In the realm of music, there are artists who create, and then there are artists who resonate. Jadyn Violet is undeniably the latter. With a journey marked by authenticity, resilience, and an unwavering commitment to his craft, Jadyn stands as a testament to the power of genuine artistry in an age of fleeting fame.
From his profound insights on the modern-day challenges of cancel culture and the transformative power of music to his deep-rooted inspirations and aspirations, this intimate conversation with Jadyn offers a rare glimpse into the heart and soul of a musician on the rise.
As we delve deeper, we discover not just the artist, but the man behind the melodies, the stories behind the songs, and the dreams that fuel his drive. Join us as we explore the world of Jadyn Violet, where music meets purpose, and passion becomes legacy.
Wicked Glamour & More
Mismir ( M ): I feel that in most artists' journeys, there is a moment where art turns from interest into passion. It's a moment that, in my opinion, changes their entire life. Do you feel you had such a pivotal moment in your journey? Can you share it?
Jadyn ( J ): 100%. I think every artist has this pivotal moment within their career. You're absolutely correct in saying it's one of the most important moments of their life, honestly, right? I think it's this idea of like, as just human beings in this world, we are so molded and so curated by our environment that a lot of the time it's very difficult to think for ourselves and think about what we want to do. Right? So like just taking my own circumstances as an example, ever since I was a kid, I was always told that I was going to do good in school. I'm supposed to do good in school, right? So, without even thinking subconsciously, I always did well in school, right?
And don't think that's because I was super smart compared to other students, but I think that's because I applied myself and I think anyone could succeed in the things they apply themselves towards. So, elementary school, middle school, high school even, right?
I was trying very hard to get good grades and exceed academically and it got to the point in the senior year where I had to really sit back and sit down and think about why I was doing the things that I wanted to do. And I think this is the moment a lot of teenagers kind of go into and they learn a lot about themselves, right? And of course, I was experiencing so many new things in life at that point in time that it was a very difficult situation, but I'm very grateful that I went through that situation because I had to take a step back. I applied to maybe 10, or 12 business schools and I got rejected from each and every single one except for one of them, which is Rutgers. It really made me think like, why do I want to go to business school? Why am I trying so hard in college? Like, do I want to work at an investment bank for the next 10 years of my life? And all of these questions, just thinking about my future, the only answer I can come up with is no, and I'm only doing these things because my parents wanted me to do them. And it kind of led me to really self-reflect and look at the things that I'm passionate about. And I think that's the pivotal moment you're mentioning, where I had to completely take a left turn. I did terribly in school because I stopped applying myself there and I started applying myself to the things that I actually enjoyed, but I always suppressed my entire life, which is my creative side, right? Drawing, dancing, making music… Which is the biggest thing out of them all. And I think that opened up so much. I think that's when I really started to figure out who I am as a person. And I think a lot of people still have yet to do that, which is why I always have to talk about it. So I appreciate that question.
M: Whether it is people, experiences, places, thoughts, or even themselves, I believe that each artist has a muse. Who or what has been your most influential muse and why?
J: I think like before I answer that, I'll touch on the first thing that you said, people are living high school their entire lives, right? And what I mean by that is I think most people can relate to that, whether it was their freshman year, junior year, or senior year, right? They go through high school trying to impress other people, whether it's the clothes they wear, whether it's the way they act, whether it's the things they accomplish. The biggest thing that humans want is they want to get status. By impressing people, but the issue with that is they hold themselves back on the things that they want to do the most because they feel like that's the things that are not going to get them status when in reality it's the complete opposite. Most people know, right, that if you are a gamer, you need to actually make video content of yourself and put that out on TikTok. But people won't do that because they're afraid of being judged by the people they grew up around. And that is such, such a crutch that people have. And it's so sad to see, right, because years go on in their lives and then nothing's going to happen, they just end up living a miserable life and doing things they don't want to do, right?
When it comes to a muse, I think it's the most important thing to have a muse. And it's very difficult for me, right? Because I think I had a muse. And I think it was, it's mostly girls, right? I think for a lot of musicians, a lot of times it's a significant other. My biggest muse was probably at the beginning of my college career. And honestly, if I didn't have this person, I don't think I would have ever even started to take music seriously. I think that's how important having a muse is.
