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Jordan Adetunji knows how the algorithm works. His breakthrough single “Kehlani” went viral on TikTok earlier this year and within weeks was remixed by its R&B-singing namesake herself. For a success story like this, the right videos featuring the right songs have to end up in front of the right people. But for him, capitalizing on this moment doesn’t mean trying to learn how to game the science of a viral hit. He’d rather connect with those same people offline and show them how much more he has to offer.
“That’s my manifestation — going around and performing new music that I created and creating a whole new world,” Adetunji tells Rolling Stone on the latest episode of The Green Room. “Obviously they know me from ‘Kehlani,’ but now I’m beginning to reach the next level of what I’m ready to show them.”
Earlier this month, Adetunji performed his first-ever headlining show at Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn. His set list was a showcase of his sonic range, which explores hyperpop just as much as it delves into R&B, Afrobeat, and alternative rap styles. As he continues to develop his catalog, the rapper and singer is hoping to blur these lines even more.
“What I’m working on at the moment is taking it on a journey, but not running away from the elements that I did start with,” Adetunji explains. “Playing with my vocals, playing with different styles of the way I do things, but still keeping that same raw energy that I say in my lyrics or how I am as a person.”
The 25 year old uses melody as his starting point for his music. “I feel like melody starts a song. Even before I even put words to anything, I freestyle melodies. That’s my thing, freestyling all the time,” he says. “The first thing that comes to my mind, because that’s the first thing that you feel. It’s like sound frequency. So whatever I’m feeling, that’s what I’m gonna put down. Then I’m gonna write to that.”
The off-the-cuff mode of creating is reflective of the young artist’s roots on TikTok. He doesn’t plan on backing away from the app to establish his artistry, because he sees the value in posting on the short-form video app. When “Kehlani” was going viral, he was able to capitalize on it almost immediately because of the audience he built there. “If they like it, they like it. It is what it is,” he says. “The people are choosing. We’re not choosing. That’s the benefit of TikTok.”
Back in Belfast, Ireland, Adetunji is learning to connect more deeply with his inner artist in order to transform his viral moment into a career that lasts. “I’m always making the music to make the music and make it as best possible as I can make it,” he adds. “That’s me humbling myself and making sure that, yeah, this is the best I can make it before I get gassed about it.”
