Over the past year-plus, former UPROXX cover stars Jonas Brothers and Tori Kelly couldn’t speak highly enough about Jon Bellion to UPROXX. Bellion executive produced Jonas Brothers’ May 2023 LP The Album and Kelly’s Tori EP and subsequent Tori. LP. The Jonas Brothers and Kelly were fans of Bellion’s music from afar before he joined them in the studio.
On Wednesday, September 25, Bellion posted a video teasing his first solo single in six years. In the 25-second clip, Bellion’s silhouette can be seen in the studio as he sings, “I am a kid again / I could do anything / I am a kid again.” In red lettering, a message flashes simultaneously across the screen: “After a 6-year wait, Jon Bellion’s recording contract has been reversed. Freeing him to make music for himself again. KID AGAIN.”
This May, Bellion appeared on The George Janko Show and went in-depth in explaining the machinations of his former deal with Live Nation and record deal and how the situation plummeted him into “panic attacks.”
“I paid myself out of the deal, and I had to pay 25 percent extra on what they advanced me,” Bellion said of Live Nation.
He noted that, at one point, he was willing to walk away from music entirely: “I told my wife, ‘I’m going to work at McDonald’s. It’s over. I’m not doing this anymore.’”
Later in the episode, the multi-platinum-certified artist opened up about his forthcoming album, which will be his first solo LP since releasing Glory Sound Prep in November 2018 via Capitol Records.
“The stuff I’m making, I’m like, thank God I waited six years to get my spirit more correct than it was before,” Bellion said. “Thank God I’m coming from a different place of [gratitude] and whatever because the music now really reflects that. If I can give people gems on this album, to some degree, of a man who’s been through it but isn’t just covered in bitterness, you’re going to receive wisdom in a palatable, edible way that will edify a lot of people. That’s what I hope the music does.”
Tori Kelly thought TORI. was finished. Then again, she thought she was certain about a lot of things before she was rushed to the hospital due to blood clotting last July. She didn’t have time to process her brush with mortality until after her Tori EP release and The Take Control Tour. But when she returned home, Kelly was greeted by unresolved emotions in the silence. So, the two-time Grammy winner did what she’d always done. She filled the silence with music and wrote “High Water.”
“I wanted a song that I would’ve sung to myself during that time,” Kelly tells Uproxx the week before the release of TORI., executive produced by Jon Bellion, due out this Friday, April 5. “High Water” sprung from Kelly’s hospitalization, but it ballooned to include a verse about the death of her best friend’s husband, emphasizing her unshakable faith. “It became this bigger thing where I was like, ‘This isn’t even necessarily about me anymore. This feels like a song that I hope could help other people,’” she says.
TORI. is Kelly’s first full-length studio album since 2019, and Kelly’s growth flourishes across its 15 tracks. Over the past five years, especially during this album-making process, Kelly learned that her desire to serve others could only be fulfilled once she fully embraced herself.
“This probably sounds conceited, but TORI. is inspired by Tori,” Kelly says. (She does not sound conceited, by the way. She sounds like a 31-year-old woman with clarity around everything that was required of her to become a self-assured 31-year-old woman.) “It’s me just digging into myself as an artist and thinking, How do I want to presentmyself?What are some sounds that we’ve never heard from me? What are some things that maybe I’ve been holding back? It feels so authentically me. It’s exciting to be in this place where it’s take it or leave it. This is where I’m at right now.”
Below, Kelly further explained where she’s at right now.
Eight or nine months removed from your medical emergency, what clarity do you have around what that experience forced you to confront?
That whole time was very scary — very sudden — and it felt surreal. It felt like it just happened so fast. It came and went. I was in one state, and then I was out of the hospital, and I felt great. And people would constantly ask, “Are you okay?” Which is awesome. People are so sweet. But it was strange for me because I was ready to go. I was like, “Alright, let’s go. I want to get on tour.” I think I almost wanted it to go away. And through therapy, which we love, I was able to talk through stuff and realize that I have so many people around me who were affected more than me.
Overall, to actually answer your question, I think the clarity that I got is such a cliche phrase that I’ve always said, and we throw it around, but to go through something like that and realize life is so fragile, and you never know what’s going to happen. There’s this general feeling of gratitude — not taking anything for granted and being confident in my decisions. I thought I was doing all those things before, but it just feels like this new level of giving it the best I’ve got and loving people harder.
The album’s tracklisting all feels very intentional. I thought I understood what you were trying to tell me, but I couldn’t actually understand it until now. So, what is this master puzzle?
