by abby crabill
photo by travis shinn
Jordan Hollywood began freestyling at a young age, eventually finding his way into an impressive career. His career includes experience co-writing for various artists, performing, and even running a record label known as The Wasted Youth.
Jordan's recent release, “The Ugly Song,” is a collaboration with Timbaland. A music video for the song has also been released. The music video even pays homage to the original “Ugly” video.
Without looking too far into the future, we can expect some new music from Jordan. He will be releasing his new album, Only The Paranoid Will Survive. We can also expect new, creative visuals from him as well.
Can you describe a little bit of your background and how that got you into music?
Jordan: “When I was 12 I used to hang around a bunch of people that rap and they would be outside freestyling. One day I was just freestyling with them. I didn’t know what I was doing and they just gave me the confidence to keep going and after that it was no looking back. At that time I was battle rapping kids at school.”
You released your latest single “The Ugly Song.” Can you tell us a bit about this song and how it came about?
J: “My producer SkipOnDaBeat was going to work with Timbaland to make some beats. Skip called me before his session and said, ‘I really wanna sample a Timbaland song and play it for him to show homage.’ I said to him, ‘Let’s pick a song that’s not that obvious.’ We went through his whole discography and when we heard ‘Ugly’ from Bubba Sparxxx we just knew that was the one to sample. Skip made the beat and showed it to Timbaland and he loved it. Then I immediately hopped on the record. The next day we sent it to Timbaland and he flipped out and loved it. We asked him if he wanted to jump on it and he didn’t text us back with a yes or no, but instead he sent us back a version with his voice on it.
I also loved shooting the video. ‘The Ugly Song’ video was directed by Austin McCraken. This was our first time working together. When we first linked up I had an idea for like 12 scenes and he looked at me and told me, ‘Yo, I don’t know how we’re gonna pull this off. We might have to use a green screen.’ I never shot using a green screen before. I realized with the green screen I could do whatever I wanted and started changing my ideas to make it as clever and creative as possible to match the song. I pay homage to the original video with the lawn mower scene at the end.”
What was it like working with Timbaland on the song?
J: “We did everything over text. Everything was done virtually towards the height of COVID. It was when people weren’t working in person. It was awesome though because of his energy and what we did was powerful. Now we’re getting ready to lock in the studio together and create more.”
If you could collaborate with any artist right now, who would it be and why?
J: “It’ll be too hard to pick one. I’m gonna say The Weeknd and J Balvin. The Weeknd is the most incredible artist that I’ve ever heard from his videos to his mixing to his production. I’m just a massive fan. J Balvin because you know I’m Colombian as well. A lot of people don’t know that. I always liked him. I watched his documentary and I just connected with him. I related to a lot of the things he was saying, made me a fan. I would also say Kendrick Lamar because his creativity as a whole and his talent and his flow is amazing. He’s probably the most talented rapper in the world.”
Which do you prefer, co-writing or creating for yourself?
J: “Creating for myself by far because the stuff I can talk about in my songs won’t work for somebody else. If I’m writing for somebody else I’m talking about their experiences which is hard for me to be as intimate, since they aren’t the experiences I witnessed firsthand.”
What is one of your most memorable experiences as an artist?
J: “Going on tour because that was always a dream of mine. It was better than I imagined it. Dropping my album Sorry For This was one of the special moments for me too. I was at a dark place in my life and it changed everything for me. It put me in a position to make money and be happy again. It led to me signing to QC as well.”
What is one of your favorite singles so far, and why?
J: “My favorite single is ‘The Ugly Song’ because I’m in the best place mentally that I’ve ever been in my life. This is the theme song for it right now. And I feel great right now. Everything feels right.”
How is running a record label a different experience from being a performing artist?
J: “I treat it all the same. To me there is no difference. At the end of the day it’s the same goals. Whether it’s for myself or my artists, I want to put out the best music possible. I want to be creative, I want to push boundaries, I wanna ensure we enjoy ourselves. I treat my artists’ career as if it’s my career.”
What can we look forward to from you in the future?
J: “You can look forward to my new album Only The Paranoid Will Survive. It’s my favorite body of work that I’ve ever created. I feel like everything that I wanted to accomplish with this album I accomplished. I took my time, I’ve never been so proud of my work before. You can look forward to me doing live shows and seeing more visuals. I would be lying if I told you everything coming because I get more creative as the days go on. I try not to look too far into the future anymore. I try to enjoy what’s going on right now.”