Interview with Jordan Chude

Breaking into the music business is a hard task. Balancing music with school can be very daunting which can lose a lot of friends and associates in the process. Applying that work ethic into these areas can either make you or break you. Just ask Baltimore bred, NYU Business student Jordan Chude who has incredible wordplay. Starting writing poetry at 12, Jordan Chude hones his craft and takes it seriously. The move to NYC has made Jordan Chude diverse his sound and turned his hobby into a career. With the #NoMoreAmeteurRecords series under way, Intrigued interviews Jordan Chude as he talks about #NoMoreAmeteurRecords, how to balance school and music, the pitfalls of the music industry, shows and upcoming projects.

Ty DJC Jones (Intrigued): What it is Jordan Chude, you mentioned that you’re a NYU student. How do you flip school and music in your schedule simultaneously?

Jordan Chude: It’s actually pretty difficult. With an internship, job, classes, and homework, I have to try pretty hard to make sure my career gets the attention it deserves. Consequently, a lot of my close friends end up taking the bullet and spend less time with me. At one point, even my relationship with my girlfriend was suffering. It’s all about finding that balance, which I try to find every day I wake up to make music. Over time, it has definitely strained some of my relationships, but it has also brought me closer to the people who have decided to stick around. I try to make sure I dedicate adequate time to appreciating those people.

Ty DJC Jones (Intrigued): Describe your rhyming style?

Jordan Chude: Up until recently, I didn’t put too much of an emphasis on flow differentiation. I started writing poetry when I was 12, with Hip-Hop only becoming the focus last year. I was all about lyrics. Now, I sort of just let myself go. I don’t even think about it anymore, I just rap. Every flow you hear is my knee jerk reaction to the instrumental. Of course, sometimes it needs a little refining before I can record it but, for the most part, the flow you hear is the first flow I wrote to. It sounds more natural that way.

As for lyrics, I am really big on making my lyrics accessible. I was always a fan of Lupe, Jay Electronica, and MCs who used a lot of wordplay to reach their audiences. However, it was more artists like Jay-Z and Drake, artists who are fairly clear and concise, that affected me the most. I want my music to feel like a conversation, not a speech.

Ty DJC Jones (Intrigued): Has being from Baltimore influenced your music and what have you learned musically from moving to NYC?

Jordan Chude: I wouldn’t necessarily say the Baltimore music scene has affected my music as much as my father’s music did. My father was a jazz musician growing up, so I’ve been told that I sound the best over Jazzy style instrumentals. I tended to shift more towards those in Baltimore. In New York, I ended up changing that because of the different types of music I encountered here. It’s definitely diversified me. Coming to NYC definitely made me step up my standards for my music. I was all of a sudden surrounded by so many talented people. I was first intimidated before I made the decision to step up my production and lyrical content. Jordan Williams, the rapper who did it as a hobby, turned into Jordan Chude, the rapper who does it as a career, in New York City.

Ty DJC Jones (Intrigued): Let’s get to your latest joint “Here We Go” featuring Fetch. How that track did come about?

Jordan Chude: Most of my music up until “Here We Go” and my previous #NoMoreAmateurRecords single, “Up,” served as a mental release. With a close death and sudden relationship changes occurring over the past year or so, most of my music reflected the emotions I went through. With “Here We Go,” I wanted to let people know I am back, I am driven, and most importantly, I am happy. And I wanted to spread that emotion to my listeners.

Lastly, I’ve been taking vocal lessons for about a year and a half and my biggest issue with incorporating it into my music was my lack of confidence. Most people I know didn’t even know I sang until I released the song because I never sang in front of anyone. So, with “Here We Go,” I decided to finally step out on a limb and do what I’ve been training to do for a year and a half: sing. I went into the studio and recorded the bridge to my standards. However, the chorus I wrote was a little out of my range. So, I hit up Fletch to see what he could do with it. Once he sent it back, instead of giving him critique, I invited him over my place to finish the recording. We ended up having a great time and luckily that spilled over into the chorus. He sounds great on it.

Ty DJC Jones (Intrigued): You mentioned on Here We Go, that in high school you’re the most driven. Tell us something else that describes Jordan Chude?

