24kGoldn Releases A New Single Titled “Checkers”
San Francisco native Golden Landis Von Jones, known professionally as 24kGoldn, is a rapper, singer and arranger. 2020 XXL Freshman 24kGoldn broke into the scene in late 2019 via his Platinum debut single, “Valentino” after signing to RECORDS/Columbia Records. 24kGoldn recently celebrated his 22nd birthday. At such a young age he has quickly demonstrated to the world that his sound was universal.
His west coast, upbeat sound music is widely listened to not only in the United States, but globally. Surpassing 400 million total global streams and appearing on over 40 Spotify Viral 50 lists internationally; some of his top listeners come from cities like London, Sydney, Melbourne and Mumbai. In fact, I was introduced to 24kGoldn two winters ago by my neighbour in Paris, France. I immediately understood the appeal. His visuals are insane, his music is addicting, and he’s absolutely gorgeous! 24KGoldn draws inspiration from rappers Paypa Boy & 24Kay, who initially got him into recording music. Motivated by his desire to never be constricted by one genre, 24kGoldn‘s music spans a variety of genres such as pop rap, hip hop and emo rap.
Here at Galore we had the pleasure of interviewing 24kGoldn on a plethora of topics. From being a student at USC to launching a full-fledged music career, the influence to San Francisco, his favorite artists to his new single “Checkers”. We hope you enjoy our full feature interview with our new cover boy 24kGoldn!
Click here to stream “Checkers”, available on all streaming platforms.
FEATURE INTERVIEW
How has being from San Francisco informed your sound?
Being from San Francisco has given me a lot of perspective. The way that bleeds into my music is that San Francisco is such a culturally rich place with people from all across the world, so growing up, I got to listen to a lot of different sounds but also experience a lot of different cultures, leading me to the conclusion that there’s no one right or wrong way to do something. I feel like that’s the same approach I take with my music, whatever feels best or whatever works for me.
Tell us about how you went from being a student at USC to launching a full-fledged music career?
I started school at USC the summer of 2018, as a 17 year old kid from San Francisco. I had been doing music before I came to school already, but I figured LA was the best place to blow as an artist, so I wanted to be at USC so I could be in LA. I think a lot of the people I met there and met through those connections really helped my music career.
You are releasing a new single titled “Checkers” Dec 16, can you tell us what to expect?
I think it’s a sound that I haven’t played with before, and the type of artist I am, I always like to explore new sounds. This song I was paying homage to the Jersey club and Jersey drill scene, so that’s why I had to tap Bandmanriill, because ain’t no nobody better to help shine a light on this distinct beautiful regional sound.
Click here to stream “Checkers”, available on all streaming platforms.
What is your song writing process?
I normally start with the melody and then figure out the lyrics after, and tweak them to all fit a concept.
What are some of your favorite effects to add to your voice (i.e. reverb, distortion, delay)?
I’m not the most effect-heavy but I love creating little moments with effects like delays and empty spaces, or reverbing out the outro of the song so it has more of that atmospheric feeling to it.
You are a Scorpio do, you think astrology influences your personality type and music style?
I don’t know, it’s hard to tell because sometimes the horoscopes feel so accurate, but then I be telling people that I’m a completely different sign in conversation just to fuck with them, and they’ll be like “oh my god you’re such a cancer” and I’m in my head knowing the whole time like “I’m a Scorpio what are you talking about’
What are three songs or projects you’re currently listening to that you can’t stop playing?
I really loved the Brent (Faiyaz) project, the new Drake album is incredible, and I always listen to the Best of Sade.
What was it like working with artists such as DaBaby, Future, Ty Dolla Sign, Jack Harlow, & Quavo?
I think collaboration is one of the best things in music because it allows you to create even better art with other people that are incredibly talented, that might have a different perspective for you or might have different ideas that are better than your own, and you might have some ideas that are better than theirs, so I think the more minds the more incredible a song or project can be.
If you could collaborate on a track with one of your favorite artists, who would it be?
I’ve knocked out a lot of my bucket list artists already, like Future, that was a huge one for me, Justin Bieber, that was a huge one for me, even like Fetty Wap early on in my career, that was really big because I loved him a lot. So at this point, I feel like I still need a song with Young Thug – Free YSL by the way, Free Gunna, Free Thug – and I definitely would lose my mind the day that I get a Drake collaboration.
What’s one city you haven’t performed in that you look forward to performing at in the future?
Probably London or other places in Europe. I’ve performed almost all the major cities and even a bunch of smaller ones in North America, I’ve got to perform in Korea, I’m about to perform in Japan for NYE, but I still have yet to do any shows in the UK or France or Italy and I know there’s a lot of people out there waiting to see me and I’m waiting to see them.
If you would have your own festival, what would the name of the festival be, and who would be on the line up?
My dream festival is somewhere in the Bay Area, probably San Francisco or Oakland, because I feel like the only two big festival we get are Rolling Loud and Outsidelands, but as far as I know, those aren’t put on by Bay Area people, and oftentimes there’s only a couple of Bay Area artist on the lineup. So I would love to do something to bring together the community in my home and shine a light on a lot of the really incredibly talented people out there.
If you can describe your sound with 3 scoops of ice-cream, what would they be?
I have no idea, that’s a wild question and I’m really excited to see how other people answer that.
What do you have in store for 2023?
There’s inner rumblings in my camp of another tour in the beginning of the year, and I’m planning on releasing new music every month, so I can’t wait for y’all to hear what I’ve been working on.
TEAM CREDITS
Talent: 24k GOLDN @24kgoldn
Written & Interviewed by: Shirley Reynozo @moyamusic_
Creative Director: Tyler Patrick Kenny @tylerpatrickkenny
Galore Art Direction: Kevin Jackson @burban.pics
Styling: BE @youalreadylate
Click here to stream “Checkers”, available on all streaming platforms.
