Last Thursday, HipHopDX sat down with Detroit R&B artist K’Jon to discuss his upcoming debut solo album I Get Around, coming this August 4 on Universial Republic Records. In an industry in which most R&B acts derive their sound from a strong Hip Hop influence, K’Jon explains his decision to keep his sound so deeply rooted in classic Soul music.
“To be honest with you, [the decision] was because of the response from my audience,” explained the singer. “I’ve done Hip Hop and R&B. I’ve done a lot of collaborations, local and some even signed artists, but when I got the positive feedback [from fans] regarding the music that I put out there on a couple of tracks, it opened up for me to say ‘Hey, I need to do more of these [types of songs].’ The people defined me. They made me who I am.”
K’Jon also discussed what fans can expect from his debut album. He says that I Get Around appeals to a wide audience, from the young to the old. He indicates that while it carries a powerful message, people can still enjoy it to the fullest extent in a more party-oriented atmosphere.
“I think [I Get Around] doesn’t discriminate with a demographic,” he noted. “It’s very mature. It’s not parental advisory or anything like that, so I think it’s a household product. You can go in and your mother can be playing it…and the kids [can be listening to it] as well. It’s a very wholesome album and I’m very proud to make music that is up[lifting], but at same time, you can let your hair down and go to the club. At the end of the day, it’s very uplifting. You’ll get that positive message from this album.”
I Get Around boasts the single “On the Ocean,” which has gone on to reach the #1 spot in the radio charts, even ousting Alicia Keys’ 2001 hit “Fallin’” from its position as the greatest gainer on the BDS charts. K’Jon discussed how the song came about from his frustration with the music industry.
“When I wrote [“On the] Ocean,” I had a production deal as an artist, but in the meantime, I was assigned to do writing for different artists,” he explained. “I was a little frustrated because I was around a lot of people that can actually make it happen, just pull the trigger and I’m out there, just like it is now. But it wasn’t happening fast enough for me, and so when I was writing one day, I kind of put that in song mode and put my frustrations out there similar to seeing a ship out [on the ocean]. You can see [the ship], but it’s not physically there for you to touch it or get on it and the thing was I said ‘But I’m not going to give up. I’m going to work hard [and] work harder until that ship finally comes in.’”
As a native of Detroit, K’Jon has the task of carrying on the legacy of R&B’s founding fathers. He discussed why he hopes that his music will revitalize Detroit’s R&B movement, indicating that the growing Hip-Hop scene has proved somewhat of a catch-22 for R&B’s presence in the city’s musical spectrum.
AD LOADING...
“I hope that’s the case,” he said. “I want to be one of the pioneers that gets [a musical renaissance in Detroit] going. We kind of started R&B. You’ve got the blues in Chicago. R&B kind of got out there from Detroit [with] the Motown days, so it’d be nice if you could have a return to glory so to speak. I’m definitely rooting for that, myself personally…I feel like Hip Hop is getting more attention [in Detroit]. Over the years, it’s been a little frustrating with that [being the case], but also, I’m happy…as long as they’re putting [Detroit music] out there. You’ve got to look at what Eminem did. Eminem kind of set the tone for the Hip Hop movement in Detroit. He’s an icon, so that kind of single handedly explains why there are a lot of Hip-Hop artists coming out of Detroit, just following the footsteps of Eminem.“
