JRDN's Living His Dream

JRDN’s living his dream
Songs on new CD mirror his life: finding love and hard work pays off

Courtesy Andrea Nemetz, The Chronicle Herald 
Thu, Nov 4 - 4:54 AM

LIFE SEEMS to be imitating art for JRDN — formerly Jordan Croucher.

With a performance at the Nova Scotia Music Week Awards Gala on Sunday in Yarmouth and the hometown release party for IAMJRDN at G Lounge in Halifax on Tuesday, the day the Kuya Productions / Fontana North album hits record store shelves, the R&B singer seems to be echoing the title of the disc’s first single, U Can Have It All.

The Halifax native, who moved to Toronto a year ago, dropped the vowels from his name a few months before the August release of U Can Have It All which has consistently remained in the iTunes R&B Top 5 alongside Usher, Cee Lo & Trey Songz.

The video for U Can Have It All, directed by Halifax’s Cazhmere, reached no. 20 on the MuchMusic Countdown in late October and the song is now in the top 10 on Mediabase’s Contemporary Hit Radio chart.

"It’s got a catchy hook and it gives the listener hope that they can have it all," the singer says. "It’s not about material things, it’s about whatever you are dreaming about — about whatever you want to accomplish. If you strive for it you can have it."

JRDN’s been dreaming about being a singer since he was around 11 years old and heard Kenneth (Babyface) Edmonds’ song, Sunshine.

"I couldn’t stop listening to it, couldn’t stop singing it. It made me fall in love with my voice."

Basketball — he starred in high school and at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish and spent a year playing professionally in France — brought another passion into his life, though music always remained in his heart.

Now he’s back to his first love, though he says playing basketball is like therapy.

JRDN started making music in 2005, working with Halifax producer Trobiz, and in 2007 released his first disc No Dress Code, produced by Enfield rapper and Juno winner Classified. The album earned him an ECMA nomination, a Galaxie Rising Star Award and an appearance on CBC TV’s Barenaked East Coast Music.

He and Classified performed at Nova Scotia Music Week three years ago and he also did a solo set.
He’s looking forward to returning to the annual conference on Saturday to catch performances by local stars and up-and-comers and to perform on Sunday.

"I had a beautiful time," he recalls. "There were jam sessions all day and night."

Among his current local faves are young rapper Quake and Ghettosocks.

"They’re guys I keep close to my heart."

JRDN is looking forward to showing hometown fans what he’s been up to for the last three years and stresses that the album didn’t happen overnight.

"There were a lot of songs and we took time to make sure we loved every song (on the album)."
Collaborating with Toronto-based brothers Sammy Blues and Bobby Brass of Grammy-nominated Kuya Productions, who have worked with Akon, Nicole Scherzinger and Ginuwine among others, has changed his sound, says JRDN.

"We did some dance stuff that I’m not normally attracted to. I’m liking the upbeat high BPMs."
He was thrilled to work with Toronto native Melanie Fiona, who received a Grammy nomination for best female R&B performance for It Kills Me from her 2009 debut album The Bridge, on the track All You Need on IAMJRDN.

"Her voice is so powerful and strong and soulful and R&B," he says enthusiastically. "Her album The Bridge is one of my favourites, it was the one I listened to the most in 2009. I love It Kills Me."

So he was ecstatic when producers told him there was a possibility that the star, who has toured with Kanye West and Alicia Keyes, would work with him.

"Her verse was the last thing we put in right before we mixed the album," JRDN says.

Among his favourite tracks is High Definition, which is about seeing the one special person in your life.
A lot of the tunes on IAMJRDN deal with love, and the singer admits there is a special woman in his life now.

After Tuesday’s Halifax CD release, which will also feature local artists Plaeboi and R. $. $mooth and perhaps a few other special guests, JRDN hits the road as a guest on Danny Fernandes’ Automatic Luv tour with 20-plus dates coast-to-coast.