We made it that way. These songs, most of them were pretty much done, and we decided to let people have a taste of what I was calling “Part I” of the album because it had been a while since my last project. But the whole time, seeing people’s reactions to it — some negative, some positive — which, sidebar, I’m always down for. I actually love it. I would rather you have a really strong opinion one way or the other instead of just saying, “Oh, yeah, it was cool,” and then you forget about it.
Even if it’s negative, at least they’re thinking critically about it at all.
Exactly. You’re forced to think about it. So that didn’t bother me because, the whole time, I was like, “Oh, but there’s more.” Wait until they hear the whole thing. Jon and I — Jon Bellion, who, as you know, produced the whole project — were always so excited about the full body of work. It always felt like “Cut” makes sense when you’ve heard “Thing U Do.” Like, this song makes sense when you hear [another] song. So, like you said, it all really did feel like a puzzle to me. It makes me way more excited to be putting out the full thing because this was always the vision: To showcase all these different sides of me. When you hear it together, I’m hoping that it kind of makes sense because, in my brain, it makes sense. It’s very much me and all my different sides.
Does the experience of releasing an album in your thirties differ from releasing albums in your twenties?
That’s a good question because I actually think this kind of is the first time — at least from my perspective — that I’ve gotten strong reactions. And I think the reason is because, throughout my career, I have placed myself in different genres. I just love so many things. I love gospel music, so I was like, I want to do a gospel project. I’m super sad right now, so this sort of singer-songwriter, heavily guitar-driven album is what makes sense right now. Without realizing it, I gained fans from all different places. I really feel like this is the first time that they’re all kind of looking at this music like, “Okay, what’s she doing next? This is a whole new thing.” On this album, there is a little something from all of these chapters of my life. I think there’s something for everyone. But yeah, this is the first time where I’m like, Ooh, people have opinions.
Has your internal measuring stick for what you consider success changed?
I don’t actually know. There’s one thing, I guess, I’m proud of myself for. I listened back to some of my older songs. I have this song called “Confetti” that I wrote when I was 18 years old. When I listened back to that, it was almost like my younger self was putting her foot down and being like, “Hey, Older Tori, no matter what happens, let this be your compass. Stay true to yourself and your faith, and stay the course.”
I listen to that song, and it’s almost like she was speaking to me in the future because at 18 years old, I hadn’t experienced anything [yet]. I think I was on YouTube at the time, and it was just starting out. But the fact that I hadn’t really experienced fame yet, and I was already singing as if I had — there’s a line, “I’m living for right now / ‘Cause what if tomorrow never comes? / I’m not waiting for the confetti to fall.” So, to answer your question, I don’t think my definition has changed because when I listen to that song, I still feel that way.
Knowing that you revisited that song recently is awesome because on “Same Girl,” you’re singing to your past self.
Yeah, that’s true. I am. We’re having a conversation lately.
To further my nostalgia agenda, I was immediately taken aback by the “Tom’s Diner” interpolation in “Thing U Do” — not to mention Jon Batiste’s background vocals. Craig David’s “Fill Me In” is interpolated in “Missin U,” and “High Water” is a nod to Des’ree’s “You Gotta Be.” Why did you zone in on those three songs as direct influences?
Jon and I were already in that zone. I think “Shine On” was the first song that we did together. That one has that throwback nineties hip-hop [feel]. We took it even further once we did “Cut,” and that opened the floodgates into the whole realm of Y2K. With “Cut,” we were specifically playing off of Timbaland, [Rodney] “Darkchild” [Jerkins] ad-libs. We loved how it sounded, and so we felt like we should probably hit up Timbaland and Rodney Jerkins to get their blessing on it.
We wanted them to hear it and see if they liked it. Timbaland was like, “Yeah, this is great, but I want to do the ad-libs.” So, he hopped on the song, for real, and I was like, “Great, that’s even better.” We did “Missin U” right after that. Every song we did, we were like, “If we’re going to go there, let’s really go there and give these nods to that era.” We were very intentional about still making it feel fresh at the same time.
Can you identify what you had to square away within yourself to where you can feel comfortable standing on a self-titled album?
It really just felt like this album was a statement. Once we had the body of work for weeks, I was just like, “What is the throughline here? What is the theme?” I didn’t go into the process with an album title at all. I knew I was in this more confident headspace and wanted to take my career by the reins, so I was trying to think of phrases or cool themes that could tie everything together. I just kept coming back to, “What if it’s just called TORI. in all-caps? What if the theme is just my self-titled moment?” And I became even more inspired. I was still unsure.
