Yxng JD is an artist from Baton Rouge, LA who has always been interested in music but never appreciated it enough to start making music on his own until he entered high-school. He began making beats and posting them on his soundcloud in 2017 but then took a break from music to work on his rapping and singing voice until last June where he released his first three actual songs. Since then, Yxng JD has been on the go with two album releases on his soundcloud and his latest song, “SQUAD” will be included on his EP that will be released on all platforms.
We listened to “SQUAD” by Yxng JD and it had a beat we couldn’t help but love. The bass was so grimy that it slapped hard on our stereos! Listening to this record instantly had me head-banging and vibing along with the song. The cool auto-tune creates a wavy appeal to the vocals, delivering a stylistic flare. Despite the auto-tune, Yxng JD still projected raw talent through his witted song-writing. The delivery of the lyrics curated a fun atmosphere for the listener, thanks to the delightful production. The energy from the production of the song created a colorful, and vibrant vibration through the listener’s body. I believe this song is perfect for the upcoming summer cause of this light-hearted energy. Summertime is all about fun and who doesn’t love a great bop to get us through these days? Yxng JD fits right in the plethora of rappers who’s killing the game currently. From his trendsetting sound and hit making music, Yxng JD is undoubtedly the next big thing in the industry!
Listen to "SQUAD" here and get to know more about Yxng JD below!
Between production and recording, which do you personally prefer and why!?
Definitely recording, but I’m really interested in production as well. I haven’t produced a song of my own yet, but I’m planning on doing that in the future. The thing I love most about making music is the songwriting aspect. I really like playing around with my verses and seeing if it sounds better when I sing them versus when I rap them. Also, with regards to production, being able to mix beats correctly is something that’s been a struggle for me so I just feel like the process of recording is easier than the process of producing.
Tell us about the record “SQUAD” and the major theme behind it?
Wow this question is actually a lot harder to answer than I thought. I think I’ve made songs in the past that are a lot deeper than this one, but this song is kind of a combination of things. On one hand it’s about going after a luxurious life when I mention things like expensive watches and designer clothes, but it’s also about going after a girl and the way she is sending mixed signals. I think it’s cool how in hip hop you can include multiple themes in one song like that.
How does “SQUAD” differentiate itself from your previous releases?
I think SQUAD differentiates itself in a few ways. First, it’s one of the few songs where I both sing and rap (I usually just do one or the other). The first verse is all singing, but the second verse is a mixture, which wasn’t planned initially but it turned out better that way. Also, I think this song is different because I didn’t originally write it to this beat. A few weeks back when I wrote the chorus, I was planning on using another beat, but when I tried to record it didn’t sound right. I’m happy I changed it up because otherwise I probably wouldn’t have wanted to post it at all.
What were some challenges you’ve faced in creating this record?
The biggest challenge I faced was trying to make sure the song wasn’t too generic. I know the theme might have been a little generic, but I didn’t want to use lyrics that were too similar to my other songs or other songs that are popular currently. That’s always really difficult because when you make a number of songs that are of a similar subject matter, you start to limit yourself with the lyrics you can use, but I still always try to make sure that I don’t be too repetitive lyrically.
What’s next for you this summer?
I actually have a lot planned this summer for my music. First of all, I’m planning on dropping an EP in the near future that will be on all streaming platforms, which SQUAD will be included on. I plan on doing this before my next concert, which will be at the end of the month, but I’m not 100% sure if all the songs will be ready in time. My other big announcement which I haven’t made yet on social media is that I will be shooting a music video for SQUAD sometime during the summer. This will be my first music video, and I’m excited because I think I’m going to come up with some good ideas for it. Overall, I think my main goals music-wise for this summer are to continue building up my fan base, which is pretty small right now, and continue creating and collaborating on projects that I know people will enjoy listening to.
Connect and stay up to date with Yxng JD on the artists Instagram!