Jordan Chude: Fortunately and unfortunately, I’m very eager. Sometimes that spills into an unproductive impatience so I have to check myself. Unfortunately I’ve gone through a lot of death in my lifespan which, although were tragic events, have taught me to take advantage of every opportunity and live the life I want to live. It also brings me a lot of anxiety. I often have trouble sleeping because I feel like I am not working hard enough for where I want to be. Like I am wasting time every moment I haven’t reached my goals. Dreams take time to come true and I am just realizing that now. On the other hand, the anxiety ensures that I am constantly busting my ass to get where I want to be. I am working on that balance.

Ty DJC Jones (Intrigued): What separates you from other artists?

Jordan Chude: Definitely my work ethic. I never stop planning, I never stop researching, and I never stop creating. My will is driven by my desire to work in a field that I am passionate about. Yeah, being wealthy is cool; being famous is whatever, but being happy trumps all. And when I work late nights, cancel plans, and spend hours’ recording, that’s all I think about. Life itself inspires me, and I think that’s unique in today’s music industry.

Ty DJC Jones (Intrigued): What can fans that are not familiar with your music expect from Jordan Chude?

Jordan Chude: I am constantly trying to better my music and myself. One of the biggest and most frequent compliments I get about my music is that I keep getting better. Of course, I take this as a compliment for my sound is developing. If you’re on board with my music, you’ll only hear growth. I am not saying that you’ll like my music but, if you do choose to follow my career, you’ll never see me grow complacent.

Ty DJC Jones (Intrigued): You constantly networking in the music business and you’re doing the school thing. Let’s say you stumble upon an artist on a show or listen to his music, what do you look for in another artist that makes you want to work with them?

Jordan Chude: I have to be inspired by the artist. There has to be an attribute that I see in them that I don’t see in myself. Whether it’s that they’re especially good at hooks or that they’re flows are unique or even technical aspects, like if there voice inflections during their recordings are better than mine, I’ll try to work with them. That’s not to say that the people I don’t work with aren’t inspiring, just in an area that I don’t see fit to incorporate into my career just yet. That’s usually if I am looking for people for my own songs.

As for features, the bar is a lot lower for me. If the artist’s message aligns with my content and I can benefit from the publicity, I’ll pretty much do any feature. It’s always good to stay on my toes with writing new verses and features help me do that.

Ty DJC Jones (Intrigued): Artists have to put the extra hustle to get noticed. Do you have a problem with artists going independent to release their projects even though it’s easier to work with labels?

Jordan Chude: I actually love it. It’s about time artists take control of their own careers. I meet a lot of musicians, especially rappers, who want the attention of labels right off the bat. To me, in order to even be considered by a label you have to be at the point where they’ll only take you to the next level. Not save you or pick you up out the gutter. Artists should focus more on connecting with their listeners because that’s where the power is. That’s who labels want to connect with. For artists going independent, keep doing your thing.

Ty DJC Jones (Intrigued): Let’s talk about your new project #NoMoreAmateurRecords series. What can fans expect from the series and who’s on it?

Jordan Chude: What fans can expect and what I wanted the series to do is create a more refined sound with every song. As I keep releasing music, each song is going to get more and more polished until I have a sound that my listeners want. I decide that by analyzing the support I get for each record. There will probably be one to three more tracks before I finish it off. It seems like I am getting an idea of what people want to hear. As for features, I don’t see any in the near future but that doesn’t mean there won’t be any. I can say that any feature that will be on the series will be necessary to the song they’re featured on and not just thrown on. I haven’t hit up some of my friends who thought they’d be featured just because I wanted each feature to have a purpose.

Ty DJC Jones (Intrigued): The hashtag with #NoMoreAmateurRecords caught my eye. Explain the notion behind the saying.

