From the moment Juni For the first time putting a pen to paper, the 21-year-old artist knew he would make rap his profession. “I kept telling myself and other people, ‘I’m going to be a rapper,'” says Juni. City newspaper.
The Silver Spring native started making music in 2014 by writing to them Kendrick Lamar, J. Coleand Mac Miller instrumental songs he found on YouTube. “I’ve always planned to be a rapper,” says Juni. “I think that’s been the case since I was 14.” Juni kept his word. In seven years he has released more than 15 projects and 150 songs. Just a year after he released his biggest album to date, Juni gave up on his latest project, Beautiful in black, May 27, with an emphasis on “All Black. Everything is black. “
Although the young artist will be defined as brand new by mainstream standards, Juni’s consistent work over the years has earned him the support of many local creators early in his career. In 2019, Prince George County «super producer” Sparkhimnext to a frequent employee Spizlaproduced by Juni’s mixtape Junior OG. «[Sparkheem is] a legend in the DMV, ”says Juni. “It’s like a checkpoint that everyone gets here in their careers.” The 2019 project has expanded the Maryland rapper’s presence across the region, calling him a newcomer to follow.
Although Juni has gained significant fans since his joint signing of Sparkheem, the release of his project in 2021 Silent battles led an avalanche of new fans. His inclusion in the album of various genres – from pop music, hip-hop, indie and R&B – has expanded his appeal to a variety of audiences. On Spotify the universal artist sees more than 111,000 listeners a month. It has also been featured in music publications such as Audiomack, Billboardand Office magazinethat only added to his growing recognition. In less than 30 minutes, Silent battles also landed Juni featuring singer Maryland Brent Fayaz Don’t listen to the EP (also released last year) and linked it to rising rap stars Cancan and Yes. Juni has worked with both artists on remixes and several unreleased projects.
Although the 2021 album plays with genres, experiments with different sounds were not entirely new to the presenter – who always used more alternative, melodic and experimental productions in his music – then or now. (Track 2018 about him SoundCloud shows that he sings over instrumental with R&B meets a dream pop artist Steve Lacey.)
Asked about his diverse discography, Juni relentlessly replies, “I choose a cool rhythm, take it to the studio and let it go.” He is often inspired to create music by various sounds or situations he encounters during the day. Juni has kept the same open approach to his new album, Beautiful in black.
“I have a few songs on the album that have the spirit of the ’70s,” he explains. “I listened Silk Sonic and I said, “I want to cook.” [stuff] that’s right, “so I did. It’s really that simple … I really feel like I can perform all these types of music, I just need instrumental music. “
In light of the growing support Juni received last year, he believes he has only scratched the surface of his potential success. “It feels like me [still coming up]. It’s not at its peak, ”says Juni. “Just settled in that it will increase.”
He admits that there have been some changes in his daily life. “I just went to the store with my men, and [person] who called me and asked me to take a picture as I was leaving the club. Such things have started to happen more and more often. “
This excitement led to his inclusion in DC Broccoli City Festival earlier this month. Organizers have approached the Juni team, which wants to fill the space for performances by local artists. He performed between a multi-platinum rapper Gunna and the Afrobit superstar who won a Grammy Wizkidsets on the main stage. After Gunna finished, everyone from his stage came to the middle of Juni’s set.
“It was lit up, belly,” Juni says of her set, clarifying, “It was a lot of fun, dude. My fans enjoyed the music live. ”
Although Broccoli City was Juni’s first festival performance, he was not embarrassed by the new atmosphere – he has been performing live since he was 15 years old. But he admits he noticed a couple of changes. “I’m more knowledgeable and polished, definitely,” he says.
The speech also caused even more impetus for deployment Beautiful in black. The artist started working on an 11-track project last November. “Okay, let me start this album,” it’s nothing like that, ”Juni says of her unconventional recording process. “It’s more like I go to the studio when I’m out of town and record, then I go to the studio in another city and record, and when I come home I also record. I just write it down all the time. ”
After months of recording in Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles and the District of Columbia, Juni was sorting through his new music to pick his favorite songs to release. For Beautiful in blackhe recorded tracks for five months before sitting down and choosing which songs would be included on the album.
Relying on your efforts Silent battlesJuni uses Beautiful in black completely immersed in different genres, but this time it feels even more concise and thoughtful. Each song lasts about two minutes, and the project features elements of hip-hop, R&B, funk, drum and bass, dancehall and aphrodisiac.
Part of her ability to hone different sounds Juni attributes to new access to more professional recording studios. “If you have a good studio, it gives you more freedom to try random actions [sounds] comes out, ”he explains. “It gives you more freedom for creativity because you know whatever you do, it will sound at least decent because you’re in a good studio.”
A large team of producers is involved in the recording, and each song boasts a different beatmaker. Several well-known names include CashMoneyAP, Charlie Heath, Young fragrance, Ben10kand The blood of the Danes. The diverse line-up of the project’s producers contributes to its overall diversity – each song can become an independent single.
On Beautiful in black, Juni also improves songwriting. Most tracks have well-thought-out introductions, build-ups, climaxes and completions compared to the more simplified song structure in previous releases. Also, Juni’s lyrical content is more serious and reflective than ever.
In “Not Going Back,” he details his recent success, promising to keep moving forward rather than stopping or retreating in his career. The The scoundrelThe produced dance track “Be OTW” has the only feature of the project with a musician from Atlanta Lily Raine singing back and forth with Juni about a bitter experience of love and debauchery. Juni calls “I’m in Love” one of her favorite songs on the album. «[It’s a] Lil ’70s R&B co,’ he says, laughing. “It’s [album is] I’m telling you, bro, wake people up. “
Juni has already released a music video for his single “Drifting in Tokyo”, a Pink Panther-inspired drum and bass track from the album. The video shows Juni and his friends driving around Atlanta in fast cars. “Literally cars were rolling around me in a circle. I was almost hit in the back by a friend, ”he says. “It was insanely fun.” In the coming weeks, he plans to release a few more videos on the song on the album.
Although many people are only now tuning in to it, Juni has been persistently pursuing a rap career for more than a third of his life. He is more experienced than most of his contemporaries, and has a keen self-awareness that almost guarantees his future success. Asked about the name of the project, Juni explains: “I called [the album] Beautiful in black because it can mean many different things. It could mean you’re beautiful in black, or you’re beautiful and Black. He goes on, “[My girls] beautiful in black and they are beautiful and Black. I look beautiful in black and I am beautiful and Black. My whole team is Black. Black is my lawyer, black is my manager, black is my business manager, black is my accountant, you know we are all black. Everything is black. “
Beautiful in black available on all streaming platforms.