I understand a lot of people don't have a person to attach themselves to, to have a muse, but that could be found in other entities as well. For example, experiences, right? Going out, and doing things that you're scared to do. I think the biggest moments of your life are when you're scared to do certain things and you actually do them. That's where inspiration stems from.
That's where inspiration is basically born from. Those are the things that you can turn into creative energy. I think the biggest and most memorable songs that I've ever created are based on situations I've never thought to find myself in. Whether it's with a girl, whether it's with an experience, whether it's with a best friend, all of these things. You need to really push yourself, push the boundaries because those are the things where magic is, or those are the situations where magic is created. And I'm just grateful to kind of really have that foundation to go on to make a lot of music.
Raver Realm
M: I find challenges to be a natural part of our lives. They help us progress, and I feel that throughout each phase of our journey, there are more and less impactful hardships. These impact us and, hence, what we create. Do you have a particular challenge that you feel reshaped your perspective or approach to your craft?
J: I think people don't last. I think a lot of people are going to be disappointed that situations in their lives aren't going to last. And I think I've learned that from very, very early on. So at the end of the day, it made me think that the only person you can rely on is yourself. Whether that's for inspiration, whether that's for what you end up doing in your life. That's how you get your happiness in life. I've seen too many people who are close to me really go down their demise just because they've relied on other people so much for all of the things that I've listed.
So I think when it comes to storytelling when it comes to how I make my music, when it comes to my inspiration, all of these things, it's just about how could I keep pushing myself, honestly. I think that's the real, real key to all of this. Like, how could you keep pushing yourself and keep accomplishing those things?
M: One thing I love to do with each artist I have the privilege to talk to is to ask them to embark on a journey of self-reflection. I'd like you to go back to the moment you started creating music and then slowly return to the present while reflecting on your growth. How would you describe the evolution of your style from when you began to now?
J: I’ll talk about it from a creative standpoint and then from a work ethic perspective because I think both are important and both have their own evolutions. I think from the creative standpoint, it's very difficult when you're young and I'm still fairly young. I'm 22 at this moment and I think both, creativity and work ethic are tied together. When I started making music when I was around 17, or 18, I was going through so many new life experiences. ( Certain friend groups I was in or new places that I’ve visited ) These experiences made me channel that energy into my music so much more. It got to the point where I started to grow and I kept doing that with my music because that's the reason I fell in love with music in the first place. It's because I was able to take the feelings that I experienced throughout living my life and actually put them into my laptop and turn them into an art form and I think that was like therapy for me.
As I grew older as the years went by, I ended up dropping out of business school which started to increase the pressures from my family and all of that, which is a whole other conversation. But I think that ties into how my work ethic evolved and how that kind of hurt my creativity as well. It's got to the point now where I'm in such a mindset of working hard and just having to work. I think a very scary thought is there are so many people, if not 99% of people, who work 24-7 hours every single day, 365 days a year. Every single day they work, yet they still do not achieve their dreams and they don't achieve their goals. And that's a very scary thought.
So what do I look like sitting down and relaxing and watching a Netflix movie? What do I look like going to the bar trying to meet a new girl? What do I look like going on vacation? All of these things started to basically shrink into nothingness because I was, and still am in a zone of working hard. And I think growing older kind of put that pressure of like, okay, I didn't go to college. All of the people around me right now are getting jobs, getting paid six figures a year. And what am I doing? I don't have a degree. I'm still struggling. I'm working hard every day making music. It's looked down upon across my family, going back to my environment and how I was doing good in school early on in my years. And like the only option I have now is to work as hard as possible.
The issue with that is that you don't actually get to experience life because of it. You're closing yourself off to so many different situations because you're using work as an excuse. It’s a very fine balance. And I think looking back at all the years and back to your question of how I've evolved, I think I'm definitely in a tunnel vision zone of working super hard, but it's so much harder to obtain these experiences because I feel like I'm closing myself off to all of this until I at least see the success that I'm seeking. And honestly, I don't know if that's the right path until I achieve that success, right?
