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Jerry Butler, the beloved Chicago soul singer, producer and, later, politician who began his career in the late 1950 singing alongside childhood friend Curtis Mayfield in the Impressions, has died at 85. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Butler died on Thursday night (Feb. 20) of undisclosed causes after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.
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Motown legend Smokey Robinson told the Sun-Times that Butler was “one of the great voices of our time,” lauding the singer who the Miracles vocalist had admired since he was a young man listening to the Impressions’ 1958 Billboard Hot 100 No. 11 hit “For Your Precious Love.”
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Working alongside singer/guitarist Mayfield — whom he’d met as a teenager singing in a church choir — Butler began his career in the Northern Jubilee Gospel Singers group before joining the Roosters, who in short order became known as The Impressions. The group struck gold off the bat with the Butler co-written “For Your Precious Love,” a slow-burning, yearning song inspired by a poem Butler wrote in high school — credited to Jerry Butler & the Impressions — that melded the friends’ church-based gospel roots with a stirring soul sound.
The single, released by Vee-Jay Records and ranked in 2003 as the No. 335 on Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list, would be one of only two Butler recorded with the group, followed up by that same year’s No. 29 Billboard R&B chart hit “Come Back My Love.” Tensions in the group over Butler’s first-billing status led to the singer going out on his own, though his first solo hit was a reunion with Mayfield on the 1960 Vee-Jay co-write “He Will Break Your Heart.” That song peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
While Mayfield soon became a star in his own right thanks to his funky soul soundtrack to the 1972 blaxploitation film Superfly and such civil rights anthems as “People Get Ready,” Butler embarked on run of hits in the 1960s and 70s that included 38 career Hot 100 entries — including three top 10s — as well as 53 songs on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts.
In 1961, Butler’s impressive vocal range and always fresh attire earned him the career-long nickname “The Iceman” from WDAS Philadelphia DJ George Woods, bestowed on the singer after he kept his cool and continued to sing after the PA system burned out on him at a Philly show.
He scored another top 10 hit in 1964 with the hopelessly-in-love ballad “Let It Be Me,” a collaboration with singer Betty Everett on the Everly Brothers-written song that appeared on their joint Delicious Together album and peaked at No. 5 on the Hot 100. Butler’s third top 10 song came in 1969 with the inspirational soul stirrer “Only the Strong Survive,” one of the singer’s collaborations with the hit songwriting team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. The song appeared on his The Ice Man Cometh album and served as his highest-ever charting single after reaching No. 4 on the Hot 100, as well as spending two weeks at the top of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart (then called the Billboard Black Singles Chart).
One of his most enduring hits, the song would later be covered by, among others, Elvis, Rod Stewart and Bruce Springsteen, who also made it the title of his 2022 R&B/soul covers solo album.
Gamble and Huff released a joint statement honoring their friend on Friday, saying, “We deeply and sincerely mourn the loss of our dear and longtime friend the great Jerry Butler, aka ‘The Iceman,’ for his cool, smooth vocals and demeanor,” they wrote. “Our friendship with Jerry goes back for more than 60 years both as an iconic artist and music collaborator with hit songs such as ‘Only the Strong Survive,’ ‘Western Union Man,’ ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ and many more. We will really miss Jerry. He was a one of a kind music legend!”
Butler, whose vocals often climbed from a deep baritone to a crystal falsetto, would land Hot 100 hits in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, last charting on the singles tally in 1977 with “I Wanna Do It To You,” which peaked at No. 51.
His 53 career entries on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart included 18 top 10s and four No. 1s, including “He Will Break Your Heart,” “Let It Be Me,” 1968’s “Hey, Western Union Man” and “Only the Strong Survive.” He last appeared on that chart in 1982 with the No. 83 hit “No Love Without Changes.” The singer also co-write a 1965 hit for then climbing soul singer Otis Redding, “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long,” one of Redding’s most beloved songs, which has been covered over the years by everyone from the Rolling Stones to Aretha Franklin, Ike & Tina Turner and country singer Barbara Mandrell.
In addition, Butler had 15 career entires on the Billboard 200 album chart, with The Ice Man Cometh representing his peak at No. 29, followed by 1969’s Ice On Ice (No. 41) and 1977’s Thelma & Jerry with Thelma Houston topping out at No. 53.
