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Nothing is impossible and West Palm Beach teen rapper Jeff Mortimer is living proof!

The 19-year-old wordsmith was diagnosed with spindle cell sarcoma, a deadly muscle cancer, at age 16 but insisted he wouldn’t let the disease slow him down. Well, he’s stayed true too his word and last week Mortimer signed a deal with recording giant Sony.

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“I’m not scared of anything. I just have a positive mind,” he tells ABC News. “Life is too short, can’t stay sad all day.”

Mortimer, who goes by the stage name Young Jay, isn’t your everyday rapper. He uses his talent to write and produce uplifting music for other sick kids. “I don’t worry about what I’m going through,” he explains. “When I see what people really go through, it made me want to work harder to push forward.”

After three years of radiation therapy and chemo, Mortimer is battling a relapse but he’s still not giving up. While he will continue treatment, his doctors plan to move him from intravenous chemotherapy to pill form so he can be mobile and tour.

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“When doors are open you have to take them,” he adds, “because you never know when you’re going to see them again.”

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For 2024’s iteration of MadameNoire and HelloBeautiful’s annual series Women to Know, we knew we wanted to celebrate the people who help make the joys of film and television possible. To create art is to create magic. This year, we spotlight Hollywood Executive’s changing the face of cinema.