Jordan Adetunji on “Kehlani”, Hyperpop and TikTok: The Green Room

Jordan Adetunji knows how the algorithm works. Her breakthrough single “Kehlani” went viral on TikTok earlier this year and was remixed within weeks by its R&B namesake herself. For success like this, the right videos featuring the right songs need to be in front of the right people. But for the Irish musician, enjoying this moment doesn’t mean trying to learn how to play with the science of a viral hit. He prefers to connect offline with these same people and show them everything he has to offer.

“This is my manifestation: to go around and perform the new music that I created and create a whole new world,” Adetunji says. rolling stone on the last episode of The green room. “Obviously they know me from ‘Kehlani,’ but now I’m starting to reach the next level of what I’m willing 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 as much as R&B, Afrobeat and alternative rap styles. As he continues to expand his catalog, the rapper and singer hopes to blur those lines even further.

“What I’m working on right now is taking a journey, but not running away from the elements that I started with,” says Adetunji. “Playing with my voice, playing with different styles of how to do things, while still keeping the same raw energy that I say in my lyrics or how I am as a person.”

The 25-year-old uses melody as the starting point for his music. “I feel like the melody starts a song. Before I even put words to anything, I freestyle the melodies. That’s my thing, freestyling all the time,” he says. “The first thing that comes to mind, because it’s the first thing you feel. It’s like sound frequency. So whatever I feel, that’s what I’m going to write. Then I’ll write about it.

The spontaneous mode of creation reflects the young artist’s roots on TikTok. He has no plans to move away from the app to establish his artistic talent, as he sees the value in posting on the short-form video app. When “Kehlani” went viral, he was able to capitalize on it almost immediately thanks to the audience he built there. “If they like it, they like it. That’s how it is,” he says. “People choose. We don’t choose. That’s the advantage of TikTok.

Returning to Belfast, Ireland, Adetunji learns to connect more deeply with his inner artist in order to turn his viral moment into a career that lasts. “I always make music for the sake of making music and doing it to the best of my ability,” he adds. “This is me humbling myself and reassuring myself that, yes, this is the best I can do before I get gassed.”