PAUSE MEETS:
Jnr Choi
Chats ‘To The Moon’ success, SAINt JHN tour, and overcoming rejection.
Interview: Thomas Woods // @thomaswoods_
Photographer: Finn Waring // @finnwaring
Stylist: Taija-Leorelle Weekes // @taija_leorelle
Talent: Jnr Choi // @jnrchoi
“I’m here to make good art and keep it moving.”
A person’s rise to fame is never a straight-forward one, and no two journeys are ever the very same, with that being especially evident in the case of one Jnr Choi. A true individual, the Gambian and London-residing musician has established himself as one of the most multi-faceted creatives in the game, with the model-come-musician making sure to put his stamp on everything he touches.
“Talented, but in his own lane.” Jnr Choi’s mission statement seems simple enough, yet it begs more and more questions. What is talent nowadays? Can your talent spread across multiple creative domains? What is authentic? And what’s not? Tearing up the rule book, Jnr Choi makes sure to answer those questions in his own way, cruising through multiple lanes with this inimitable sense of assuredness. From touring with Grammy Award-winning SAINt JHN and attending a last-minute Met Gala, to discussing the importance of stepping stones and organic partnerships, 23-year-old Jnr Choi took PAUSE ‘To The Moon’ and back as he sat down to discuss what life looks like right now.
First of all, what’s life looked like for you recently? What have you been up to?
All good really, it’s been busy. For the last six months, it’s been a big blur. As soon as we headed to the US, we spent some time on the East coast and we spent a lot of time in the studio and did a lot of press and radio. We did collaborations with crazy producers and some club appearances and shows for a minute around the States. We ended on New York and then we went to Paris, Berlin… and then I went on tour with SAINt JHN for a month. After that, I had Paris Fashion Week and I did a couple of shows there.
Speaking of going on tour with SAINt JHN, I wanted to ask you a little bit more about the backstory for that and what he’s given you in terms of advice, especially with music.
A lot, man. I’m a big fan of his music, Collection One, I used to literally religiously listen to that. I don’t think I really reached out, I think just used to repost his stuff all the time and he’d react to it. I met him when I was walking for Casablanca and he was watching, so straight after that I was like “Yo, I’m a huge fan. Big respect.” I was talking to Biggs, his manager, who is one of the founders of Roc Nation. From that we kind of kept in touch, I got hold of his number and he’d reply every now and then, it’d mainly be a story thing where he’d appreciate the support, but I never really showed him any music or anything. There was one time where he hit me and said, “What have you got going on? Let me hear your stuff”, and I sent him a whole tape, this was way, way back. He said that it was a vibe, it was just love. Then, ‘To The Moon’ came out and blew up and I was in the States for a while, so he said that we should link-up. We tried to link-up in Miami but that didn’t work out, so we ended up linking in New York. He’s a very busy person, he’s just in his own bubble. It was a random day in New York and he just told me to pull up on him, and we ended up just running around. We went shopping, had dinner… and then we just chopped it up. He had a fitting for the Met Gala the next day, so I was just joining in on his day and we were just driving around New York, picking up some clothes, eating… we were just talking. He’d seen my growth, from struggling to developing music. We were playing my songs in the car and he was just really trying to understand me. Then, he caught a vibe and he was telling me that he liked the tape that I sent him. He said that he never sends Biggs music, but he said that I had something; he fully believed in me. The next day came and he facetimed me randomly, and he was at soundcheck, and he just said “Bro, get dressed and come to my address. Get dressed as if you’re going to the Met Gala, because that’s where you’re going.” He was performing at Met Gala with Burna Boy, and then he brought me out to that. He brought me out on stage to perform with him! We got a close bond from there, and Biggs said that it was a great performance… it was like a full circle moment for me. My idol brought me out, his manager said that I killed it. So yeah, that was that. After Wireless Festival, I found out that they were talking about bringing me on tour, like SAINt wanted me on his tour… and wants nobody else. If it isn’t you, it’s nobody. On the tour, he was just giving me great advice. Every conversation you have with him, you’re learning something. Whenever he talks, it’s time to listen… everything was game, honestly. I remember there was a moment where I just idolised his career because of the way he’d built such an organic audience that really loved his music. He was like, “But that isn’t you”, you’ve got a different route. You’ve got a whole different thing going on.”
What was the Meta Gala experience like for you? Not a lot ever comes out about it.
It reminded me of fashion parties to be honest, which was cool. I got to see Gunna just before he went away, which is quite sad actually. I linked up with him and asked him if he was going to be in Atlanta, and he said that he would be.
Getting into your music a little bit, I’ve heard that you obviously have a range of influences and that you moved around a lot when you were younger. I read that your dad loved Reggae music and your mum had an affection for Senegalese, Gambian music. What parts of you and your music are influenced by these things? What comes through most?
Definitely the Senegalese stuff, they’ve got really crazy melodies. They’ve got these really out of the box melodies that are just simple, and that’s something that I always have in my music. I will always switch up the flow, and I’ve been doing that a lot lately.