Butler was born in Sunflower, MS on Dec. 8, 1939 and moved to Chicago at age three, where he grew up in the since-demolished Cabrini-Green housing projects. With is biggest music years behind him by the early 1980s, Butler — who had earlier set up his own short-lived record label, Memphis Records and production company — pivoted to running a Chicago beer distributorship. He entered politics a few years later after being inspired by the city’s first Black Mayor, Harold Washington. Former Black Panther and longtime Chicago alderman Bobby Rush encouraged Butler to run for the Cook County Board of Commissioners in 1985, where the singer served three four-year terms before his retirement from public office in 2018.
The singer kept performing live into the early 2000s and hosted oldies R&B specials (Doo Wop 50, Rock Rhythm and Doo Wop) for PBS, as well as serving as the chairman of the board for the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 as a member of the Impressions.
Over the years, his songs were sampled by a number of hip-hop acts, including Method Man on his 1994 Tical single “Bring the Pain” (which used bits of 1974’s “I’m Your Mechanical Man”), as well as Missy Elliott’s song of the same name from 2002. Snoop Dogg tapped Butler’s 1972 song “I Need You” for his 2006 Blue Carpet Treatment song “Think About It.”
Butler published his autobiography, Only the Strong Survive: Memoirs of a Soul Survivor, in 2000.
Check out some of Butler’s classics below.
The stratospheric success of Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet continues. The pop star’s sixth LP, which came out last August, has returned to the summit of the Official U.K. Albums Chart following the recent release of a deluxe version (Feb. 21).
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The new edition includes a remix of “Please Please Please” featuring Dolly Parton, plus bonus tracks “15 Minutes,” “Couldn’t Make It Any Harder,” “Busy Woman” and “Bad Reviews.”
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Upon arrival, the Short n’ Sweet saw Carpenter become the first female in history to score both the U.K.’s No. 1 album and single (“Taste”) simultaneously. It landed the second-biggest opening week of 2024 – only Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department outperformed it. The LP has now racked up three non-consecutive weeks at the top.
Earlier this week, meanwhile, the 25-year-old shared details of another huge outdoor London gig for the summer. On July 6, she’ll headline BST Hyde Park for the second time, following her previously sold-out show on July 5.
Tickets for Carpenter’s new date will go on sale at 10 a.m. GMT on Feb. 24 from the festival’s official website. She will be supported by Clairo and British star Olivia Dean on the day, with a full lineup expected to arrive soon.
Manic Street Preachers follow at No. 2 with their Critical Thinking, the Welsh rockers’ 15th LP. Over the course of four decades, the band has stacked up a further 14 top 10 U.K. albums, including two chart-toppers: 1998’s This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours and The Ultra Vivid Lament, released three years ago.
PartyNextDoor and Drake’s collaborative effort $ome $exy $ongs 4 U finishes at No. 3, while indie outfit The Wombats come in at No. 4 with Oh! The Ocean, their fifth U.K. top 10 album to date. Central Cee rounds out the top five with Can’t Rush Greatness, a chart mainstay since its release last month.North London singer-songwriter Louis Dunford, meanwhile, is celebrating his first top 10 appearance with Be Lucky finishing at No. 8.
Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” has soared to the top of the U.K.’s Official Singles Chart (Feb. 21).
The Drake diss track track, first released in May 2024, marks the Compton rapper’s maiden No. 1 hit in the U.K., thanks to exposure from his Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show earlier this month. His explosive performance has already become the most-watched halftime show in history, according to the NFL and Apple Music, surpassing 130 million viewers.
A recent U.K tour announcement with SZA has also continued to bolster Lamar’s current chart success. Two of the pair’s collabs, “Luther” and “All The Stars,” appear at No. 4 and No. 5 this week. He is also leading the pack in the U.S., too, as “Not Like Us” has returned to the summit of the BillboardHot 100 this week for the first time since last July.
Across an illustrious career, Lamar has notched up 11 top 10 singles in the U.K., from Taylor Swift team-up “Bad Blood” through to “Humble,” the lead single from his 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winning LP Damn.
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Following acclaimed performances on late-night chat programs including The Graham Norton Show and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Lola Young’s “Messy” comes in at No. 2, breaking her four-week run atop the charts. The track appears on her studio album This Wasn’t Meant for You Anyway, which was released in May 2024 via Island Records.
After taking to the stage at The BRIT Awards on March 1, Young will kick off her U.K. headlining tour the following week on March 3 at London’s O2 Forum Kentish Town. In April, she will perform at Coachella, ahead of a stacked festival season including major events such as Manchester’s Parklife and Reading & Leeds.