Jordan Chude: Up until this point in my career, most of my listeners were my friends and family and my inner network. Because of that, a lot of people had critiques for my music that they weren’t telling me because they were so close to me. It wasn’t until one of my friends gave me real critiques that I realized I needed to step my game up. His comments were almost hurtful at first but they were honest. When I went back to listen to all of my music up until that point, I realized that his critiques were not only accurate but they occurred in most of my songs. Then, I decided to transcend my inner network and make records that the public wanted to hear and show no mercy for my critiquing process. #NoMoreAmateurRecords is mostly about me expanding my awareness of my own music. It’s about humbling myself enough to make music people want to hear and focusing on the balance between music for the masses and self-expression. It’s a lifestyle for me at this point and sometimes you’ll even see me hashtag #NoMoreAmateurAnything. There’s no room for mediocrity in the music industry.

Ty DJC Jones (Intrigued): Describe a studio session with Jordan Chude! What goes in your mind once you get into the booth and hear a dope beat?

Jordan Chude: I actually always have the songs written before I get to the studio. When it’s time to record, it’s just about getting the vision I had in my head when I wrote it on the track itself. I usually have a glass of water, am by myself, and have the lights dimmed low. I also try to silence my phone and sometimes turn off the Internet on my computer so it’s just the music and me. That’s definitely the part of the process that I take most seriously.

Ty DJC Jones (Intrigued): Describe your writing process!

Jordan Chude: I actually look for beats for hours before I write anything down. I have to be inspired by the beat in order for something to come out with meaning. I can rap over a lot of instrumentals but unless I feel it in my soul I can’t write to it to my fullest potential. When I do find an instrumental, it’s almost like the message and lyrics get pulled out of me. I usually write the first verse in 10 minutes or so. Then I stop, see where I am headed, and then keep going. It doesn’t even feel real to me sometimes. The second song I released for my #NoMoreAmateurRecords series, “02:00AM,” was written in 15 minutes at; you guessed it, 02:00AM when I couldn’t get myself to bed. I was barely conscious when I wrote it but it’s one of my favorite songs I’ve made. I try not to follow only songs I am inspired by because a lot of times they are the same type of song. For my series, I am really pushing myself with my content and hopefully it’ll help me find inspiration for a bunch of different types of instrumentals.

Ty DJC Jones (Intrigued): You are an intern at a music publishing firm and at Mass Appeal records. Has being an intern help you grow as an artist in terms of music choice, song structure, how to pick the right beats, etc.

Jordan Chude: I interned for the music publishing firm over the summer and stopped to start working at Mass Appeal Records and HELL yes. I’ve luckily had the opportunity to work with some very talented executives that have not only helped me strategize how to navigate the music business but also how to navigate music itself. The publishing firm didn’t help as much because I never spoke up about my music, but Mass Appeal Records pretty much has locked me down on all cylinders. They’re teaching me both the music industry and helping me develop as an artist.

Ty DJC Jones (Intrigued): Your dream track: Name three artists and a producer for your track. It can be either mainstream or indie.

Jordan Chude: DEFINITELY Pharrell as the producer. And probably Drake, Kendrick Lamar, and J. Cole.

Ty DJC Jones (Intrigued): What’s next for Jordan Chude for 2014 going into 2015?

Jordan Chude: I am studying abroad in Paris next semester and I am purposefully taking a lighter course load to focus on re-inspiring my music and myself. What you can expect is a more confident, cultivated Jordan Chude.

Ty DJC Jones (Intrigued): What advice would you give to the artists on the come up?

Jordan Chude: Focus on your art and connecting with your fans. Make that relationship strong from the beginning because those are the people that are going to transform your career from a solo push to a movement. Don’t stop thinking about the next guy, who could be pulling the same moves as you. Be on your toes constantly and constantly be trying to improve. As fun as this is, there needs to be a level of seriousness you take with it. Once you have that down, the opportunities will come to you. Then all you have to do is be prepared. Lastly, don’t compare your career to others. It’ll either give you a false sense of confidence or a false sense of insecurity. Just do your thing as best as you can and things will click when they’re supposed to.

Ty DJC Jones (Intrigued): Where can other artists, producers or fans can check you out? Any websites, social networks they can reach out to you?

Jordan Chude: Hit my email! Make sure you put a descriptive subject so I know why you’re emailing me and don’t think its spam. My email is Jordan@Jordanchude.com. Looking forward to you guys reaching out!