Q&A with GRAMMY-Nominated Songwriter Will Jordan

Hey, From the outside looking in, who is the artist Will Jordan?

I like that. From the outside looking in, I am an “artist, producer, and Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum selling songwriter”. From the inside looking out, I am a father, who is both fortunate and unfortunate enough to make a living off of living my dream. In the end, I hope that I can inspire and provide opportunities for others to do the same.

Was there a defining moment that brought you to the music business as a career?

Absolutely, in 2010 I was young, broke, and working as a recording engineer in exchange for studio time. When I found out I was going to be a father, I decided to put music on hold, but my daughter’s mom gave me three months to try to make something happen with my music. After three months of sending records out to an LA A&R, I found out that Nicki Minaj wanted to use one of my hooks on her first album and that Rihanna was going to be singing it. The song was called “Fly”. A year later I was offered an artist/ development deal and every year since something amazing has happened. I guess you never know when you’re just three months away.

Tell us about the evolution that brought us the new EP Be Good!

Well I was getting ready for the Deep Sleep World tour and I was following @spiceadams on IG and his theme song is this beat that has a Take 6 sample flip that is unreal. I look up the person that makes the beat and it’s a producer named E. Jones. Around the same time, E. Jones was listening to the Joe Budden podcast and they played my song, “Sweet Dreams”, at the end of the show. He hit me about doing a seven song EP and I was hype. The first song I sent was a song called “You Say”. He liked it and I liked the tracks so we just kept going.

How does this project differ from your previous work?

On all of my previous projects, I’ve done all of the production, tracking, mixing & mastering with no features. This time Eric handled the production, Charles Hopper handled the mixes and we got features from Amber Navran and Farnell Newton. This was also my first time getting to work with other musicians on a project. We had Kenny Lu on guitars, Peter Phillips on strings, Juran Ratchford and Hunter Gillam on sax so there was a lot more collaborating going on.

What do you want listeners to get from your music?

I want them to escape. I want to take you on an adventure to a place that is nostalgic with vivid colors and scenery that feels new but still familiar. That’s important to me because the songs are going to pull out some emotions and you need to know that it’s safe to let your guard down. As an HSP, every single thing around me makes me feel something, from the color of the paint on the walls to the noise that the refrigerator door makes when it closes. So I’m very careful when it comes to sounds, frequencies, and even cover art and design. I don’t even feel like a song is finished if the listener can’t imagine what the music video would look like or what part in the movie that the song would play.

What has been the biggest satisfaction for you about creating music?

The fact that I’m not a natural and that nobody expected me, of all people, to become what I am. That’s important because it’s disruptive. It means that we can break out of these boxes people put us in and change the storylines in our movies. I just wanted to get discovered but being overlooked and doubted meant that I can now relate to people that actually need me. My story is proof that there’s no such thing as a nobody.

With COVID driving us all nuts, tell us about your work and passions outside of music?

Well now that we can go outside, I’ve been enjoying meeting up with my friends to hoop or detail our cars. But my favorite thing is hanging out with my daughter, going on evening walks or playing Fortnite and Minecraft.

What has been your craziest WTF experience thus far in your career?

I’m a Jay Z fan and a huge Ye fan as well. One of my favorite stories is about sneaking into one of their exclusive SXSW concerts from around the Watch the Throne era with the rising stages. I didn’t have a bracelet or a pass to get into the show but somehow I managed to sneak through all the security checkpoints with no credentials and the wildest moment was shoving and negotiating my way to the front row of the crowd when they performed Paris at the end. From their point of view, it must have looked insane because there’s this huge circle of drunk, sweaty, industry people in a mosh pit but right in front of it is me just standing still, not even blinking because I didn’t want to miss anything from that moment. I never got to see Michael (Jackson) or Prince live, but I did get to see Jay and Kanye together and I wouldn’t be me without them so that was a big deal.

Any words of motivation for our readers?

I want you to ask yourself, what if this is all for you? It’s never too late to become the best version of yourself and sometimes all it takes is finding comfort outside of your comfort zone. Yeah, it will take time, but that time is going to go by regardless, so you might as well take a step in the right direction. FYI, if you’re opening to learning from your mistakes, then every direction is the right direction. So shut up and get to work 🙂

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About the Author

Dr. Jerry Doby Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.