Former vine star Jay Versace celebrated the release of his work on SZA’s new album ‘SOS’ on social media. The long-awaited album came out on December 9, and Versace produced two songs: ‘Smoking on my Ex Pack’ and the titular track ‘SOS.’ 

According to a 2020 interview led by Rolling Stone, he began his transition from making iconic memes on the internet into music with two of his friends, Knxwledge and Pink Siifu, guiding him.

“[Knxwledge] was just supporting me. Even Pink Siifu, he was so supportive, even though they were so bad,” Versace told the outlet that he started making beats on his own around 2018. “He was like, ‘Just keep going.’ I really appreciate them supporting the fact that I was just starting and knowing that it was going to go somewhere because it really did go somewhere really big that people appreciate now.”

He explained that when he finally made his breakthrough, people didn’t want to take him seriously because of his history as a well-known comedian with no standing in the music world. 

“Everybody was tweeting, like, ‘If Jay Versace is on a Westside Gunn album, I’m never listening to him again,’” he referenced his first opportunity. “People were really like, ‘Has it really came to this?’ Just because I do comedy doesn’t mean that comedians don’t have talent. Being a comedian is a talent in itself. I was a little bit upset about just thinking, ‘This is what people think?’” However, he recognized that any kind of significant change was difficult. “Transitioning is always kind of painful. Change is always kind of painful. Basically, [I’m] trying to convince the world that I’m a new person…Not [that] I’m a new person. I’ve grown.”

His career as a producer has taken off, not only working on SZA’s 23-track album but being a part of Grammy-winning Tyler the Creator album ‘Call Me If You Get Lost.’