There’s also further chart dominance incoming from Sabrina Carpenter. Having recently released a deluxe edition of last year’s Short n’ Sweet LP, its focus track “Busy Woman” comes in at 10, while “Please Please Please” re-enters the top 10 for the first time in four months thanks to a remix with Dolly Parton (No. 9).
Elsewhere, Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club” shimmies on up to No. 3. Further down the chart, AJ Tracey and Jorja Smith’s buzzy new collab “Crush” debuts at No. 23, while Sam Fender’s “People Watching” hops up five places to No. 26, coinciding with the release of his album of the same name.
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Ja Rule recently chopped it up on HipHopWired’s ‘I Got Questions’ with Juvenile, and he gave a real shoutout to DMX’s crazy stage presence. The NYC rapper said, “The Dog had a different emotional connection to his audience,” and it’s clear DMX wasn’t just performing — he was living every moment with his fans.
His energy was unmatched. When X hit the stage, it wasn’t just about rapping; it was about making you feel every word, every verse, every bar. DMX had the power to make you connect with him on a whole different level. It wasn’t just entertainment; it was an experience. DMX’s impact on hip-hop is legendary. From the rough and rugged sound of tracks like *“Ruff Ryders’ Anthem”* to the club banger ‘Party Up (Up In Here),’ X changed the game with his gritty delivery, raw emotion, and realness. He wasn’t just another rapper — he was a voice for the underdog, speaking to the struggle, the pain, and the triumphs.
DMX’s music was more than just fire bars; it was a reflection of the real-life many were living. Ja Rule’s tribute shows that DMX wasn’t just a rapper; he was a force in the culture. His connection to the people, his authenticity, and his ability to move crowds set him apart as one of the most influential figures in hip-hop. Even after his passing, his legacy still reigns, and his impact continues to inspire the game.
Check out HipHopWired’s latest episode of ‘I Got Questions’ featuring Juvenile & Ja Rule:
J. Cole is back with his first new song of 2025, and used the track to express some fears about AI.
Cole returned with the song “Clouds” via his Inevitable blog on Thursday (Feb. 20). While the Dreamville leader used the track to ruminate on multiple topics, he also used DZL and Omen’s lush beat to speak on the power of artificial intelligence.
“Don’t buy, subscribe so you can just stream your content/ Like rent, you won’t own a thing/ Before long, all the songs the whole world sings’ll be generated by latest of AI regimes/ As all of our favorite artists erased by it scream/ From the wayside, ‘Aye, whatever happened to human beings?’” Cole spits.
The North Carolina rapper didn’t clarify much in his blog post about “Clouds,” but did detail his motivation behind dropping new music.
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“Just wanted to share,” he wrote. “Made this a few days ago, then I added a second verse and was like, ‘Man I got a blog now, I can put whatever I want up there.’ I didn’t have a title 20 minutes ago when I decided to really put this up. But now I got one…”
Elsewhere in the song, Cole also spit some bars about the attempted assassination of Donald Trump at a Philadelphia rally in June.
“I’m that bass in your trunk, the bullet that missed Trump/ The gun that jammed ’cause it seemed God had other plans,” Cole raps in the second verse.
The new track comes after J. Cole promised in a previous blog post he’d be more communicative with his fans.
“I knowwww mannnn. I’m off to a bad start with the consistency, but I’ma do better! Watch,” he wrote in part. “I been locked in on the music while also balancing family life. It’s a juggling act that a blog post wouldn’t do justice in explaining. But with that said, I’m back tending to this garden.”
“Clouds” is Cole’s first new song to emerge since he dropped the YouTube loosie “Port Antonio” last October. On the latter track, Cole addressed his divisive decision to apologize for dissing Kendrick Lamar and step away from a brewing rap battle with the GNX rapper.
Listen to “Clouds” here.
ATEEZ has emerged as one of the most popular K-pop groups in the U.S., achieving milestones that defy industry norms. They became the first group unaffiliated with the “Big Four” entertainment companies, such as SM, JYP, YG, and HYBE, to top the Billboard 200 chart. In 2024, they became the first K-pop boy group to perform at Coachella and claimed their second Billboard 200 No. 1 with their 11th mini album, Golden Hour: Part 2. Yet, their name remains curiously absent from Korea’s domestic music scene.
Album sales paint a striking picture. Their 11th mini album sold over one million copies in its first week. However, their Korea streaming performance tells a different story. ATEEZ is nowhere to be found on Korea’s YouTube Music Hot 100 chart or the charts of local platforms like Melon, Genie, Bugs, and FLO. Spotify data reveals their most streamed cities are Jakarta, Bangkok, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore, notably excluding Seoul.
