Without experimentation, innovation is impossible. For Rochelle Jordan, this desire for sonic expansion has been long embedded into her fusion of futuristic and ancestrally soulful R&B. To listen to a ROJO song is to absorb a phosphorescent but subtle blend of sampledelic 90s pop, vintage UK house and garage, 31st century electronic bangers, airy late night ballads, and progressive hip-hop.
On Play With the Changes, her new album on TOKiMONSTA’s Young Art imprint, the Toronto-raised, Los Angeles-based Jordan showcases not just her own personal evolution, but a path to pushing sound forward. It presents her as a modern heir in a lineage of powerhouse vocalists with style and imagination: everyone from Whitney Houston to Celine Dion, Aaliyah to Amerie, Kelis to Mariah Carey.
Produced by KLSH, Machinedrum, and Jimmy Edgar, Jordan defies categorization to create a project full of slinky, dancefloor-packing burners. Ultimately, this album reflects the truth of Jordan as an artist: relentlessly innovative, suffused with transcendent soul, replete with imagination and wild style. The type of artist who inspires others towards originality in a world where everything feels photoshopped. Someone not afraid to search, to go deeper, to discover new directions, to create change in any and all forms.