M: For me, art, in whatever form it's presented, is like a mirror. It reflects our values, beliefs, and even identity—a reflection of our soul. Considering this, how would you say Jadyn Violet is reflected in your music or other forms of art you create?
J: I think music is so beautiful because it's literally like timestamps of an artist's career, of an artist's life. I think the reason that I never delete any of my songs on SoundCloud, is that if you go to Jaden Violet on SoundCloud and scroll all the way down, you'll see the songs that I released in 2018, and 2019.
I've never deleted any of them. And I think the reason for that is I love every single one, even though the songs are absolutely terrible. Like the first song I ever released is No More and it's absolutely terrible. The mixing's bad, the singing's bad, everything's bad, the production's bad. But I love it so much because I can go back and listen to these songs that I released five years ago and literally like remember exactly what I was going through.
I think a lot of the time whether it's songwriting, singing, or drawing like artists, they make art because it's a reflection of what they're going through in life at that point in time, and that's the reason I love music. I think that's the reason a lot of artists love what they're doing.
It's because it's literally just their life. I can go to any of my songs that I've ever released and I know exactly what was going on in my life around that time when I actually made it. And I think that's very, very beautiful. I think art is a reflection of your life.
Honestly, I think that's the most simple way I can put it. And I think it's true. I think the best art is the pure reflection of exactly what's going on and the feelings you're going through at that moment.
Underground Violet Rave
M: For me, community is the most essential thing in our lives. I feel that bringing people together, from different backgrounds and cultures under one community, is one way to make people see and understand the role each of us plays in the collective dance of life, and hence, better our society. Thinking about this and your work, I feel it's a no-brainer that "Underground Violet Rave" stood out for me. I find it to be an embodiment of my previously mentioned thoughts. It brings people together both digitally and physically. What is the story behind UVR, and how do you think it influenced Jadyn, the person behind the art?
J: I honestly agree with everything that you've said about community, how impactful it is, and how much people's lives would improve if they had a sense of community around them, whether it's digitally, physically, or whatever the case may be.
I think before even introducing the fact of me creating the Underground Violet Rave, how it was done, I think it wouldn't have been done if it wasn't for how I kind of and where I grew up. I was born and raised in New Jersey.
I've always looked at big music groups like A$ AP Mob and Odd Future and thought that that is exactly how you blow up as an artist. That's how you create a movement. You need, a bunch of like-minded people around you, and you need to support each other, to really grow together. And it was very difficult for me to get that.
I've always needed to go to New York just to have any sense of community, to talk to people, to interact with like-minded individuals, and it was unsustainable. Even doing that, and even interacting with people on Instagram I wasn't able to create this community. It was very difficult. I think it wasn't until I started to actually use my Twitter account, now known as X. I've never used it before.
I discovered this thing called Twitter Spaces. And I'm like, okay, Twitter Spaces is very cool. I'm guessing it's like these chat rooms where there's a host, co-host, and speakers and listeners. It's the first time I've ever seen anything like that. And I noticed no one was hosting these Twitter rooms or X rooms for music or for musicians.
No one was creating this context for people to come together. And I think the best communities are created off of recognizing situations that you're early within and taking advantage of them. So I was like, okay, since no one's hosting these music spaces on X let me start my own.
I called the space, Underground Violet Rave mainly because I thought it sounded cool. My name is Jaden Violet, and I've never been to a rave before in my life. I was sharing my own music on these X spaces with anyone who joined. I was like, okay, this is similar to a digital rave, so let me call it Underground Violet Rave.
And it was interesting because this was my first ever scent of starting to build an actual community. I remember doing it for a couple of weeks and I had about four, or five listeners, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I was like, okay, we have like a little community of five people, and then slowly but surely it started to grow.
Two months went by, three months went by, four months went by and it got to the point where there were about 30, 40 people coming into the space at once. And I was like, okay, this is like really cool. We have something here, even though it wasn't massive. It was. The first brick was laid to build the entire wall.
And I remember after four months, someone was like, why don't you host this Underground Violet Rave in real life? And at that moment, I was like, you're absolutely crazy because as a small artist myself I've never hosted an IRL event before.
