Arian Jones is an American rapper, singer and songwriter born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Some of you may know him from his time performing Phoenix’s local Hip Hop group, “Heroes & Terrorists”. Entering the Hip Hop scene in 2010, his career continued to grow as he signed a record deal with indie label Tri Eternal Music Group in 2011. From there he continues to collaborate on various projects and singles. In 2017, his debut album, “Enter the Mind” was released. With several works on the go, Jones states that he is working towards a weekly single release!
“Reflection” is his newest single! Yet again, another crowd-pleaser for its jazzy, soul, passionate performance and skillful execution. Reflection by definition is the act of serious thought or consideration, Arian Jones asks himself and his listeners to reflect and consider how one's actions can lead to change. Additionally, he states how these experiences shape us and lead to self-growth/ development. Arian along with featured artists; Bilal Abbey and Pharaoh Lum create a head-bopping track with profound lyrics. Jones's rap style is laid out similar to Fort Minor’s, “Remember the Name”, both inspirational and sick pump up songs! We love the work and dedication he is showing this year and can’t wait to see what he releases next.
Listen to "Reflection" here.
Hi Arian and welcome to BuzzMusic. Given that you were previously in a Hip Hop group what lead to you venture out as a solo artist?
Hey BuzzMusic, I want to first say I’m a big fan of the platform and really appreciate the interview. Honestly, it’s a little weird but the group is still together, we just treat it more as a collective now. So myself, Bilal Abbey, Pharaoh Lum who are both on the new single Reflection and Mike Lux all do our own music but come together to make group songs or group projects every so often. We’re also all signed to the same record label (Tribe Eternal Music Group) which makes it a little bit easier. For me though I’m far away, half of the group and the label is in Pittsburgh, PA and Mike Lux & I are out in Phoenix, AZ and I’m moving to Los Angeles, so it’s easier to create music out here alone because flights back and forth are pretty costly haha. They’re my family though so we talk at least once a day and work on our solo music and cross-promoting.
What is it about the Hip Hop genre that inspires you to create tracks like, “Reflection”?
Oh, I love it, I’m a Hip-Hop baby! Being born in the 90s, my older cousins always played Hip Hop music and took me around to places I probably shouldn’t have been where people would just be in circles on the corner just rapping and beatboxing and I fell in love with it. Storytelling, the thought process it takes to freestyle is just amazing. When it comes to creating tracks like Reflection it’s just simply upbringing. My dad is Jazz keyboardist, so I grew up listening and watching the performance of Jazz and then the performance of Hip Hop so the music I make always has some sort of Hip Hop / Jazz element to it.
“Reflection” has such a deep message; can you please dive into the meaning behind it?
Yes, of course, Reflection is pretty multi-layered. When writing it I wanted to reflect over my life with the hopes of helping someone else who may be dealing, going through or has gone through something similar to my life story. I also wanted to make the chorus “fierce and engaging” telling the listener to do self-reflection or to look at one’s self. In today’s climate, there are tons of people dealing with mental health and a lot of different types of issues and I believe that self-reflection can truly help someone. The chorus being “Reflect To Good Days, Reflect To Bad Times, Reflect To Bring Change, Reflect To Change Minds, REFLECTION!”, plays as a sort of mantra, telling people to think about the good days you have had in the past, think of the bad times, think about the change you can make to make the bad times not happen anymore or to make the good times better, can ultimately change your mindset on life so Reflect. The other verses from Bilal and Lum share the same sentiment, when you look back and then look at where you are now or think where you can be nothing can stop you.
Given that you have announced the exciting goal to release a new single weekly, what is currently in the works?
More singles haha! Next, I have a record called God Body coming out on 12/4, after that, I have Blessed coming on 12/11, Dose on 12/17, and an untitled Christmas record on 12/23.
God Body is great, the beat is super hard, and is more of a Gospel Rap type of record but definitely Hip Hop. Blessed is almost like part 2 of Reflection but less Hip Hop and more Cinematic. Dose is fun, and a little unorthodox, but is all about marijuana and a little bit of parody around the music/drug culture.
Thanks for being with us at BuzzMusic! Can you tell us what we can expect from you in the near future, Arian?
Thanks again for the interview, outside of the weekly singles, at the top of the year, is the sequel to a classic mixtape that’s going to be called “Too Bamboozled”. Mike Lux and I created a mixtape in 2014 called “Bamboozled” as a joke, the point of Bamboozled were to put a comic twist on the mainstream music at the time, so it was very ratchet, and party heavy. To our surprise it ended up becoming a fan favorite project and has a strong cult fan base surrounding the project, so people have been asking for another one and we have it written, recorded, and are starting the mixing and mastering of it now. The projected release date 1/8/2020.