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Editor’s Note: This interview was conducted before the onset of the wildfires in Los Angeles. The artist has since addressed the situation, telling GRAMMY.com, “To my fellow artists impacted by the LA fires, know that your creativity and spirit are unbreakable. Let’s stand together, support one another and use our music to uplift and heal. Stay strong; the world needs your voice now more than ever.”
When Jordan Adetunji started writing the song that would become his breakthrough track, he wasn’t picturing anyone in particular. His lyrics just described his ideal girl; she was good-looking, confident, someone with style and attitude. Then, while watching an interview with R&B star Kehlani, it struck him — Kehlani was that girl.
Jordan added her name to the verses and uploaded the finished track, aptly titled “KEHLANI,” to TikTok. It didn’t take long for the real-life Kehlani to discover the drill-tinged song, and, naturally, she loved it — so much, in fact, that she wanted to hop on a remix. Within six months of releasing “KEHLANI,” Adetunji not only manifested a collaboration with his female inspiration, but a GRAMMY nomination, too.
The “KEHLANI” remix is up for Best Melodic Rap Performance at the 2025 GRAMMYs, a feat that’s even more remarkable considering the rising alt hip-hop star only just released his first full project a mere 13 months before earning the nomination. But as Adetunji insists, his success isn’t a fluke; he’s envisioned being an artist since he was a teen.
After moving to Belfast, Ireland from his native South London when he was 10 years old, Adetunji spent his teens in guitar and trumpet lessons and teaching himself how to use music production software. Before “KEHLANI” made him global, the singer made a name for himself by sharing his tracks online, with the mission of proving that his style and sound couldn’t be put in a box.
“The plan was always to showcase each side of what I’m going to do in the future — to use my music to give a glimpse of each thing that I was going to become,” Adetunji tells GRAMMY.com. “That’s why I was making alternative songs at the start, then a lot of rap songs, [and] a lot of dance. So when I do these different kinds of tracks in the future, no one’s going to be surprised about my journey and how I got there.”
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His alternative music is what caught the attention of Bring Me the Horizon frontman Oli Sykes, who helped Adetunji secure a management deal after discovering his track “WOKEUP!” on TikTok in 2023. Released a few months later, Jordan’s self-produced debut mixtape, ROCK ‘N’ RAVE, retained a lyrically emo, alt-rock edge while experimenting with glitchy club beats, Soundcloud rap and Afro-pop rhythms.
The “KEHLANI” remix continued the rap sensibilities introduced on ROCK ‘N’ RAVE, something Adetunji takes further forward — along with his alt-rock, Afrobeat and pop influences — on his second mixtape, A Jaguar’s Dream. Released on Jan. 24, the 10-track set introduces a more R&B-leaning sound, hinted by “Options,” a collaboration with rap star Lil Baby, and “Too Many Women,” featuring emerging London-based singer KWN. As he’s already proven, Adetunji is a multifaceted artist with an ever-evolving vision. And while “KEHLANI” showed the world one side of his artistry, he’s eager for listeners to see what else he can do — and how far he plans to go.
In conversation with GRAMMY.com, Adetunji discussed his wide-ranging influences from Manga to The Weeknd, his rise to TikTok fame, and why he knew “KEHLANI” was going to be huge.
When you first started making music, what were your early influences and how did you come across them?
My early influences came from video games. I got into a lot of alternative music bands like Static-X and blink-182 because those were the songs in a lot of games when I was younger. Then I started getting into more hip-hop and R&B, like Busta Rhymes and The Weeknd. Then, when I moved to Belfast, I was listening to a lot of post-punk bands — Joy Division, for example.
You mentioned Joy Division. What other old school alternative and punk stuff were you listening to?
So from Joy Division, it goes into maybe more emo-like bands. The Used, for example. Then I got into bands like From First to Last — I think Skrillex was part of that band. And Escape the Fate.
How about Gary Moore? I keep reading about how you look up to Gary Moore for inspiration…
Yeah, yeah. He actually went to my school. He was a great guitar player. It’s a bit of a weird influence, but he was one of the people I grew up listening to, and that’s why I like a lot of guitar stuff. And then I got into Math Rock, which is like a Japanese anime guitar style of playing.
In terms of other influences, how much does your Nigerian background feed into what you do?
It definitely does on the visual side of things; the way I dress, my style. I wear a lot of clothes that represent Nigeria. So, it’s more that side than anything.
Have you got any plans to do some work out there?
Yeah, for sure. Especially now I’ve gained a lot more fans from there recently. They just came in from nowhere!
You talked about the Manga influence in your sound. Does that come from the anime and the comics?
Yes, the Manga side is another visual thing but also in the sound. Especially in my first mixtape, ROCK ‘N’ RAVE, where I was combining alternative sounds with dance music like Jersey Club and rock music.
Do you use any specific effects from Manga anime in your production work?
I do, yeah. I use a lot of glitch-pop effects, a lot of vocal chops. That’s a big thing in my music: vocal chops, sped-up vocals, slowed-down vocals. So, it all kind of sounds like a video game.