Stray Kids, under JYP Entertainment, face a similar paradox. Their album HOP made history in 2024 as the first to achieve six consecutive Billboard 200 No. 1 albums by a group. This record-breaking achievement prompted the announcement of a 20-stop global stadium tour in 2025, solidifying their global appeal. Yet in Korea, their title track “Chk Chk Boom” failed to claim the top spot on major streaming charts. Like ATEEZ, their strongest Spotify numbers come from Indonesia, Japan, Chile, Brazil, and Malaysia.
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K-pop thrives globally, driven by its fiercely loyal fanbase. According to IFPI’s Global Music Report, SEVENTEEN’s FML and Stray Kids’ 5-STAR ranked first and second, respectively, in global album sales for 2023. In IFPI’s Global Artist Chart, SEVENTEEN, Stray Kids, Tomorrow X Together, and NewJeans all placed in the Top 10. However, this global success highlights a surprising shift: K-pop’s domestic market no longer mirrors its international dominance.
Data from the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute (KCTI) illustrates this disparity. In 2023, K-pop’s overseas revenue reached 1.2377 trillion KRW (approximately $950 million USD), while HYBE reported 63.3% of its earnings from international markets in the first half of 2023. JYP followed with 52.2% and YG at 48.6%. Luminate’s Mapping Out K-pop’s Global Dominance report placed Korea as the fourth largest consumer of K-pop, trailing Japan, the U.S., and Indonesia.
Then why is K-pop less visible in its home country?
To better understand this, one must revisit the mid-2010’s, a period when K-pop began its meteoric rise in the U.S., spearheaded by BTS’s success at the Billboard Music Awards and their domination of Western charts. Back home, K-pop reigned supreme in Korea’s music scene, led by heavyweights like BLACKPINK, TWICE, EXO and SEVENTEEN, while audition programs such as Produce 101 captivated audiences and amplified K-pop’s domestic appeal.
Ironically, as K-pop’s global footprint grew, its local presence waned. The absence of a trusted official chart to represent Korea’s music industry dealt a major blow. Once reliable indicators of popularity, real-time charts on platforms like Melon and Genie fell into disrepute after controversies surrounding chart manipulation and ballot rigging in audition programs. These incidents eroded public trust in K-pop as a genre.
By 2018, the industry shifted its focus from broad audience appeal to catering to core fandoms. Fanbases, in turn drove album sales to record-breaking heights, pushing physical sales to over 116 million units in 2023, a tenfold increase over the past decade. Billboard 200 chart topping acts, which were once a rarity, have now expanded to include a slew of K-pop groups like SuperM, Tomorrow x Together, and NewJeans.
Billboard Korea: Predicting K-pop Companies’ Strategies for 2025
Meanwhile, K-pop’s evolution into a fandom centric business model has redefined its strategy. Entertainment companies prioritize retaining and strengthening existing fanbases over attracting casual listeners and songs are designed to reinforce a group’s identity rather than to appeal to the masses. Global promotions, such as BTS’s and BLACKPINK’s massive stadium tours in the U.S. and Japan, underscore this trend, with groups like Stray Kids and ATEEZ leading the charge in self-produced artistry.
In Korea, K-pop activities increasingly resemble fan service. Despite low domestic ratings, programs like Music Bank, M Countdown, and Inkigayo remain important platforms for launching new songs and generating live performance clips for social media platforms such as YouTube. This demonstrates that while K-pop may no longer be music for everyone, its transformation into a niche-driven, global phenomenon is undeniable.
However, not all groups face this disconnect. Acts like aspea, IVE, SEVENTEEN and NewJeans continue to dominate Korean media and achieve commercial success domestically. Across the board, K-pop’s overall revenues keep climbing, driven largely by its international market.
As K-pop popularity continues to grow around the global, its strategy continues to evolve. English lyrics, international artist collaborations, and streamlined promotional cycles reflect its shift toward the global stage. Circle Chart data shows that the percentage of English lyrics in girl group releases reached 41.3% in 2023, up nearly 19% from 2018. For boy groups, the figure stood at 24.3%. Major comebacks are now followed by world tours, with U.S. talk shows often serving as debut platforms for new releases.
As K-pop increasingly focuses on global markets, can it find a balance between domestic recognition and international acclaim? Will it achieve a universal appeal similar to Latin music, fostering sustainable support both at home and abroad? The dual identity of K-pop, its paradoxical success offers both challenges and opportunities for the industry’s future.
