You may or may not know the name John Joseph, but you definitely know his work. Most known for co-writing Summer Walker’s platinum hit, “Body”, the artist/producer/DJ is gearing up to release his new single “25” on 7/29. We recently had the opportunity to chat with John about his new single, the inspiration behind it, his dream collaboration, and how his music has evolved. Check out the interview below:

Introduce Yourself

Hey my name is John Joseph & you don't know me yet, but you will. I'm a Haitian-American artist, producer, and songwriter from St.Louis, Missouri.

How would you describe your sound?

It's pretty hard to describe my sound because I'm always experimenting, & but there are a lot of Kanye and Kendrick Influences.

Who are some of your musical influences?

Few of my influences would be Kanye, Jon Bellion, Mike Dean, Kendrick, Andy Mineo.. & a lot more.

Who is your dream collaboration?

I would love to work with Kanye to be honest, I love how big his ideas are and how innovative he is in music, fashion, and culture.

Congratulations on your latest single, “25”. Tell us the inspiration behind the record.

Thank you! I just turned 25 (July 16th), I haven't released anything since December and this is the first record leading into my upcoming project. I've had a lot of experiences, conversations, and growth over the last year so "25" is pretty much a dialogue of where I'm at right now. It's a weird age, you still feel young but you feel like you're running out of time at the same time. Shoutout to the producer S1, he created the original sample which was supposed to be on Kanye's "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy". I hit up my bro BlessUpSaints to do the drums on the record and I went back to do the arrangement, melodies, and other elements in the record. Shout out to my team, Ben Arnold who mixed it & Pano Panagiotides who mastered it.

In our last interview, you mentioned that you’ve been doing music for a long time. How has your music evolved as you’ve gotten older?

My music has evolved so much haha.. I started out as a christian rapper when I was 16 and growing up when I broke out of that genre I still felt limited mentally on what I could say. I wanted to be vulnerable and transparent but there was always a fear that people would look at me differently or say I would change up but this new music is very transparent and unapologetic. I just had to experience a little more of life to get more vulnerable, and that's what makes good music. Experiences and moments.

What makes you rare?

People have always said there was something about me that was different and pure but I never saw it at first, but from different conversations and experiences I realized there's not a lot of people that think like me, speak like me, or create like me. It's easy to follow a trend, it's hard to do your own thing & be successful in a world where everyones tuned in to a different channel. But the beauty of that is, you stand out.

What can fans expect from you in the future?

Expect a project this fall. It's been in the works for a while & I'm excited for it. And expect to see me in a lot of places. I'm just warming up but I'm here to stay.

Check out his latest single entitled “25”

#OnOurRadar: Meet STL Hitmaker and Rising star John Joseph