Let’s talk about your early stuff. You were self-producing and recording at home in your bedroom?
I still do, actually. Most of my best songs I’ve recorded at home, by myself. Early on, I was actually recording with a Focusrite audio interface with stock presets and I was using a U 87 mic. I was using a really high-end mic with a low-end interface, and it gave me this kind of effect on the voice that just worked for me. I’m still using that.
So just you, a high-end cool mic and that was it. It worked, didn’t it? And how were you getting your tracks out into the world?
It worked, yeah. I started getting tracks out there using Facebook when I was 16 and 17. I did a track where I was rapping on a house beat. I think it was like house or techno, something like that. And that went viral.
I took them all down after a while, but all that gave me confidence to try different things that I’d never done before. Then I started posting on TikTok and I got a lot of attention very quickly. That made me think, How can I do something next-level?
And when did you start performing live?
I started playing the trumpet in school and I was playing a lot of classical stuff, a lot of sheet music and even stuff like (The Proclaimers’) “500 Miles” and the “Mission Impossible” theme. I was in the school orchestra, so I guess that was my first live experience and it helped me grow in Belfast.
And the music that you were producing at home, when did you take that live?
I was mostly experimenting online, if I’m honest. At the start, I was collaborating on TikTok. There were guys on there playing guitar loops and I would sing over the loops and tell someone to add drums. It was almost like creating a track on the app. So, I was just doing that and collaborating with people that way and it worked well.
Literally live on TikTok? And people were joining in? That’s wild.
Yeah, it was crazy. And that really grew my name out there. There was a great guitarist guy that I was working with called RJ Pasin. We were going back and forth, and he would put up a guitar loop. Everybody would be like, “I’m waiting for Jordan to add his vocals.” I’d do the vocals and then someone would add drums. So then there were hundreds of people adding different types of drums to different songs, with my voice going out everywhere.
Is that when Oli Sykes got in touch?
So, when I was making a lot of the alternative stuff around 2020 I put up a song called “WOKEUP!” on TikTok. It’s a very post-punk inspired track and I was rapping on it. Oli followed me and commented, like, “This is so cool. This is really different.” Then I put up a version of me just singing over an acoustic guitar and he was like, “This is crazy. I’m going to show this to a few peeps.”
And then a lot happened. I got a management deal with Raw Power, which is also Bring Me the Horizon’s management. Then I got signed to RCA for a little while, which was cool. And then, in January 2024, I got dropped from RCA and I released my “KEHLANI” song in May independently.
What made you write a song about Kehlani?
I’d wanted to write a song about someone like her for a while, someone who fitted with a picture I had in my mind. I thought Kehlani was the perfect person to fit that picture. So I ended up putting her name in.
It was a bit of a risk. I was a bit scared at the start because I didn’t know if I should do it. But my brother was like, “Just leave it in. It sounds good.”
You should stick with your brother. He sounds like a sensible man.
Yeah. He was like, “What’s the worst that can happen?”
When you were in the process of writing that song, was there any point when you thought, This is gonna be the song that breaks through?
100 percent. After I made it, my brother just looked at me. He was like, “Bro, if this doesn’t do anything, they must be hating on you.” I was like, “I got everything right. The writing, the beat was right.” It felt right at the time. I felt like people were going to eat it up. And they did.
And then Kehlani reached out. How did she get in touch with you?
Through TikTok. Basically she ended up ringing me and she was like, “Can I get an open verse?” And I was like, “What? Of course you can get an open verse.”
She had asked for my number. She actually FaceTimed me and I wasn’t even in Belfast, I was in a club in Dublin on a night out, and she was like, “I’m in the studio right now. I’m going to record this.” I was like, “Oh no.”
I had to look through my phone and just find something. Luckily I had the instrumental and I managed to send her that from my phone.
Was the first time you met her in person when you made the Kehlani remix video?
Yeah, we shot that in LA. She was amazing. She was like, “I haven’t gotten away from the song.” She loved it and she was just thanking me. She told me just to enjoy everything.
You’ve been joining her on stage recently, haven’t you?
Yeah, I have. And people everywhere know the words to the song. It’s crazy. I got especially blown away when we performed [together] at the KOKO club in London last summer. It was the first time I’d seen everybody singing the words back to me.
I heard somebody call the Kehlani remix a drill ballad. Do you think that’s a fair characterization?
That’s funny. Drill ballad is hilarious. It’s more of an R&B track, really. Everything that I make in any style of music always has R&B-styled vocals. And I’m not talking about the same stuff that most drill songs have. So, I’d say it’s more R&B drill.
You’ve just invented a new genre. We’re going to call it R&B drill from now on.
There we go.
Now that you’ve collaborated with Kehlani, if you could collaborate with anybody else, alive or dead, who would they be?
Probably Michael Jackson. I like the way he used to go through different sounds and styles. That’s something that inspires me a lot. And The Weeknd. The Weeknd would be cool.
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