This article is courtesy of Billboard Korea.
ROSÉ is showing some extra large love to JENNIE‘s new solo single, “ExtraL” featuring Doechii.
Shortly after “ExtraL” dropped Friday (Feb. 21), the New Zealand-born K-pop star shared a screenshot on her Instagram Story of her BLACKPINK bandmate’s new music video for the track and wrote, “this girlll,” with two heart emojis.
“ExtraL out now!!!,” ROSÉ added supportively.
On “ExtraL,” JENNIE and the Swamp Princess take turns on different verses before uniting on the track’s confidence-boosting chorus, speaking directly to their “ladies.” “Riding ’round, foreign cars/ Top down, staring at the stars/ Attitude, so don’t start,” they boast.
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The track will be featured on JENNIE’s upcoming album Ruby, which drops March 7; it will include previous singles “Mantra” and “Love Hangover,” featuring Dominic Fike. Four months after the project arrives, she’ll finally reunite with her BLACKPINK counterparts for a world tour, dates for which the band unveiled just three days prior to “ExtraL.”
The reunion — which will also come with new music, as ROSÉ recently confirmed — will put an end to more than a year of the foursome spending time apart to focus on solo projects. The “Number One Girl” singer’s debut album, rosie — led by Billboard Global 200-topper “APT.” featuring Bruno Mars — arrived in December, while bandmate JISOO’s EP Amortage dropped on Valentine’s Day ahead of LISA’s Feb. 28-slated album Alter Ego.
Throughout their time apart, however, the ladies have continued to support one another from afar — something JENNIE opened up about in her January Billboard cover story. “We are all so caught up with life,” she said at the time. “Obviously, we can’t be calling each other every day.”
“Even though we know we can’t see each other so much, it doesn’t really feel any different than all the other years because we know we’re here for each other,” she continued. “They’re literally a phone call away. And at this point, we respect each other’s space so much. So if there’s anything to be happy for, to celebrate, we’re all in it together.”
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Voletta Wallace, the mother of the late Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace, has died. According to still-developing reports, Voletta Wallace passed from natural causes.
TMZ was the first to report the news of Voletta Wallace’s passing, noting that the retired schoolteacher passed away in Stroudsburg, Penn. The outlet adds that Wallace was in hospice care in the Pennsylvania town according to Monroe County Coroner Thomas Yanac.
Wallace, a native of Jamaica, moved to Brooklyn N.Y. where she and George Latore welcomed their son, Christopher, who would later become known as rapper Biggie Smalls before taking on The Notorious B.I.G. stage name for legal purposes. Wallace raised her son as a single mom while working in education, and as Biggie’s star rose, she was a major fixture in his life.
After the tragic loss of her son, Wallace continued to uphold the legacy of The Notorious B.I.G. and oversaw his estate, including making certain that his daughter, T’yanna Wallace, and son, C.J. Wallace were taken care of. She also released the book Biggie: Voletta Wallace Remembers Her Son, Christopher Wallace, aka Notorious B.I.G in 2005.
Via her Instagram page, several images of her and her son adorn the pages along with a consistent celebration of Biggie’s achievements in the industry and how his name still lives on in the minds of many. Online, fans are showing their respect and mourning the loss.
Rest in peace to Voletta Wallace.
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For a minute there Lavar Ball was all over the place from sports shows to social media and though he’s since fallen back from the public view, he’s once again getting attention, but unfortunately, it’s not for entertainment purposes.
According to TMZ, the father of Lonzo Ball, LaMelo Ball and LiAngelo Ball recently underwent surgery to have his foot amputated after dealing with a serious medical issue. Though the family is remaining mum about why exactly Lavar Ball had his right foot removed, the man himself seems to remain in good spirits (as he’s known to be constantly) and just happy to be surrounded by his family through this difficult time.
Per TMZ:
LaVar made a name for himself with his grandiose plans for his sons — he created the Big Baller Brand, which developed signature shoes for all three hoopers.
LaVar made countless headlines for his bold declarations about his kids, but has received praise following their success — Zo and Melo are stars in the Association, and Gelo’s music career is taking off.
He has distanced himself from the spotlight in recent years … but has continued to be his sons’ biggest fan from afar.
Indeed he has. Some may say to their detriment but still, the man obviously loves his sons to death. Also, Gelo having a music hit on his hands was not on our bingo cards at all, but hey, we ain’t mad at him.