And then, I started thinking about artists who came before me who had these amazing self-titled albums. I thought about Aaliyah, Beyoncé, Janet [Jackson], Diana Ross, and incredibly powerful women in music. When those came out, it was such a defining moment in their careers. So I was like, “I think this feels like that. This feels like that moment for me.” Whatever happens with this music, I just know that that’s what it feels like for me.
Sasha Samsonova
Do you already feel nostalgic for the process of making this album with Jon?
Yeah, I mean, we’ve been talking about getting back in the studio. We already have the writing bug again. We’re talking a year or two ago of us being in the studio, and now that the songs are finally coming out, we’re like, “Let’s do it again. Let’s get back in and build on what we started.” Because it was so fun — just goofing off in the studio. We would create these different characters when I was trying to figure out what sound I wanted for a particular song.
Well, now I have to ask for an example of you coming up with a character for a song.
[Laughs] I’m trying to think of a good one. I always do Britney impressions in the studio. For some reason, I just start singing, “Ooo yeah.” It always started as a joke. Jon would look at me and be like, “No, wait, there’s something there. Let’s keep exploring that.” It would start as this funny thing, and then I would slowly get back to my actual voice, but my approach was different than if I had just sung the song as myself. Those are the little details no one would really know while listening, but I brought something new to this album where I still sound like myself, but there are new tones that you haven’t heard yet.
Is there something that you stumbled upon while making this album that you didn’t know you could do or wanted to do?
When it comes to how I move when I listen to these songs, I think I’ve always loved to dance. I took dance classes when I was seven, and I loved it, but then the music thing took off. I had a viral video of me playing guitar, so people associated me with blonde hair and guitar, and I was like, Alright, cool. I am not going to change anything. Subconsciously. If something’s working, you just run with it.
You know what it is? I thought about this the other day. It’s almost like this music unlocked my younger self. Before the YouTube covers, when I was just dancing in my living room and having fun as a little kid. I’m giving her the album that she wanted. It’s like, you grew up and became this artist, and people think that they know your sound, and they think that they know you, but there are all these different sides of you that you didn’t even realize that you were suppressing. So, let me now give you that dream that you always had. It even gets me a little emotional because her dream was so pure.
I have no regrets in my career whatsoever. But if I didn’t make this album, I actually think later on, I would’ve regretted it because these are those types of songs [that challenged me] like, “Ah, should I put this out? This is a little different than what people are used to.” But I just love them so much. They are a huge part of who I am as an artist.
How many people have the opportunity to become the artist that their younger self would have wanted a poster of in their childhood bedroom?
That’s what it feels like, yeah! This one’s for you, girl.
Having sat for a little bit with everything you pulled off creatively, musically, and vocally with this album and everything that Jon helped you unlock inside of yourself, has the bar changed for what you expect from yourself — or want for yourself — moving forward?
Absolutely. To be honest, this was the first time I’ve ever worked with a creative director in my whole career. I didn’t necessarily pay attention to the presentation of songs before this album. I was just so focused on being in the studio and crafting the songs and the music, and then once it’d be time to promote or do the music videos, I was just kind of saying yes to the people around me. Even with my fashion, I was like, “Sure, I’ll wear that. That’s comfortable. I just want to be comfy.”
Now, I think the expectation for myself is [to] take everything to the next level where the actual songs are super high quality — making sure that I love them — but when it comes time to present these songs, I think my taste is a lot more fine-tuned. Maybe it’s an age thing, too. I know what I like now. I don’t know exactly what that looks like moving forward. I just know that I don’t have time to not be loving every single part of it.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Everything Tori Kelly did and subsequently learned about herself in the last 10 years of her Grammy-winning career led to Tori, her seven-song EP released on July 28.
Kelly unveiled a return to her natural brunette hair and R&B roots with “Missin U” in March. The video oozes Y2K, from the Juicy Couture Sidekick she adored as a preteen and performance shots saluting Aaliyah, Destiny’s Child, Missy Elliott, and TLC. Ecstatic fans saw a “new” Kelly, while Kelly saw the “nerdy” 2000s kid who desperately wanted to express herself this way but needed time to develop the necessary confidence.
“I have a childhood picture of myself in my closet,” Kelly told Uproxx days before staging her The Take Control Tour and dropping the deluxe version of Tori, which is due out on September 15. “Every day, I’ll get dressed, and I look at her, and I’m like, ‘I feel like she’d be proud.’”
Below, Kelly explained the deeper meaning behind her Y2K aesthetic.
To start, I have a theory to run by you: Our age group has a unique relationship with Y2K because, technically, we were alive and lived through it, but we weren’t old enough to really know what was going on, so we can romanticize it and have an even stronger sense of nostalgia for it.
Wow. I think you nailed it. I’ve never heard it put like that. That was on the nose.
