete right?
"So I dedicated that achievement to them in 2008, but for me my passion was music. I looked at people like Jay Z, Pharrell Williams and the super producers of the time, and I wanted a piece of that, but I didn't know anyone in that world, there was no nepotism here."
The DJ continued: "The thing is, my parents also said that that career was a bit of a joke, and I'm never gonna make it. I had to leave home because of it, but I kept going.
"I used to make music in my little room in Galbraith and I bought a little £50 Mac computer, my first one off Gumtree and I had a little music program called Logic. And while all my friends were partying I skipped a few lectures and I just worked and made tracks. Sorry mum!
"I left uni, I used to play my guitar in bands and open mic nights to pay the rent and I tried a bunch of things but I kept getting spat out, maybe my parents were right, maybe I'm not good enough, but then at 25 I met my friend Dan, who's now my manager and my girlfriend at the time, who's now my wife Diondra.
"We started Jax Jones, I had no money, I was making house music, something different to what I grew up making, but it's the same process right? Immerse yourself in it and learn, apply the skills that you've got. It was crazy enough that it might just work, this was it, my last roll of the dice, the sound I made was 'I Got U' with Duke Dumont."
'I Got U' was released in 2014 and went to Number 1 in the UK, becoming Jax Jones' breakthrough song. The producer continued in his speech: "And from there, everything changed for me as an artist. I made probably 10,000 tracks in my life, and most of them you guys will never hear. All 50 of those have gone on to sell 60 million records.
"What's that as a success rate? Like 0.5% strike rate, so I guess what I'm saying is whatever path you choose is gonna be difficult, there may be people that don't believe in you. You may not even believe in yourself, but keep going, no excuses, figure out a way to take a shot. If you miss, just adjust your aim, so thank you for this honour Brunel. And I'll be reminded of this every day as I give this to my wife to put in the hallway, and I'm gonna make my kids call me Doctor Dad. Thank you!"
Since the success of 'I Got U', Jax has had several Top 10 hits including 'You Don't Know Me' featuring RAYE, 'Breathe', 'Out Out' with Joel Corry, Charli XCX and Saweetie, and 'Where Did You Go?' with MNEK.
Congratulations Jax Jones!
You can songs by Jax Jones on KISS.
Take a look through some of Jax Jones' biggest collabs:
2016: 'You Don't Know Me' with RAYE
In 2016, Jax Jones released 'You Don't Know Me' with RAYE. The song reached Number 3 in the UK and features a sample from the 2005 song 'Body Language' by M.A.N.D.Y. vs. Booka Shade.
The music video has now had more than 83 million views, with the 'visualiser' video having even more!
Watch the music video on YouTube.
2018: 'Instruction' with Demi Lovato and Stefflon Don
Zumba favourite, 'Instruction' with Demi Lovato and Stefflon Don was a 2018 hit for Jax Jones. The song was written by MNEK, Stefflon Don, Demi Lovato and Jax Jones and was included on the deluxe edition of Demi's sixth studio album, 'Tell Me You Love Me' as well as Jax's 'Snacks' EP.
Watch the music video on YouTube.
2018: 'Breathe' with Ina Wroldsen
Jax's third big hit was 'Breathe' in 2018, with Norwegian singer and songwriter Ina Wroldsen. The music video has become one of Jax's most popular with a massive 168 million views.
Watch the music video on YouTube.
2018: 'Ring Ring' with Mabel and Rich the Kid
'Ring Ring' was the first collab Jax Jones did with Mabel and Rich the Kid. The song was successful reaching Number 12 in the charts and was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry.
Watch the music video on YouTube.
2018: 'Play' with Years & Years
Back when Years & Years were a trio, Jax teamed up with them to release 'Play'. The song featured Olly Alexander's vocals and reached Number 8 in the UK.
The song was included on Jax's 'Snacks' EP and Years & Years' second studio album called 'Palo Santo'.
Watch the music video on YouTube.
2019: 'All Day and Night' with Martin Solveig and Madison Beer
'All Day and Night' was a hit released by Jax Jones with Martin Solveig under their alias Europa, along with singer Madison Beer. The song was written by Jax and Martin along with, Becky Hill, Hailee Steinfeld and a team of songwriters.
The song performed particularly well in the dance charts, giving the trio a Number 1 on Billboard's Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart, and a Number 2 in the UK Dance chart.
Watch the music video on YouTube.
2019: 'One Touch' with Jess Glynne
'One Touch' was a hit for Jax with Jess Glynne back in 2019. It became a Top 20 hit for the pair and was also certified Platinum after selling 600,000 units in September 2024.
Watch the music video on YouTube.
2019: 'This Is Real' with Ella Henderson
'This Is Real' with Ella Henderson was Jax's second single from his debut studio album 'Snacks (Supersize)'. The song reached Number 9 in the UK and the music video has now had more than 28 million views!
Watch the music video on YouTube.
2020: 'Tequila' with Martin Solveig and RAYE
Once again, Jax Jones and Martin Solveig teamed up for their Europa project on another banger, this time with RAYE.
The song reached Number 2 in the UK Dance chart and the music video has now had more than 13 million views.
Watch the music video on YouTube.
2021: 'Out Out' with Joel Corry featuring Charli XCX and Saweetie
What a tune, 'Out Out' was released in 2021 with fellow DJ Joel Corry and featured Charli XCX and Saweetie. 'Out Out' was another Top 10 hit for Jax and samples 'Alors on danse' by Belgian musician Stromae.
Watch the music video on YouTube.
2022: 'Where Did You Go?' with MNEK
They might not have released a collab together since 'House Work' back in 2016, but MNEK's 'Whatcha whatcha gonna do' is regularly sampled on Jax Jones' hits. However, in 2022 we had a full on collab from the pair in the shape of 'Where Did You Go?'.
The song, written by both Jax and MNEK along with a team of writers and became another Top 10 hit for the pair.
Watch the lyric video on YouTube.
2022: 'Good Luck' Mabel and Galantis
Mabel, along with Jax Jones and Galantis released 'Good Luck' which had a hedonistic music video. The song fused iconic elements of Jax Jones', and Galantis' music, with Mabel's euphoric voice.
Watch the music video on YouTube.
2023: 'Whistle' with Calum Scott
On 10th February 2023, Jax released 'Whistle' with Calum Scott. The song features a 90s dance music vibe, which Jax explained was him: "Digging into my influences from when I was a teenager."
Watch the music video on YouTube.
2023: 'I Need You' with DJ D.O.D
Jax Jones released a new song with DJ D.O.D called 'I Need You'. The new song is an uptempo dance tune which is bound to get you onto the dancefloor.
Listen to the song on YouTube.
2024: 'Never Be Lonely' with Zoe Wees / Cascada
Jax Jones released 'Never Be Lonely' with Zoe Wees in February 2024, a month later also releasing a version of the hit with Cascada.
Watch the music video on YouTube.
Now read:
11 songs you never knew were by Jax Jones
Jax Jones' biggest collabs from 'Instruction' to 'Where Did You Go?'
Jax Jones reveals how he made his Grammy-nominated track 'I Got U'