This year has already been off to a great start in music. We’ve been blessed with incredible projects from artists breaking into the mainstream this year including the likes of Laila’s Wisdom by Rapsody, Freudian by Daniel Caesar, and Ctrl by SZA. One project, in particular, that has been an inspiration to the early adopters of Dayne Jordan is In Transition. Who’s Dayne Jordan you might ask?
I often like to refer to the future fans of Jordan the same way Ralph Ellison highlights his power of being invisible in his novel, The Invisible Man. Although Jordan is building an incredible body of work, traveling around the world, and recording with some of the greatest artists of our time. He is still yet invisible to the greater audience that yearns for his music that just simply does not choose to recognize his body of work quite just yet. Rather than see this as a weakness I see it as one of the greatest strength to ever accommodate an artist of his caliber. One thing that’s for sure, he’s always been out to accomplish a mission that only he has the blueprint to and he’s building it brick by brick with the loyal fanbase he motivates through his music. If you follow Jordan, you would know one thing that is always consistent with his projects is the importance of capturing a moment in time (Lost, In Progress EP, Memoirs of Dayne Jordan, In Transition).
“I have been waiting for this moment all my life / On my K-Ci and JoJo / And I’m willing to pay the price / So tell me the total.” — Dayne Jordan
As we ride into the new year, Jordan introduces a new single titled, Enormous, with a visual to speak truth to the underlying reason for his success. Embracing his city, the creative community, and never forgetting where he comes from. If you have been paying attention for even a split second you would recognize that something special is brewing in the city of brotherly love. Not only is the music scene hyper-producing several talented artists. The Philadelphia Eagles are in rare form as Nick Foles just led the team to their first Super Bowl victory in franchise history to bring back home the Vince Lombardi trophy. Beyond that also in the sports world there, the Philadelphia Sixers are finally catching their stride as they continue to invest in young talent like Ben Simmons, Markelle Fultz, and Joel Embiid; following their motto to “Trust The Process”.There couldn’t be a better way to end on that note considering that Jordan has been using that motto since day one. Philadelphians have been waiting for this to happen for a long time now and finally, their dreams are becoming a reality. Jordan even makes mention of it briefly in, Enormous, stating “I have been waiting for this moment all my life / On my Kizzy and George though. / And I’m willing to pay the price / So tell me the total.”
“What was most important to me [about this visual] was to see everyone in the same space and let God do what he does. To me…that’s Enormous.” — Dayne Jordan
Jordan is in a place right now where he’s turning on all of the jets to his rocket of success while strategically plotting his next steps. Never gone are the days of hustling his own personally branded t-shirts with kicks on South St, performing as Dosage throughout his beloved city, touring with Lupe Fiasco, and the many of his current successes he encounters along the way. As it seems each one of those experiences whether from a dark or light place is giving Jordan the fuel he needs to continue to catapult him into the mainstream. In this visual, it illustrates just that as you see many of the creatives of Philadelphia in unison standing at attention in front of the notorious Philadelphia Museum of Art and Rocky Steps. You’ll see many of the faces of some of the most talented artists from Philadelphia standing with Jordan as they all use that Philadelphia grit to continue to put their city on the map as the hotbed of beautiful music, art, and culture.
When asked about what Jordan most wanted to convey with this visual he stated “What was most important to me [about this visual] was to see everyone in the same space and let God do what he does. To me…that’s Enormous.” On this track, Jordan’s goes bar for bar to add more and more weight to his punchlines as he express his views on the current times. Press play and join in on the journey as Jordan is just giving you a cracked door view into what the future holds for the city where freedom, liberty, and justice was first just an idea before becoming rights for all.
This video was shot and directed by the talented Cristopher Schafer.