Prayers up for Lavar Ball and his family. Get well soon, sir.
Music festivals are more than just concerts — they’re entire worlds where fans lose themselves in the sound, the energy, and the moment. But what happens when an artist doesn’t just play festivals, but makes music that feels like one? With his latest album Festival Season, SAINt JHN delivers an electrifying experience that blurs the line between live spectacle and studio magic.
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Led by high-energy singles like “Glitching” and the genre-bending “Poppin,” Festival Season arrived on Friday (Feb. 21) as JHN’s most ambitious project yet. The album fuses elements of house, hip-hop, punk and electronic music, capturing the thrill of a headlining set and the intimacy of a late-night afterparty. Inspired by the euphoric highs and unpredictable chaos of real-life festivals, SAINt set out to craft a project that feels just as immersive as the events that shaped it.
“Festivals are like a different universe,” he tells Billboard just a day before the album’s release. “I wanted to make something that sounds like you’re in the middle of one – something that makes you want to move, scream, and lose yourself in the moment.”
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After making waves with While The World Was Burning, SAINt JHN has spent the last few years pushing his sound to new heights. Whether performing on massive stages or collaborating with some of the most forward-thinking artists in music, he’s built a reputation for tearing down genre boundaries and delivering electrifying music. Now, with Festival Season, he’s bringing that same energy straight to the speakers.
Billboard caught up with SAINt JHN to discuss Festival Season, his genre-blurring sound, the electrifying energy of live performances, and how he’s elevating the festival experience on his own terms.Festival Season is your first full project in four years. What inspired the album’s title, and what’s the overarching theme you want listeners to take away?The reason why it’s called Festival Season is because it sounds like you’re at a live SAINt JHN concert.
And if you’ve ever heard any of my music – and even if you haven’t – I’m genre divergent. I’m a bit disrespectful when it comes to genres. I don’t really play to any one particular sport. I just like what I like. I like the sounds of music. So when you hear this collection from top to bottom, from tip to toe, it sounds like you’re in the middle of a festival, and you’re running from stage to stage to hear your favorite artist.
It’s all just me. But the songs change, and the theme changes, and the mood changes. But if you’ve never been to a performance, this sounds like a pocket performance. You can hear crowd interaction, chants. You’re hearing yelling. You’re hearing fans screaming my name.
Because that’s what it’s like to be at a SAINt JHN show. It’s an enormous concert. The mood changes, the theme changes, the sound changes, but the energy never dies. So Festival Season was born from that. I wanted the people who might have been on the other side of the planet, in a place that I’d never been and never visited, to be able to take home a pocket performance from me.
It’s a world where I perform on a stage in front of you. But you get to see some of the things I go through—the emotions, pains, the curiosities, the uncertainties, the doubts—but everything is at a maximum level. Nothing is low. The decibel is on 10-plus the entire time.
With so many different sounds on this project — Afro-fusion, alternative pop, introspective moments — what song do you think will be the breakout hit, and why?I feel like it’d be a stupid response of mine to tell you what I think would be the breakout hit. I don’t know. I’ve never known what people want. I don’t know what people want from me. I don’t know what people want for themselves. I know the way art works in the best format and the best possible thing is you make the thing that you love, and then people decide from that what they love.
It’s like – I was going to say something stupid, like the guy who probably invented the cheeseburger was probably just trying to make a milkshake, and the cheeseburger came out of it, and they were like, “We like that.” So I think maybe some of that will happen. I do have a creeping suspicion. I got a song I think is gonna go crazy.
I think a bunch of them are gonna go crazy. Well, I think for “The Gangsters,” it’s gonna be sort of undeniable, especially when you hear it live—like, when you really see it presented, I think it’d be hard to deny that. But I don’t got no predictions. I don’t want to be the guy at the Super Bowl going, “Yo, this is the team.”
When fans press play on this album, how do you want them to feel? What emotions or experiences do you hope to evoke?I hope when people listen to this collection, I hope they feel bolder than they’ve ever felt. There’s a feeling that you get when you leave a concert, when you leave a festival.
There’s a certain type of energy that you get to take home with you that doesn’t last a long time. For some people, it lasts a couple of days, for some people maybe a couple of weeks, and for some people, it just lasts moments after it. There’s a heightened endorphin, a certain surge of energy, and I want people to get that.
But I want you to be able to press play again and do it again. Usually, you have to venture back to the performance, into a field where you wore an outfit, where you brought a date, where you spent the money on the tickets. Usually, you have to go hunt the thing that you’re looking for. I wanted you to be able to take it home with you so you could restart it every time you felt something that you needed.
