Part-Time Rapper, Full-Time Lover: Jon Boyd
Meet Jon Boyd aka the twenty-something USF graduate and Tampa native who is temporarily living in China. He creates refreshing, limitless art, because according to him, “music is in his DNA.”
I became an avid Jon Boyd listener, after listening to his atmospheric, sexy song "PRETTY BROWN EYES", this past summer. I remember the moment vividly. I had just wrapped up an edit for one of my visuals; it was probably around midnight, I was listening to random playlists on Soundcloud. Suddenly, "PRETTY BROWN EYES" started playing and I wanted more. Jon Boyd and the NarcoFamily had the right catalog that fulfilled my need for larger-than-life, brilliant, clever music.
Their music ranges from introspective, old Kanye-like vibes to whimsical interludes, to AUX-friendly tracks, to many Toni Braxton references describing sexy, talented women, to witty narratives of Instagram honeys ‘pretending to be the wifey type.’ (Subtle disclaimer: Jon has never been involved with an IG honey—its just music, people, ha!).
Getting candid with Jon Boyd
His influences, thoughts on love, and getting noticed by Lil Wayne’s producer
I asked Jon how he would describe his music.
“Two words, “Dave Chappelle.” Jon told me.
Photo of comedian, Dave Chapelle
“I remember watching Dave Chappelle when I was growing up and thinking everything he did was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. Then when I grew up, everything was funny, but equally important to our culture. It was the “sugary medicine” theory. He was talking about discrimination, civil rights, love, and drug abuse. And he was on the biggest stage in America, but he’d say in it in way that you’d forget you were basically in a lecture class. That’s my goal in my music. To make you laugh, cry, reflect, and relate all in less than 4 minutes or in a 12-track project.”
Creating and listening to music has made Jon more vulnerable, patient and self-aware. According to him, personal music preference all depends on his mood.
“When I am sad, I listen to John Mayer. When I am happy, I listen to Future. When my girl and I argue, I listen to Bryson Tiller—and when I’m drinking I listen to Travis Scott. At work I listen to jazz to focus, but when I miss my family I listen to old reggae,” Jon revealed.
Jon, your tagline is ‘part time rapper, full time lover.’ I couldn’t help but feel that on a deeper level, when I read that.
“I wanted something short, sweet, and funny. That tagline was important for me because if you look at traditional “local” rappers' social media, it looks the same. It’s a terrible name of their rap group, some fake ass booking information, an unprofessional email address, a line about getting beats and features, and a wack ass tagline. Don’t be in people's DM’s giving out your link, I promise they won’t listen.”
What does love mean to you?
“My definition of love has changed throughout the years. I originally thought that love was finite. I thought that everybody only gets a certain amount of love, then you distributed it evenly. And you need to be careful, because you can run out of love, and if you run out you will eventually feel lonely and insecure. After falling in and out of love, I am learning that love is infinite. You can give out as much love as you want and your love will grow. My point is that love cultivates and love is everything. Love is the reason you and I are here. Love also hurts, it is painful, it is dreadful, and it will consume you if used incorrectly. At this point in my life, love sucks. But that’s okay, because love is great.”
Above are photos of Jon Boyd, with Chance the Rapper & Mac Miller.
When did you start creating music? I say ‘creating music’, and not just rapping, because what you do is an art. It is a process and a craft.
“When I first started rapping, I was rapping with my two best friends Jordan Patrick and Aaron Sullivan in high school. We called ourselves Chocolate Family. Sounds corny, but we were dope. We use to rap for girls at the lockers, and have crowds after school gather to hear us freestyle on the lunch tables. We had a lot of love in high school, we made a song called “Free Throw”, and they played it at the student/teacher basketball game and the people loved it."
After getting over a thousand downloads on DatPiff, and dropping a mixtape, a producer for Lil Wayne and Curren$y reached out to Jon's friend, Jordan, wanting to sign them and give them a deal.
“We were famous as fuck in high school,” Jon reminisced.
“We were just rapping, because we were actually good and everybody in high school rapped about shit they didn’t have. On our project, The People we rapped about adolescent issues, teenage heartbreak, and house parties. Our peers really respected that the music was relatable and was higher quality than any other local counterpart. It was art. When an artist can really connect with himself or herself, then they can connect with the masses, and it shows in the music.”