I've always thought that you need to really blow up and have like a million followers for you to even accomplish something that massive. But I was like, you know what? I was scared to host my own X spaces. I was scared to be a musician. I'm scared to host my own IRL events.
Let me just put that fear to the side, recognize it, but put it to the side and do it. Because that's where most of the growth is, is actually seen, like I mentioned before. So during this conference, NFT NYC, in Brooklyn, 2022, I ended up throwing my first ever Underground Violet Rave in real life at a punk bar in Brooklyn.
And it was so crazy because we had about 250 people from all around the world come out. We had people from Turkey, from different countries in Europe, Australia, Canada, California, and New Mexico. We had people from all around the world come to this rave and it was insane. The people that I was interacting with on these X shows, these digital spaces, I got to actually see their faces for the first time, and I got to see them talk to each other just because of something that I created.
It was the proudest moment so far in my career. I got an actual taste of community building. I was like we just need to go 200 percent at this. It's working. Let’s not release the foot off the gas, let's push it. So, a month after the Brooklyn one, we did our second Rave in Virginia, our third Rave a month after that in Cincinnati, Ohio, a fourth Rave after that in Miami, Florida, which had over 500 people come, which was the craziest situation of my entire life.
It's funny that my first time partying in Miami was at my own event that I was throwing. We've thrown one in Denver, we've thrown one in Los Angeles, California, and then we threw one again, for the second time in New York.
So, seven raves in six cities, and it's so, so crazy. Just off this idea of me naming my X show Underground Violet Ravee, we've accomplished all this and it's been very, very beautiful. It's been a fruitful journey. And I am so excited for people to connect with each other because of something that I created.
And now I'm realizing any advice I would give to an artist or a creative that's coming up. The number one, most important thing you could do is create a sense of community. Figure out how to do that. And then you're basically golden for years to come. And I'm still very early on in my community, but I've seen how impactful it really is for people.
M: One thing that does much harm in today's society, and unfortunately is one of the most prevalent things nowadays, is Cancel Culture. I feel like people keep throwing words at one another without even thinking about it. They are willing to do harm without even realizing why they are doing it. And most of this canceling happens on social media. Whether we want it or not, it's there where we spend most of our time, and hence, where this Cancel Culture is most ubiquitous. As an artist, you have to post on socials even more. Aside from your music and other things you create, you have to be there to keep in touch with your people. I'm sure that in your journey, you've faced a lot of canceling. How do you deal with it, and how would you advise others to react if they were in your shoes?
J: Understanding who you are as a person is honestly the biggest asset that you can have moving across just life in general, whether it digitally or physically, social media or real life, knowing who you are is the biggest asset and biggest pro that you can have. I think social media is amazing, but it also has its cons, like everything in life, and I think that one of the biggest issues with social media and people is that they don’t know themselves.
People don't know who they are and I think that leads to a lot of negative things in life. That leads to hate which leads to canceling people.
Honestly, the number of individuals on social media that are canceling people, that are coming after people just because of something that the media said, or just because they were told so, is insane. We don't see a world anymore where people are doing their own research, but they're just being fooled and they just believe the first thing that's told to them and it says a lot. But if you understand that and you realize that it puts you in a very advantageous position because now you understand that people are just saying what they gotta say.
They don't actually believe in these things and you just have to feel empathetic for them, honestly. I've been in situations where I've gotten hate in my DMs. I've done nothing but try to support people, but at the end of the day, you can't make everyone happy. And I've learned that the hard way.
I've tried to justify myself to people for a whole hour in the DMs, going back and forth saying, why I'm right and why I'm not a bad person. But at the end of the day, people are gonna have their opinions and you can't please everyone, So you just have to feel empathetic.
I feel bad that you have to live through life with the framework and mindset that you have because it's not a positive one. You ask any of these people who are hating if they're genuinely happy and the answer is no, and so why would I care about someone's opinion when they're not even, you know, operating in the mindset that I want to achieve?
It makes no sense to me. It's not a strategic position to put myself in. Holding people accountable is important. If someone that I respect messages me something saying that I should have done this better, I'm always going to take that feedback. But with haters, it's a completely different story.