I guess in a lot of Western music as well there are these patterns of melodies that are used so prominently and going further afield, especially where these melodies aren’t as exposed to as much, you get something more unique.
Yeah definitely, you get expression and you get passion.
As you were touching on earlier, you have a really interesting backstory. In regards to the fashion industry, you’ve previously walked for some of the biggest fashion houses on the scene. How do you look back on that time and and was it all about getting to this point? A destiny of sorts? Was music always your trajectory?
It was a mixture of both, because I always knew that modelling was going to be a stepping stone into something more beautiful. I always knew that I’d document the journey and that I wouldn’t just stay as a model, you’d be able to scroll and see the growth and the journey. I feel like I’m going to do a lot more than just music, and that this is just another beautiful stepping stone that increases business. It was like, modelling got me ready for music, because of all the experiences. All of the experiences I talk about in my songs, these are all one-of-a-kind experiences that only I can kind of talk about. Coming from the background of modelling and fashion, and then bringing that in, not only can I talk about it but I’m in that niche of how (ASAP) Rocky can come in and talk about fashion, stuff like that.
Are there any other creative avenues you’d like to look into? You were talking about stepping stones, so I wondered what you see the future looking like.
I’m definitely going to work on a couple of brands, I only want to say one because it’s going to be something for everybody… something comfortable and something street. It’ll be a good price range and it’ll be for those days when you just want to chill out, or I don’t know, be on road. And then, I want to do something high-end for the times when you’re stepping out and putting it on. I dress like that. I kind of create based on my own emotions. I make music and it’s such a variety and there’s so much versatility because I listen to so much music. If it’s summer, I’ll listen to afrobeats and if it’s winter I’ll listen to trap. It’s the same with clothing I’m going to bring out, I’m going to have a line for when I feel like this and I’m going to have one for when I want to be a rockstar. It’ll be really good quality leather pants and Rick (Owens) influenced.
Talking about your unique journey, I can imagine that a lot of rejection came along with it, especially with how notoriously impenetrable both the fashion and music industries are. How did you process rejection? Do you think overcoming it is a skill that needs to be worked on?
Yeah, you do need to be rejected. I feel like you need to be rejected to know whether you really believe in your stuff or not, because how you deal with rejection is what matters. The amount of times that I showed people songs or I’d be interested in taking music further and I’d show A&Rs my music, and it’s not gone anywhere, that could’ve made me think that I’m not doing the right thing. I just never thought like that, I always said that I’d keep going. Whether you lot take this onboard and want to work with me or I drop this on my own independently, I’m going to do it. It’s funny, the amount of A&R’s that had heard ’To The Moon’ before it came out…
They must be kicking themselves now!
100%! That sh*t came out and was on millions of streams a day and they were all coming back. This is what I mean though, that song is on 200 million streams on Spotify alone right now and it was technically rejected.
I feel like rejection is a commonality for a lot of creatives and I believe overcoming that is easier said than done. You have to believe in yourself first and foremost. What advice would you give to young creatives that feel like they’re not progressing?
You have to tap in. I don’t know, it could be anything… music, clothing, whatever. You have to tap into a balance sometimes of how you feel and what’s going on around you. You have to be aware of both and say like, “Okay cool, this is what’s happening right now. This is the space I’m in”, but you also have to keep it original and bring what you have to say to the table. It’s almost a hybrid, you act as if you’re tapping in and featuring on what’s going on. Let’s say you’ve got a clothing brand and it’s jacket season, you tap in and you put your essence into the same puffer that everyone else is making. It’s the same with the drill stuff, because a lot of that was going on, but I hated drill… I never really jumped on it because It had very negative connotations to it. But I thought like, “Okay, I’m getting sent mad drill beats so let’s just try it and see what I can do.” I made it in a way that I would want to make it, and that’s how I make my music. I’ve been jumping on drill heavy lately, I’ve got some crazy drill tracks, but I made it how I wanted to make it. I’ve now been told that my sound is ‘universal drill’, because there aren’t those negative connotations that I associated with it. Mine is luxury drill! You realise what’s going on and you tap in and you go. “Okay cool, what do I have to say about this?, and you express yourself. You’ll always find a way to keep going because you’ve always got motivation. You get stuck in your little bubble sometimes where you’re just creating and creating and it’s not being appreciated, but sometimes you just have to tap in and clock the balance of what people are comfortable in and already used to seeing. That’s where you put your twist.
Definitely, I think sometimes you can do more of one than the other. Moving on, in terms of bridging the gap between fashion and music, nowadays it’s gone collaboration crazy. Obviously you have figureheads like Pharrell and Travis (Scott). How do you view collaborative projects between brands and musicians? Especially between people like Travis Scott and Dior. Do you think it’s oversaturated? Or do you think it opens new gateways?
