The Break Presents – Joony

When it comes to the leading lights of music’s next generation, Joony has entered the chat. His pervasive catalog thus far knows no limitations, something that’s exemplified on efforts like Silent Battles (2021), Pretty In Black (2022) and this year’s S**tumss. The Silver Spring, Md. native has seemingly crushed the task of conquering all genres with confidence and conviction. That’s how he’s been able to rack up millions of streams and a Billboard Hot 100 appearance in the last couple of years. Based on how everything is going now, those wins are merely a glimpse into a career that will magnify with time.

Joony’s origin point as an artist traces back to his middle school and high school years. He was always into art, and his taste for music was shaped in the 2010s by acts like Playboi Carti, Joey Bada$$ and Kendrick Lamar, whose sophomore album Good Kid, M.a.a.d City inspired Joony to write rhymes over K. Dot type beats. The first song that Joony ever recorded in 2014 was a flip of Mac Miller’s Faces cut “Diablo.” And his 2015 single, “Funeral,” eventually picked up some steam as well on SoundCloud. In the ensuing years, he continued to hustle on the aforementioned streaming platform, releasing music nearly every week.

Around 2020 and after the fan favorite Joony the Mixtape was put out, the pendulum swung. Joony lost his job, giving him more free time to dedicate to his art. So he started to notice the fan base that he was building locally, grabbing the attention of fellow Maryland native Brent Faiyaz. The two collaborated for “Paper Soldier” in early 2021, a move that preceded the release of Joony’s mercurial breakthrough, Silent Battles. The project and its deluxe were led by songs like “Lifestyle” and “Baby Joon.”

Twenty-twenty-two was even bigger and better. In May of last year, Joony released one of his best projects to date, Pretty In Black, which is filled with melodic cruisers like “Highs Lows” with CashMoneyAp, “Wildin” and “Drifting In Tokyo.” A few months later, he linked up with Brent again for “FYTB,” a track that cracked the Billboard Hot 100, debuting at No. 97. That move marked Joony’s first appearance on the chart, with more to come. As far as this year goes, the rap&b talent released S**tumss, a project dedicated to and filled with contributions from DMV natives and Joony’s 211 collective. Though people haven’t gotten enough of gems like “Jagged Edge,” Joony plans on feeding his fans more with a deluxe version that’s on ice right now.

As the latest guest on The Break: Live, the Pulse Recordings signee breaks down what people can expect moving forward, and discusses the blueprint of his career as it stands right now. Check out the full interview with Joony below.

Follow Joony on SoundCloud and Instagram.

Standouts:

“Jagged Edge”

“Drifting in Tokyo”

“Everything”

“High Lows”

Brent Faiyaz’s “FYTB” featuring Joony

Shitumss

See May 2023 New Music Releases