Be empathetic towards them because you do not want to know how they're feeling because it's way worse than what they're making you feel right now in the micro-moment.
Under the Same Stars
M: In my opinion, every artist imbues their creations with a part of themselves. It's that part of the artist's soul found in a creation that makes it resonate and connect with people. How would you say your music resonates with you and what’s the driver behind your music creations?
J: When it comes to the art form, I think it's music hands down.
I learned the most from myself when it comes to situations. I think it's when I'm going through the worst times of my life. You know, honestly, when I'm the most hurt when I'm the most sad, or whatever you define as the worst situation, I think whenever I go through those moments, is when I find myself the most, honestly, which is kind of why I've got into a position where I welcome that stuff.
I welcome heartbreak. I welcome loss. I welcome pain. I welcome all of these things because that's the only way you're going to grow. I am very scared of living the rest of my life completely jolly and happy because that means I'm not going to grow as a person. That means I'm not going to make the best music that I possibly can make.
That means I'm not going to be able to inspire people because to inspire people, you need to understand how it feels to be in the worst of the worst. I'm constantly trying to put myself in those positions, whether that's through hard work and work ethic, whether that's through going into fearful situations that I know that I don't want to be in, but I put myself in there regardless because I know that's where I'm going to learn the most from.
I think the worst situations are definitely, where I learn about myself the most, and that's all translated into my music for sure.
M: Regardless of the image artists want to preserve, I feel a moment is reached where fans define what or who an artist is for them. Yet, I believe the connection between an artist and their fans can be massively improved if fans get to know how the artist perceives themselves. Hence, based on these thoughts and the fact that I would love more people to know you, who would you say Jadyn Violet truly is? If we were to peel back the surface layers, what stands at Jadyn's foundation? What defines him?
J: I think if you really peel back the layers, at the end of the day, it's a kind person. It's a genuine person. I think a lot of people compliment my authenticity and I never understood why because I've always Been in a position of like isn't everyone like this?
I never understood this type of compliment but then I realized quickly while moving through the world that people are not like that. People have put on so many masks that they mistake it to be themselves.
And I think to be someone genuine in a world full of people who are faking it through life is weird. You don't feel like you fit in and it's a struggle. You feel alone in a lot of senses and you feel like things are not gonna work out for you. But I kind of want to be that person that despite feeling all of this, things will make sense.
And it's very hard for me to say that because things still to this day haven't made sense to me. I don't have the biggest friend groups around me, the support system that a lot of people have, or the relationships that people have sustained throughout high school and college. I don't have those things so it's very difficult for me to give that advice to someone else that may be feeling the way that I felt five years ago. All I can do is just lead by example.
Through my hard work, work ethic, perseverance, and pushing through the fear, I think that if you peel back all the layers, it's just all about that.
I also think that I want to be a staple of someone who makes it of being kind alone. I think there's this message in the world that you have to fuck over people, you have to do evil things, you have to do things that are unlike yourself to get to the positions you want to be in and I've been in many situations where people have done me wrong, but I, I really want to achieve success and say that I've done it just off being kind and helping people. I think that's possible, and I think that I will show a lot of people that it's possible too, and as a result, we can get rid of a lot of the nasty stuff that's happening around us.
Raver Realm
M: As an artist, and, as a creator, there's a purpose behind every creation. I know that a while ago you released "Raver Realm," and I feel it's one of your creations to which you connect the most. What was the purpose behind it, and how do you want people to connect with "Raver Realm"? And also what’s your dream?
J: With Raver Realm I can get into the whole NFT aspect of it because it is a digital collectible. It is me characterizing my music so people can collect it and I can give them rewards in the future for being early supporters of mine. But I think a lot of that is a minute to the long term of things. If you think about five years down the line, I don't think those technicalities matter. I think the thing that matters is the ethos behind the actual project and what I want to achieve with it, something I feel I have achieved with it in the small amount of time that it's been out.
And I think that's this idea that music is the biggest motivator for a lot of people in their lives. Just imagine how many times you listen to music throughout the day. A lot of people can't even go through a gym session without listening to music. People can't brush their teeth and get up without listening to music. People can't go to sleep without listening to music. And if it's such a big part of people's lives, I would love to change those lives. I would love to change the world just like anyone else. I believe everyone has the potential to do that, but If I want to do that, the vehicle that I'm going to be operating in is my art, my music. So my job now is how do I get as many people inspired as I possibly can with my music?