What about Y2K fascinates you?
There is something about our generation and being a nineties kid — I mean, a nineties baby, I should say. It’s exactly what you said. I was growing up in the 2000s and very aware of things. There were people in pop culture and what was cool, the different outfits and the fashion and the music, where I was still this nerdy little kid. I’m more looking up to it and watching TRL all the time being like, Ugh,I want to be in a music video one day. So I definitely agree with the fantasizing part, and I think that’s why it’s so fun now as an adult to kind of pull from that era and just have fun with it because it’s all the things that I loved growing up.
When your Y2K-themed 30th birthday party happened last December, had you already decided Y2K was going to be the predominant aesthetic for Tori?
Yeah, I was playing with some ideas. That was definitely a theme for this music — that nostalgic Y2K thing. A lot of that music was done by then. When my birthday came up, I wasn’t going to automatically do a Y2K theme, but as it was getting closer, I was like, Shoot, I don’t have a theme. I love themes for birthdays. I think a friend of mine was like, “What if you just did Y2K?” They didn’t even know that I was already kind of in that headspace for my [EP], and I was like, you know what? That’d actually be perfect because I’m literally going into that whole vibe with my music.
I imagine living in Jon Bellion’s basement while working on Tori helped dismantle any barriers to self-expression because you were just rolling out of bed into the studio. What was he able to help you produce sonically that perfectly complemented the visual vibe you were going for?
I think this whole world really started with Jon and I, to be honest, because I came into the studio being a huge fan of Jon already. But I came in hoping he would understand all the things that I love and what I want to bring to the table, which he totally did, and he brought out even more of myself. I would say I came in with a pretty open mind. The only thing that I really wanted was big songs. I literally walked in, I was like, “I’m ready to step back into this pop space,” or pop/R&B. I knew I wanted that feel, and I knew I just wanted big songs that you could sing along to in your car. I wanted to blast my own music in my car, just having the time of my life, not any particular lyrical theme.
But as we started writing, I realized that this theme of confidence kept coming up. And I was like, This feels really good to step into these different versions of myself that have been a part of me for so long, but I haven’t really shown yet. I’ve always kind of been known as this type of girl, but people have never seen sides of me that are very authentic to me and how I grew up. I think that’s where the Y2K vibe came in because women back then just oozed confidence. When I think of Aaliyah, Missy Elliott, and TLC, and all these females in that R&B space, I remember their confidence being what stood out to me — how they carried themselves.
Is this the most authentically yourself you’ve ever felt?
I’ve heard it said a bunch of times, “Your thirties are where you really figure out who you are.” I definitely think that has happened. I’m just better at knowing what I want and saying no, being more sure of myself, I guess. I still haven’t figured everything out, but stepping more into myself has been a theme. Not being scared to explore these different sides. They’ve been there this whole time. I just maybe didn’t have enough confidence to show it. And also, everything I’ve done has led up to this.
I’ve seen so many people comment they’re loving your “new style,” but this is not new to you at all.
Yeah, no, that’s literally what it feels like. I totally get why it would feel new to most people, and people have come up to me and said, “I’ve been waiting for this!” Some people saw it in me, and then other people [think] this is so new. I’m having fun with it. My main thing all along has been, it has to feel authentic, and I never would want to do anything that doesn’t feel like I’m being myself. I always try to check in with myself.
It’s funny. I have a childhood picture of myself in my closet. Every day, I’ll get dressed, and I look at her, and I’m like, “I feel like she’d be proud. She’d be really excited about everything I’m doing because this was her dream.”
What was your adolescent style?
Well, speaking of childhood photos, there’s one I just saw where I did rock the bucket hat, and I rock bucket hats now. I had that one down.
Is there an outfit you’ve rocked this year that you don’t think you would’ve been confident enough to wear before now?
I think all the fits in the “Missin U” music video, especially that red look with the slicked-back hair. I think it’s something that I would’ve looked at and been like, “Oh, that looks cool.” I would’ve liked it, but it wouldn’t have fit the music I was doing. Now, it feels so authentic. It is such a direct connection to the actual music. The style in that video, that’s definitely something I’ve always loved, but it just wouldn’t have made sense to wear those things. I am really into puffer vests lately, too. They’re fun to perform in.
The metallic silver one in the “Missin U” video is awesome.
Why was everything silver in Y2K?
It’s giving Zenon: Girl Of The 21st Century.
Yes! Oh my gosh. “Zetus Lapetus!”
So, you mention those elements from the “Missin U” video. The metallic puffer coat, the monochrome sets — so many monochrome sets — obsessed with it all. What is your favorite characteristic of Y2K clothing and style?
