Jai’Len Josey Shares Her Feelings and Her Process for Creating Her Debut Album ‘Serial Romantic’
- Monica Soriano
- May 3
- 3 min read
Jai’Len gives us a glimpse into her musical influences, her growth and details about how ‘Serial Romantic’ came to be.
Article Contributed by Monica Soriano
Since the release of her last project ‘Southern Delicacy’ in 2023, many fans were anticipating Jai’Len’s return. Now, years later, she is back with a fully conceptualized debut album. Recently, Jai’Len Josey shared some of her thoughts and experiences with us in regards to ‘Serial Romantic’ and her musical growth.
Upon hearing her speak, we immediately felt her charisma fill her surroundings. Her R&B sound is mixed with different genres and influences which are noticeable throughout her work. The singer-songwriter told us that her influences in music range from Chaka Khan and Michael Jackson to Luther and Beyonce. She gave credit to her mom for always having great artists such as Donny Hathaway and Aretha Franklin playing in the house. This view into her inspirations makes perfect sense when diving into her discography.
Personal & Musical Growth for Jai’Len
Her debut album ‘Serial Romantic’ is full of personal experiences and relatability. When asked about her album’s storytelling and what this means to her she said “The album is about being selfish after being selfless for so long…… i feel like being a serial romantic means all of the trials that you go through different relationships and through different experiences with whether it’s with family or people or whoever you give heart to. Knowing that at the end of the day, you can’t pour into somebody’s cup if you don’t have anything to pour.” It simply gave us an idea of how she approached this subject matter in a real and more mature way; Jai’Len was only 23 during her ‘Southern Delicacy’ era and now she is 27. She stated her biggest change since her last project has been “maturity in my mental health……in ‘Southern Delicacy’ I was younger and just nervous and anxious .....I had to overcome truly just being in my head.”
If anyone has ever wondered where Jai’Len Josey gets her inspiration from currently, she expressed "I've been drawing inspiration from the feeling that I get when I’m in my jeep by myself at 6am going to the gym. I think that that is an experience in itself where it’s like you really have to force yourself to get up out of bed and just go….I relate that to my music because the experiences that you have when you’re by yourself, the most personal, are the ones you truly don’t get to speak about and I really thought I needed to speak about them in music right now.” She went on to say that her music now is about liberation. Her songwriting process is often layered with wonder to which Jai’Len said “I love a good metaphor” and “I’m a big fan of grammar” so she uses those to her advantage.
More Color To Her Music
Jai’Len spoke about working with producer Tricky Stewart and how he helped bring this project together. She said that she personally appreciates high energy music and Tricky was able to “add a little silk to this…put a different color palette here.” Their different approach to music blended beautifully within this album and it’s great to hear her speak with optimism about their collaboration.
Lastly, since this project is such a special piece of work we had to ask her if there was a moment while creating this album that was memorable or impactful for her. To this she said
“My mom is a big critic, you know, my mom worked in the industry ….. I was unsure but then after I saw her expression, I think seeing my mom actually have nothing but great things to say about it.…..I really feel like that has been the best moment. Just knowing that I did something that my mom really really loves.”
‘Serial Romantic’ is full of life, heart, feelings and color. We are excited for this new era Jai’Len has embarked on and can’t wait to see what the future holds for the talented singer.
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