Wassup, I’m JDII. My album is coming out on 12/21/23. I double-space all of my sentences and I’m proud of it.
Where are you based?
I’m currently living at a college in Tempe, AZ in the United States.
How long have you been making music?
I’ve been making music since my Dad’s birthday in 2020. After listening to lots of mashups for months, I made one of Ozzy Osbourne’s hit “Crazy Train” and The Backyardigans theme. It was bad. Despite the fact that it’s currently lost media, as I’m 99% sure that I don’t have it anymore, I’ve been in the lower tier of YouTube mashup artists ever since I posted it. In terms of original music, I’m not necessarily new either. I released an album in 2022 that has now been removed from history as I took it off streaming platforms. It was really not good musically, lyrically, or artistically. It’s a bad sign when you, as the artist, have no idea what the message of the album is supposed to be.
What genre would you consider your music to be?
This is going to sound incredibly pretentious, but I like to say that my genre is quality. That doesn’t mean that anything I’ve made is really all that impressive (yet… 😉), but, rather, it means that I don’t limit myself to one specific style. After all, I listen to and enjoy all genres, so why would I choose to stick to just one as an artist?
What inspired you to pursue a career in music?
I’m still not even sure if I even want a career in music, per say. However, I know for a fact that somewhere in the entertainment industry is where I’ll be for the rest of the time that I inhabit this flesh. I have been a creator at my core for longer than I can remember. The one thing that has been consistent throughout my entire life is my passion for making things. My name, hobbies, interests, tastes, and everything else has changed, but not that.
What are your biggest musical influences?
Due to my lack of a focused mindset on one genre or style, my inspirations are all over the place. Lil B has made, what? Like, thousands of songs at this point? That’s pretty cool. Don’t know if I’ll ever do that, but it’s interesting and inspiring to me, I’ll just say that. My involvement in the mashup community on YouTube has definitely shaped a lot about me. For example, I’ve always loved contrasting ideas. Seeing a mashup with two songs that have nothing in common is a good metaphor for that, but even stuff like the DC Comics event Final Crisis having biblical parallels, or Megan Thee Stallion’s verse in the Oscars version of We Don’t Talk About Bruno. Media that compares different themes, ideas, genres, concepts, storylines, jokes, and/or tons of other things; it’s all just so neat to me. Sorry, I got really off track there, didn’t I? Lol.
Are you signed to a label or are you an independent artist?
I’m independent in most ways possible. I’ve made my own instrumentals, recorded my own vocals, written the code for my own website, released all of my own tracks, etc. I’m not really sure if I’ll ever get a label as I don’t really know what that would mean for my creative freedom. But who knows?
What have been the biggest challenges in your music career?
How many songs or albums have you released to date?
Under my current name, I’ve released two short albums and a single. I released other things under the name JOHNNE before, but someone else now has that name, as I’ve abandoned it.
Can you tell us a few things about your latest release?
Any plans for new music or upcoming projects we should know about?
YES! I’m working on my first big album project right now. It’ll be released on my 19th birthday, which is December 21st. It’s going to feature lots of other independent creators and artists who I’ve talked to. The concept is to explore the idea of love. To me, love is one of the deepest and most interesting concepts to center a story around, so I’m doing that.