Every album has an ideal setting for full immersion. Where do you think Festival Season is best experienced? Is it a car ride, a morning commute, a late-night listen?I think the best place for you to immerse yourself, to hear this, to experience this, is at a tiny rave. That tiny rave could happen in so many different places, right? But your mindset needs to be a “tiny rave.”
It could happen in your bedroom, but you gotta be ready to ruffle up the bedsheets. It could happen in your living room, but you’re gonna have to be ready to spill some coffee, spill some champagne. It could happen in a car ride, but maybe it’d be hard to focus on driving.
It’s an immersive experience, and in order for you to take it in, you gotta be willing to submit to it. This isn’t like a vending machine where you say, “I want Coca-Cola and Sprite.” This isn’t that.This is — show up. I’m gonna make you something really special. This is omakase. This is when you show up, and the chef says, “I’m going to make you something. It’s going to be exceptional. Don’t make any requests. Just be hungry when you get here and be appreciative when you leave here.”
This album also marks a big moment for you—your signing with Roc Nation Distribution. How does this partnership elevate your vision for the next phase of your career?
I think it’s just more freedom. My entire career, my entire purpose in life — the only things I’m looking forward to and the things that I’m hunting, the thing that drives me in the morning and keeps me up at night – is this type of unbridled freedom that only creatives who reach their maximum peak get to feel.
That’s what I look to feel every day. So to be in partnership with people who share a similar vision, who’ve been disruptive from the beginning of their historic run, it just means I’m in league with the right people. I’m just on the right team.
You’ve always pushed boundaries sonically, but Festival Season feels like an expansion of your artistry. How do you think this album reflects your growth since While the World Was Burning?
I always tell a tale from where I’m at at the time. While the World Was Burning, the world was on fire.Collection one was my first collection. So you get to hear the presentation. You get to see exactly where I’m at. I’m centered in the middle of my universe, but I’m telling a story from the seat of the couch, wherever the couch is positioned. Festival Season – you can tell I’m going back on the road. I’m living in my purpose.I’m in my path. My garden has become the stage, and I just want to introduce you to what I’ve been harvesting.
You can hear the maturation in my language. You can hear the maturation in my tone. You can tell I’m not in the same place you left me at, and I think that’s the purpose. That’s an artist’s purpose—to continue growing and evolving.To find new paths. To find new places to venture. To find scarier formats. To find things that are unexplored. It doesn’t seem like I’m tracing myself.
What tends to happen is, when an artist becomes successful, people want them to run the same route—like, “Keep this. Do it again. Do that same lap again. Do it again so I can see it. I didn’t get to see it the way you started the race. Alright, run it again. Alright, cool, cool. We saw it twice. Now do it three times.” But that’s not what artistry is. That’s not what creativity is. Creativity is complex. Creativity wants to continue creating. Creativity designs itself to continue finding new places.
So to be an ultimate, consummate creative, you have to be willing to break through your own glass box that you’ve built. You have to be willing to run the lap backwards, sideways, on your hands. That’s what I’m doing. It might look like the same race, but I’m definitely not sprinting at the same pace.
You chose “Glitching” and “Circles” as your recent singles. Why did you choose those two?
“Circles” is from [my upcoming album] Fake Tears From a Pop Star, and as I was about to roll out Collection Two entirely, I was starting there because Fake Tears From a Pop Star was going to lead.
But I made a pivot. And I think that’s really incredible – when an artist can actually change paths, change course mid-move. I feel like Michael Jordan in the air, about to go for a dunk and turning it into a layup because I saw the block coming. I saw the contender coming, and I was like, “Nope, watch this.”
And the point – the reason why I did that – was because I thought people weren’t ready for it. That’s the truth. “Circles,” for me, is an incredible song. It’s almost like indie rock meets whatever I am naturally. And without me intending to make indie rock music – I’m just doing whatever I feel. I’m just letting my freedom find its own path. But as I was doing that, I was like, “Ah, this isn’t the right timing.”
And I felt this way before. Because I remember how I felt on Collection One, and I trust my own instincts. If you get there before the audience gets there – if you get there long before they get there – your wait to build a foundation is going to be really aggressive. I’d rather build right as they’re showing up.
So I pushed Fake Tears From a Pop Star back a couple months so that I could get the full expression of what needs to happen. As I’m coming back out, running out the gate four years later, I want it to be disruptive. I don’t want it to be harmonious. I don’t want it to be pretty pastels. I want aggressive colors. I want rage. I want dysfunction.