I definitely love the metallics. I feel like purple has been a theme for me, too, with this album. I just remember seeing a lot of purple back in the day. It’s really fun for me to play with masculine/feminine, which is something I think about in Y2K. I think of Aaliyah, who had such a dope tomboy style, but she also could be super girly and feminine. So I think things like that are a fun part of the 2000s that I like to play with. Just that duality.
What Y2K Easter eggs are in the “Cut” video?
It was less obvious. Sonically, that song is already so Y2K. I mean, you got Timbaland on it [and] Rodney Jerkins. We really went all out — super inspired by Craig David as well. With fashion, we injected some of that Y2K style, especially in that club scene at the end.
A hybrid between Aaliyah and throwback Gwen Stefani.
You’re starting your The Take Control Tour. How have you taken back control?
I love that question. My style is one way I’ve taken back control, just kind of doing things that I want to do and wearing things I want to wear because I like ’em and they’re fun. Even if later on, I’m like, “That maybe wasn’t the vibe.” Taking some risks.
And I think my hair is a way that I’ve taken back control — going back to my natural color and rocking my big curls. Musically, taking control of my sound and really honing in on what the sound is that I want to put out? What’s the music that I want to make? I’ve been doing this too long to not be doing what I want, then have regrets later. It’s felt really good.
I think, even just from a literal sense, taking control of a stage. I’ve missed performing so much. That’s what I’m looking forward to doing: being on tour, performing, doing what I love, and really owning that stage, connecting with my fans, and having fun with them. It’s just been so long.
In “Young Gun,” you and Jon sing, “To stay forever young / Is a war that’s never won,” and that song is obviously heavy and so much more meaningful than how I’m about to equate it to self-expression and style. But in relation to Y2K, how do you discern between healthy nostalgia and clinging to the past at the expense of growing?
Whoa. Some of these questions require an hour of me writing notes and sifting through my thoughts. I guess it is a fine line, but what makes it make sense in my mind — aesthetically, and everything I’m doing with Y2K, what’s exciting about it is I’ve noticed those trends were already sort of happening with the younger generation. They’re totally dressing like Y2K, and they were being born [then].
This stuff is fascinating to me, generational stuff, because I remember my mom tripping out that skinny jeans were back in from her generation. She was like, “Oh my gosh! That’s so eighties. Y’all are wearing skinny jeans?” And I was like, “What do you mean?” As a kid, I was like, “That’s not weird.” And so, now, it’s just funny being on the other side of that. I am proud to be in the generation that got to live through all these music trends and fashion trends that are in again. This is exciting because I get to wear what I would’ve worn if I was cool enough as a kid, but also I get to be one of the ones bringing those sounds back and being really inspired by all of those artists from that time. I see it more as an honor. I don’t feel stuck in the past.
It’s like you’ve said earlier: It required growth in your music and in yourself to get to a point where you felt confident enough to revisit that time, so growth is inherent in doing it.
Absolutely. That’s a great way to wrap up my answer.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
“Traveling with my wife, leaning into the culturally diverse group of friends and family that make up my inner circle birthed the foundations for what is now World Music Radio – much of which was recorded in transit, hotel rooms, basements and on smartphones either abroad or near big bodies of water,” Batiste said in a statement.
The track delivers concise, valuable life advice atop an infectiously buoyant soundscape: “So take a deep breath, drink water / You know that these streets just now calm down / So take a deep breath, drink water / You know that these streets just now / Calm down or calm down or calm down / Whenever you feel like you might drown or calm down or calm down / You know that these streets just loud.”
Upon announcing World Music Radio in June, Batiste posted a lengthy Instagram caption explaining its origins and intended purpose:
“World Music Radio is a concept album that takes place in the interstellar regions of the universe. The listener is led through the album by an interstellar traveling griot named Billy Bob Bo Bob, who takes you sonically all around the world at the speed of light.
I created this album with a feeling of liberation in my life and a renewed sense of exploration of my personhood, my craft and of the world around me unlike anything I ever felt before.
This new album will fill your soul, open your heart and stretch your mind while expanding your vision of popular art. We really wanted to re-examine and redefine terms like world music as they exist in the culture…(more on the later)
A range of collaborations in locations all across the globe made this vision a reality.
There was a lot of joy in making this and it definitely translates to the listening experience, and now to you.
Exec produced this with my friends Jon Bellion and Ryan Lynn. More surprises to come so stay tuned. Welcome to World Music Radio.”
Listen to “Drink Water” above.
World Music Radio is out 8/18 via Verve/Interscope. Find more information here.