I think Raver Realm really embodies that. Raver Realm is just me characterizing my music. I think the reason I love making songs is because I take these personal experiences that I go through in my life and I write songs about those characters. Whether it's a toxic ex that I broke up with, I can write a song about her. Whether it's a dangerous situation I went through with my best friend, I can make a song about it. And I realized if I'm always personifying my music, why don't I make an NFT collection or a set of collectibles that really represent nine of my songs as actual characters? And I think that's where the idea of Raver Realm was born because I think people can relate to characters and their stories a lot more than they can relate to lyrics and production on a song. I just want to take the experience of inspiration people obtain from listening to music to a whole other level.
Think about how you get inspired just by watching a movie. Think about how many kids that are five years old come out of the movies watching Batman and then start to act like Batman after. It's about combining the feeling that the small kid gets with the feeling you get while listening to music from your favorite artist all together into one. And I think that's where Raver Realm is. I think that's going to be the vehicle to inspire a lot of people.
At the end of the day, my goal is to perform in front of a crowd of thousands of people. I want to perform in a stadium that's sold out. I think that's the end goal. Once I see that and I can consistently do that whenever I want, I think that's when I can really smile and say, I've accomplished what I've set out to accomplish.
Until then, I don't think there's rest for me in this world. I don't see myself settling. I know a lot of people end up settling and say, you know what, I'm happy doing this and just having these couple people listen to my music. I just can't live like that. I need to achieve this because I think about this a lot. When I'm older and I have a daughter, I have a son, whatever the case may be, and they look up and say, Dad, what was your dream when you were a kid and did you achieve that? I cannot even imagine saying no to them.
M: If you could have dinner with any three people, dead or alive, who would they be?
J: I'm gonna have to go with three of my biggest musical inspirations. All are divided up based on the eras of life that I've lived. When I was a kid I was dancing before I even started to make music on Michael Jackson’s music. I would love to have dinner with Michael Jackson.
The second person I should say is Justin Bieber who's also one of my top three favorite artists, which is gonna come to as a surprise to a lot of people. I don't understand why because he's an absolute legend. But, I would love to have dinner with Justin Bieber, just because I feel like I can resonate with a lot of things that he puts out.
And the third person, and this is the most fun one in my opinion, is my third musical inspiration for the last era of my life that I'm living right now. And that's Travis Scott's. I would love to have dinner with him because of a plethora of reasons.
Michael Jackson, Justin Bieber, and Travis Scott are the three people I would say.
In the vast expanse of the music industry, each artist brings a unique rhythm, a distinct note. Jadyn Violet's note resonates with authenticity, passion, and a deep connection to his roots. His journey, marked by challenges and triumphs, paints a picture of a musician who remains true to himself, even in the face of adversity. His project, Raver Realm, stands as a testament to his innovative spirit, blending the world of music with the digital realm of NFTs.
For those eager to dive deeper into Jadyn's world, his social media channels offer a window into his daily life, inspirations, and upcoming projects. His website serves as a hub for all things Jadyn Violet, from his latest tracks to exclusive behind-the-scenes content. And for those who wish to immerse themselves in the unique experience of Raver Realm, the project awaits with its rich tapestry of musical stories personified.
As our conversation with Jadyn draws to a close, we're reminded of the power of genuine artistry in a world often dominated by fleeting trends. Artists like Jadyn are the visionaries of tomorrow, crafting melodies that touch the soul and lyrics that echo our shared human experiences.
Join us again next week on Storied Strokes, where another artist will step into the spotlight, ready to share their journey and inspire us all. Keep your eyes peeled on our social media channels ( Twitter - Instagram - Lens ) for hints about our next feature. Those with a discerning eye might just decipher who's up next.
Our exploration of the diverse voices in music is only beginning. The melodies are infinite, and the stories, are boundless. Stay tuned, and together, let's celebrate the harmonious tales of creativity and passion that artists like Jadyn bring to the world.
