Foreign Celebrity

Jean Dawson Is Ready To Take “Ghetto Pop” Global

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“Hi. This is Lana Del Rey, and I’m at Flog Gnaw with VIBE Magazine,” joked Jean Dawson after taking the stage at the annual carnival earlier this month. 

While meeting in a backstage area for press and media, the 24-year-old maintained a light-hearted energy, rotating through various introductions, interviews, and photo opportunities. Wearing an all-black outfit with a hoodie covering a portion of his face, the half-Mexican and half-Black musician dominated the Flog stage on the festival’s second day in an all-black puffer coat, black boots, with gleaming diamond and gold-crusted grillz. 

“This is my first time at Flog Gnaw. I used to live down the hill from here in Lincoln Heights,” reflected the singer. “I was too broke to get tickets. The tickets are fairly priced, but I ain’t have no money. And I think this is my first time coming, and being able to play it is just a beautiful thing. So I’m very thankful to Tyler [The Creator] and the team that has put on this vision for him.”

Aside from making his Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival debut, Jean Dawson is on the heels of his October album Glimmer Of God, which features Lil Yachty and BONES across 16 tracks. The work is built off his previous releases in his 2019 EP Bad Sports and 2020 debut album Pixel Bath, which draw from his early musical inspirations in Nirvana, Mike Jones, Beach Fossils, Kanye West, The Smiths, Outkast, N.E.R.D. and 50 Cent. 

Dawson has referred to himself as “Black Bjork” or “Bowie with a Lil Kobe,” but on this brisk November Sunday, the multihyphenate breaks down his “ghetto pop” flair.

VIBE: You just dropped a project…Just catch us up on that. Introduce us to you.

Jean Dawson: I’ve been on tour. I just dropped an album called Glimmer of God. It’s been very fun doing shows all around America, playing what I like to call ghetto pop. And it’s been a fun journey.

You’ve got to explain ghetto pop.

Ghetto pop is pop music that got stolen from us a while ago. And as in us, if you’re a part of us, you know what I’m talking about.

You have a collaboration with Lil Yachty [in Glimmer Of God]. Can you talk a little bit about how that collaboration came to be?

Me and Lil Yachty, I was on tour with him in Europe, and while we were in Germany, he was like, ‘I have a studio in Paris. Do you want to come?’ And I was like, ‘I’m in Germany right now.’ He already had left. And I was like, ‘I’ll jump a train,’ so I jumped a train. Got into Paris at midnight, and then we went in the studio, and he was like, ‘You have something for me?’  I was like, ‘Yeah, listen to this.’ He listened to it. He was like, ‘Wow.’ And then I stepped out of the room, and probably about 20-30 minutes later he’s like, ‘Here you go.’  Played it for me. I was like, ‘Jesus’ I didn’t even see him write it. [He’s] insanely talented. 

Outside of that collaboration, because I know you work with a lot of people, writing, directing, you do all this stuff. How do you decide who to work with, and how are you navigating, ‘Okay, who gets a piece of me?’ 

I’m real saditty when it comes to finding collaborations and I really like working with people that love music. There’s a lot of people that make music and that’s cool, but people that love music, adore music, those are the people that I gravitate to the most. And you could just see it. You can tell what a nerd looks like when you see him. So those are the people that I like working with the most.

Outside of the people [you have worked with], or ones that you worked with already, who gives off that vibe? 

Tyler the Creator,  Pharrell Williams, Kanye West, SZA, Lil Yachty, ASAP Rocky, Earl Sweatshirt, Clairo. The list goes on. There’s so many amazing people that just bleed themselves for it. And when you hear them do it, it’s like all you can do is be inspired. But Tyler’s a north star for that. He’s always been that. And playing his festival just speaks truth to that. He loves music so much, now he gave … I don’t know how many people are here. It looks like millions. Millions of people have the opportunity to see artists in a light that lives in Los Angeles, which is a beautiful thing.

How was your experience on stage? 

I don’t be thinking nothing when I’m performing. I’m just like, I got to look cute…It has to be a little bit of grit in there, but mostly I’m just like, it’s of service. It’s like, it’s my church. You know what I mean? I don’t know how much you guys have been in the church, but when you’re in church, and you get to sing for God, I think God is in every single one of us. So when I’m playing shows, it’s a service to that. So I’m just very grateful. It’s an exercise of gratitude.

Can you talk to us about where you’re from, your upbringing, and how that shaped you and influenced you creatively?

I’m originally from San Diego, California, and Mexico, California. Or Mexico, Tijuana. And which is the same damn thing. I crossed the border every day to go to school. But my father was from Long Beach, California. My mother is from Mexico, and my grandparents are from Sinaloa.

Funny enough, rap music taught my mom how to speak English. Rap music, Prince and Michael Jackson taught my mom how to speak English. And my dad’s homeboys from the hood was all Mexican dudes. So my dad had an affinity for Latin culture and my mom had an affinity for Black culture. So I was literally created by people loving music.

Your personal style and your musical style don’t fit into any box. How would you describe your sound, and what are three of your songs that you would tell people to listen to if they want to get a complete introduction to who you are and what you have to say as an artist?

Great question. It’s ghetto pop. I had to find a word for it because everybody asked me. The three songs would be ‘Black Sugar,’ ‘Houston,’ and ‘No Seasons’ with SZA.

‘Black Sugar’ is a love letter to my family, but a love letter to Prince for his inspiration for me as an artist since I was young. I think it feels like me the most.

You’re about to go on tour with Linkin Park, right? How is that?

I’m super excited… I opened for them a few days ago, and then we’re going to go on the road again next year. But we played in front of, I don’t know, 30, 40, 50,000 people. And Linkin Park’s audience is so receptive. I feel like their audience loves music. So when I came out there it felt like nothing but love. So I’m really excited. Those are my OGs, so the fact that I get to go do a service to them, I couldn’t be more excited.

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