Because I think we need that. I think in the time that we’re in, simple harmony gets overlooked and misunderstood. So we need to fight before we kiss. So that’s why “Circles” led, and that’s why “Glitching” followed “Circles.” Because when I pivoted from Fake Tears, moving on to Festival Season, there was an energy I was looking for. A certain, unfamiliar, progressive energy.
And the strange thing is, my core audience – the people who have been following and loving SAINt JHN since 2018, 2016, 2017 – they want to hear super melodic music. They don’t actually want to hear things that make them dance. The tempo is strange to them. “Glitching” is strange to them. It’s progress that they don’t want. But I know I have to get there before they arrive — because that’s my job.
You’re heading on your Festival Season North American tour next month, and you’re also hitting Coachella. What’s your vision for the live show experience this time around?
Tough question, because I don’t know what my Coachella set is going to be. I don’t know what the stage design is yet. I’m having a thousand conversations. This is my first time really, really collaborating with any degree of people – just considering how else I can see myself.
It almost feels like Alexander McQueen, shifting from creative direction by him – it’s his brand – and someone else stepping in to execute his vision, but with their taste. So I’m considering that. I’m looking at my world in a completely new way. I want to see what somebody else’s perspective on me is.
So I’m entertaining new conversations. I don’t have a complete vision for what that’s going to look like. Because I’ve always satisfied myself on the road by telling my truth. It’s always been loud. But the way I want to present my story now – I’d like it to be theatrical. That’s the truth. I want you to feel a sense of theater with the same sense of journey, passion, commitment, and pride.
Beyond music, you’ve been making moves in fashion with your new clothing line Christian Sex Club and appearing at major fashion weeks. How does your personal style influence your artistry, and vice versa?
I think it’s just another language for me. Style is just language. Sound is just language. Like when you hear a Trinidadian accent, it’s just the melody of the accent that separates it from a Guyanese accent. So style, for me, is just another type of melody.
It’s a visual melody. When the denim hits the leather, and the leather hits the silk, or the fur hits the canvas, and the canvas hits the viscose. By the way, I hate viscose. They inform each other because I get to live in the world that I create.
Like when you see a movie, and you’re listening to the audio from it, you can see the theatrics of it, and you hear the script and the character development. But what really tells you and informs you how to feel is what they look like and what the wardrobe is. So it gives you a different color and dimension.
It’s just another part of it – another part of storytelling for me, another part of the language. Another way to be more dialed in.
You also made your acting debut in The Book of Clarence last year. What was that experience like, and do you see yourself exploring more roles in the future?
Yeah, I’m gonna be doing a lot more acting. I always thought I would. You know what’s funny? I thought I preferred to be behind the camera – and I probably do. But the people who care enough about me are like, “Yo, shut up. Don’t be stupid. Stand in front of the camera. Do the thing that you do incredibly well.”
James Samuels – he is my brother – he directed The Book of Clarence, wrote it, scored it. He did everything you possibly could do. And I’m like, “Yo, I think I want to direct.” He’s like, “Bro, your magic don’t hide.”
So I won’t hide. I intend on doing a lot less hiding. So you’ll see me in more cinematic presentations, even though I just prefer to be the guy that coordinates. Because I think the people who don’t want to be seen, who aren’t looking for attention, can really do their art and execute it at a maximum level. And I think the people who want to dance in front of the lights end up being just performative. And I never wanted to be performative. I really wanted to do the thing I cared about because I really cared about it.
But with all that bulls—t being said – yeah, you are gonna see a lot more acting from me, because it seems to be something that comes naturally to me.
With Festival Season setting the tone for this next chapter, where do you see yourself creatively and personally in the next few years?
Oh, I can see the next 18 months really, really clearly – without giving away anything, My life works best, and my art works best, when I can see 24 months, 36 months – when I can clearly see my vision for the future. And over the course of the last four years, I’ve been building. The next iteration of it is this year.
I really want to put out three collections. That’s the truth. So I’ve been working on the third collection, because Fake Tears from a Pop Star is done. I won’t give away the name of the third collection, but I’m really excited about it – just as excited as I am for Festival Season. And if I can see the third collection this year, that means I can see the first quarter of next year and what touring next summer looks like.
And that gives me an immense amount of clarity. That means I know where I need to be. I feel overconfident that I’m where I need to be. I’m in lockstep.