I like it when it’s genuine. With Travis and Dior, they’ve been friends for a minute, that’s natural to him. I feel like a lot of people start creating these things with people who it doesn’t make sense for, you’re taking the authenticity away from collaborating. Why would you collaborate with someone who hasn’t got the taste? Now you’re producing nonsense and adding a little side thing to your hustle. I don’t know, I’d rather see people stick to their thing and when you see opportunities with other artists or creatives, collaborate. That’s the whole point of collaborating. It’s turned into, “Oh, let me just send you some stuff”, or “Let’s take a picture together.”
Maybe things are being born more out of business than the love of being creative…
Yeah! There needs to be more love. It needs to be more about loving what each other do and making something together, not “Oh, you have a load of followers and I have a load of followers, let’s take each other’s fans” type beat.
I feel like a lot of people maybe getting onto that a little bit more because so many people and brands have been collaborating that it kind of makes it a bit easier to weed out who is authentic and whose not.
People are smart. Audiences are smart. You can’t use common roll-out tactics anymore, it isn’t 2016. Everyone can see what you’re doing and read between the lines. The best way to be is organic. I wouldn’t collaborate with anyone I wouldn’t mess with, no matter the money.
Talking about collaborations music wise, do you have any people you want to collaborate with in the space right now?
I literally made maybe 200 songs a couple of months ago, and now it’s like 250-300 songs, so yeah, there are a lot of collaborations. We’ve been travelling a lot so we’ve kind of made music everywhere we’ve been. We went to Paris and worked with a couple of people out there. When we went to the States, we worked with Fivio (Foreign), Gunna, Quavo, B-Lovee, Tyga, Swae Lee. I don’t want to go crazy!
Those are some heavy hitters!
Let me not forget the UK either. M24… we’ve got some beautiful stuff. Yeah man, we’ve been working.
Discussing ’To The Moon’, once you go viral do you think there’s a natural inclination to chase that feeling? Maybe not with yourself, but do you see why people do?
100%. It’s kind of how the games goes. You get some attention and you capitalise off of the attention, you make sure you make the most of it. But, that can also damage you, because you don’t want to be seen for the wrong thing. That’s kind of why when ‘To The Moon’ took off I didn’t really do as much as I could have, I kind of wanted it to do it’s own thing and for it to be a beautiful song. Then, you come back and tap into the artist on your own accord and then you appreciate the art, not being like, “Oh I’m everywhere.” I’m not bothered about all of that stuff, I’m not trying to be famous. I’m here to make good art and keep it moving.
That’s longevity.
Yeah. That song is me, but that song isn’t all of me, so let me introduce people to JNR Choi properly.
I know you have a history with YouTube beats, which I’ve read is actually very common with a lot of artists. Considering the success of music sharing websites like YouTube and SoundCloud, who gave people a platform to authentically put themselves across, where do you stand on TikTok? Obviously it helped you and your career, but do you think it can give people too much too soon? Or is it the next step in terms of accessibility?
If you already have your sh*t set up, like you’ve got your foundation ready and you’ve got all of your music and your true identity is there so people can actually have something to listen to and appreciate, then it’s cool. It can be risky for you if you’ve never released a song and it blows up on TikTok, because you might not be ready to give them more. It can mess up your sh*t because the industry right now is really trying to pressurise this virality, and it ruins the essence of making music. You’re not making music for artistic purposes anymore, you’re making it to go viral. It kind of just ruins the market. I respect it if you make good music. If you make great music and you really want to promote the great music you’re making, go crazy. If it’s about going viral, making a hit and then some money… good luck. Do your thing.
I’ve read in the past about your desire and ability to tailor your music to different times of the year, like a designer would tailor clothing. Where are you at right now? What’s your creative outlook looking like?
It’s winter and it’s funny because I’m making a hybrid right now, like, I’m still making a lot of winter stuff with drill and trap stuff, but I’m also getting ready for next summer. Even though it’s already done, I’ve got next summer’s tape ready to go. The sun keeps coming out! It’s like, let me get some more afrobeats… and they’re getting put into the top selection. I’m making a hybrid right now. I’ll go in a session and I’ll make four songs, two of them will be afrobeats and two of them will be drill. I’m in a good expressive space right now. I have three projects ready.
Anything before the end of the year?
There will be a lot of content out. I don’t know whether it’ll be fully ready to boom, boom, boom, but I’ll drop a little bit of content and show people what I’ve been working on.
In terms of staying genre-less, some people like to mix in and out, but are you still firmly set on not being placed under any creative umbrella?
Nah, I’m an instrument man. I said it yesterday, it’s like, you don’t ask the drum or the guitar what genre they’re in. I’m like a Tory Lanez, a SAINt JHN; it doesn’t matter. They’re going to hear my voice regardless and say, “This is hard.”
Who are your top 3 in the game right now? Singers, rappers, songwriters… Anyone you’re feeling at the moment?
Real Boston Richey, Tory Lanez, and Lil Baby.
What are some things you’d like to be remembered as come the end of your career?
A great visionary. One of the GOATS. Talented, but in his own lane.
Follow Jnr Choi on Instagram
