Ones To Watch #Croydon is a series created to showcase all the up and coming talents throughout the borough!
Following the anticipated release of his new album'Almost An Adult' , we caught up with Croydon born rapper Jords to discuss his inspirations behind the music and what other passions he has!
SDS: Hey Jords! For those who don't know you, please, introduce yourself!
Jords: Hi, my name is Jords, from South London - Croydon boy!
SDS: How's the lockdown been treating you?
Jords: The lockdown has been up and down if I'm honest. Now the main thing is that the lows are really low and the highs are really high. So if you're feeling low, you feel lower than you usually would and if you feel happy, then more elated then you usually would be.
SDS: So, where does the name Jords come from?
Jords: The name Jords is honestly just a nickname I was given growing up. I was lazy and I couldn't think of a better name short for Jordan haha.
SDS: You’ve just released your second album Almost An Adult, talk to us about the name of it?
Jords: Yeah, ‘Almost An Adult’ (triple A) has three meanings: The first being as stated - Almost An Adult - as in thinking you're there, you're almost independent in the world and quote unquote "free", but you're not quite there yet. The second is ‘After An Adolescence’ and third, ‘Angels And Ancestors’. For a lot of the album, I pay homage to where I've come from.
SDS: What was the inspiration behind the album?
Jords: The inspiration behind the album was just going through life, I guess, discovering new things, exploring what it means to be a black man in South London and a second generation Jamaican immigrant. I think it was also inspired by the loss of my grandparents and dealing with that. And, you know, just experiencing things for the first time.
SDS: What’s your favourite track from the album?
Jords: My favourite track is 'My City' which is track one on the album. It's my favourite because that's like my Mona Lisa when it comes to the musicality and everything - it's the perfect intro for me!
SDS: We saw that your online listening party for Almost An Adult broke the server! What was that feeling like?
Jords: Hahaha! Yeah, we mash up the internet man! It was a bit hectic and crazy, but it was good. I was gassed afterwards, I'm not gonna lie! The company whose site we broke weren't happy though because it didn't look good for them. But the fact that we had that amount of organic traffic tuning in was insane! Great feeling!
SDS: Aside from music, what’s another passion of yours?
Jords: Aside from music, I'm very passionate about film. You know it's clear as I created the 'Almost An Adult' film to accompany the album. I do enjoy films quite a lot; I enjoy cinematography.
I'm very passionate about mental health; I advocate for positive mental health. I think, in the black community, it has a bit of a stigma behind it and it's a bit of a taboo. I'm really trying to demolish that taboo and try to get people to openly talk about it.
I'm also passionate about sports - random haha!
SDS: If you could play any character in a movie who would it be and why?
Jords: If I could play any character in a movie... Oh, my goodness, what a question! I would play Rico in Paid In Full because I would love to be the bad guy in the film haha!
SDS: Can you sum up Croydon in three words?
Jords: Exciting, Gold-Mine and Misunderstood.