Who Is Jordan Coleman?
To be fair, Jordan was here all along. In his youth, he led film projects with involvement from NBA superstars. He voiced Tyrone the Moose on the widely-beloved Nickelodeon show, The Backyardigans. While studying at American University, he delivered a brilliant TEDx Talk, concluding with an original poem written from the heart. He took a gamble on himself choosing to pause the pursuit of his Master’s Degree to personally work with an A-List Hollywood actor. As recently as December 2022 he found himself mentioned by his former employer, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, for his time competing in Kënga Magjike, a European version of American Idol. This is all a microscopic glimpse into his lengthy resume, part of which can be found on IMDB, but it helps make one thing clear: the artist who goes by Jayoo is only just getting started.
After the shout-out on CBS, I decided to look into his work out of sheer curiosity. I quickly found that the occupations of his loving parents are valid pieces of the Coleman puzzle, but may possibly be the least compelling aspect of his personhood and artistry. I felt that hyper-focusing on that bit of trivia would be both lazy and unjust.
THE CONVERSATION
We connected via Zoom in early January 2023. I anxiously prepared for the meeting by brainstorming for hours, scribbling barely-legible questions and topics on a crinkled piece of lined notebook paper. I consumed every media about him that I could dig up on the web, from his work to prior interviews and public appearances. My primary goal became to probe for information as organically as possible to hear stories that haven’t already been told to death (some previous writers shamelessly obsessed about his father and drill rap, surely in an attempt to drum up controversy, morphing their endeavor from journalism into cliché clickbait).
Our full conversation can be found online. The following excerpts are a few of the most gripping moments.
I’ve seen that you’ve met some cool musicians and celebrities, who was your favorite?
Well, my favorite has to be Kobe Bryant overall. Kobe Bryant, rest in peace, he was one of those guys who you want to look up to, and then when you meet him you’re like “yeah, you’re exactly who I thought you would be. You’re really awesome.” When I was younger, I was a filmmaker and my first film was a documentary about education and he said that he would want to be a part of it. So he plays for the Lakers in Los Angeles and so it was hard for him to be on the East Coast but he said “I play the Washington Wizards. If you could come down to Washington DC, I’ll do the interview.” So me and a couple of my friends hopped in the car with our parents and we drove down there and then we waited in the hotel for a good 4–5 hours while he was in practice. But then after the practice, he came in sweats and he was like “Yo Jordan, what’s up man?!” Hanged out; signed everything we wanted him to sign… like everything. If there was a napkin there he would’ve signed it. And then there was space on the balcony, I’m dribbling the ball and he’s like “Show me what you got!” and I’m like, “Yo, Kobe, you want no part of this” he takes the ball, I’m trying to steal it from him. It was just an organic moment and it kind of was my good luck charm in a sense, it felt like it was his good luck charm too because later on that year he won the championship. And he bought me a pair of sneakers, it was just a cool kind of situation- a good streak of luck for both of us. After his career, he went off to go to make a film and win an Oscar, so I’m like yo, you’re doing exactly what I want to do with the whole film situation.
In your TED Talk, you said “trust the process.” How do you put this into practice?
I would say trusting the process comes from you understanding your game plan. Once you create your game plan, you take it step by step. Me with my project, I want to create an album people can play it in their car. What does that sound like? That means after the gym, that means going to the beach, that means going to the club, different situations. You have to make a list of all the sounds, all the feels, all the emotions that you want to go through and then you have to figure out a way to attack your list. It’s the same for cooking, if you want to cook for Thanksgiving, what are the things you want to cook? You want to make turkey, you want to make stuffing, you want to make such-n-such — you make a list and then you attack it. Once you have your list, and once you have a game plan, you just need to keep going with it. And that’s the whole trusting the process part because there are times where it’s like yo “why the hell am I doing this?” you’re in the middle of it and just seems so tedious. When you have your list, and you accomplish everything on your list you get a little boost of confidence.
You have been called an activist. What is your biggest cause?
Education. Everyone isn’t built for school, but everyone is built for education. You can learn through YouTube, you can learn through listening to Audiobooks. I think creating something or having a passion to learn something, whether it’s a trade or a language, there has to be something out there that you’re interested in. I feel like if you put you effort towards it, you’ll learn more things and your apetite for learning will increase. I would say that I’m an activist for education. For me personally, I’ve been growing internationally. I’ve been trying to figure out different places where I would want to go and perform, and go and explore, go on vacation but also to incorporate music that people will hear in different language and people will appreciate what I’m saying. I’m fascinated by the world and I want people from around the world to appreciate my art. I’m willing to put in the effort to learn other cultures.
What do people get wrong about you?
I think people get wrong that I’m arrogant or I’m hard to approach or full of myself. I think once you really get to talk to me, or once you get to understand the angle which I’m coming from I’m pretty approachable, easy to talk to and I’m pretty considerate. I do have a lot of confidence and I walk around like that. I probably get it from my dad, we’re just those types of people, we’re proud to be who we are, but we’re blessed to be who we are at the same time. Moving forward I’m looking to be more cautious of myself and how I’m presented in the world to fix that whole perspective. With my music as well. I feel like in Hip Hop you’re gonna be saying vulgar things, there’s gonna be some spicy outtakes and I want to make sure that my perspective fits something where everything feels appropriate.
REFLECTIONS
So, who really is Jordan Coleman? I’m not convinced our thirty-minute chat was sufficient to give a complete picture, but it was more than enough to recognize authenticity. I met a man who stands on his own two feet, seeking no glory from others’ accomplishments. He is an artist willing to fly thousands of miles overseas to grind for his dreams. He is someone who was graced by the seemingly infinite warmth of Saint Kobe. He is a man who knows his game plan and says yes to new opportunities. He remains equally comfortable performing live for global audiences as he is discussing the intricacies of the HBO series, Game of Thrones.
“Up and comer” is a title that has long since disappeared from the rearview mirror; Coleman has arrived. Rather than speculate on where he’s going from here, let’s watch.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
This article is genuine — it is opinion, but genuine nonetheless. Absolutely no monetization or incentivization occurred. I emailed Jordan and he agreed to be interviewed, that’s it.
LINKS TO DIG DEEPER
Look out for his upcoming album, ‘J.O.R.D.A.N.’
Written by JMB