Jon creates music with the NacroFamily, a 3-man group, affiliated with the Bluuzone group, made up of Patrick Hughes, Jordan “JXPVTTY” Patrick and himself. NarcoFamily is made from a combination of two groups. In 2012 they all started working together; writing raps, developing ideas, and brainstorming the future. In 2014 they named the subsidiary group; NarcoFamily.
The second group that NacroFamily is combined with is Narcogary. Nacrogary was a creative outlet for Patrick Hughes, Tyree “Frankie Benjamin” Anderson, and Gerard Anthony. They mostly started off with art and design.
"Frankie Benjamin is the photographer. He is the best photographer in Florida. His work has been featured in Yahoo, BuzzFeed, and a couple other magazines. Patrick Hughes and Gerard are the graphic designers. Patrick has designed all of our logos, flyers, album covers, etc. He’s a mastermind. Gerard is also talented and a great actor," Jon informed me.
"NacroFamily is a stamp of quality. If it’s NarcoFamily, you are going to get that quality that you don’t get with other acts. The group is also a think-tank. We have thrown parties “Freaky Frank’s BBQ”, we have worked on podcasts, shows, photo shots, logos, wrote for other artist, and worked on music for ourselves. We aspire to be Kanye West’s DONDA group. I see NarcoFamily as a self-sustaining organization that can create a wide range of content. It’s wack though, because the show NARCOS is so popular, I don’t want people to think that we are affiliated with that. Netflix barley works in China. I haven’t seen one episode of it," Jon states.
Let’s talk: Music
Jon & I discussed the music featured on his "It's Not You, It's Me" and "Before I'm Gone" mixtapes. He interpreted the colorful lyrics, the influences and the overall appeal of his tracks, along with painting a vivid picture of production, behind-the-scenes and ideas for visuals.
Track One: Pretty Brown Eyes ft. John Hughes
This seductive, steamy yet atmospheric track was made in under an hour, according to Jon. It was actually a bonus track, for It's Not You, It's Me, produced by Jordan "JXPVTTY" Patrick.
"If you have a favorite "local" Tampa artist, I promise you, Jordan is their favorite producer. He's the real deal. He's humble—he will act like he isn't the next J Dilla or Dr. Dre, but he will be remembered as a legend, when its all said and done," Jon told me.
It’s Not You, It’s Me was recorded in a day. "Literally sat in the studio from 10am until 3am the next morning and worked. We had all the features come in, we had BBQ from the guy down the street, we watched a new Ninja Turtles movie, and we worked until it was something that we we’re proud of."
When I hear “Pretty Brown Eyes” I imagine someone strolling in a BMW convertible with the top down, slow motion, riding past the beach, with a faded purple sunset.
The end of the first verse gets me every time. Anyone will become an avid J. Boyd listener after hearing the flirty, clever lyrics. “Got the slim waist with Beyonce hips. Megan tits, the real good lips. I’m appetized by them Popeyes thighs. Got a nigga hypnotized when I look in your pretty brown eyes.”
For the next verse, Jon spits a lyric that came from an actual conversation with his ex-girlfriend. "We be so low-key with it, she don't even post on IG with it. I be singin' to my baby, I be so off-key with it." Use your imagination and you’ll picture a couple taking selfies together, laughing and cuddling in the comfort of a beach house.
The beat of "Pretty Brown Eyes" swiftly changes at 2:53 and gives immediate Trap Soul Vibes. Jordan Patrick serenades and spills his intentions to a possible lover, on the last verse. “I know your old nigga was a let down, so let a real nigga put his mack down.”
Track Two: Best Friend Ft. Patrick Hughes & JXPVTTY
""Best Friend" is the first song [NarcoFamily and I] perform at events, even in the most hood locations, and girls love it."
The concept of "Best Friend" was inspired during a studio session, when Jon was scrolling through Twitter, and received a message from his girlfriend, that had a heart-eyed emoji.
"That was all I needed, the first verse came to me," he told me, after explaining the background for the track.
The song starts with “Emoji by your name so you know it’s real, never date a lame so I know you real. I kiss you on the neck, so you know the feel. Good-morning text, so you know the deal.”
This song definitely has Fabolous-mixtape type bars. "Best Friend" may have you lost in your thoughts, but its beat will make you want to bob your head.
Another strong verse is “I’m always busy, but I won’t forget you. I ain’t seen you in a minute, I can’t tell the future, but I can see you in it.” When I hear that lyric, I immediately think of the ideal, standup guy who vows to be faithful on tour and can’t seem to stop thinking about the independent, yet sweet girl that has his back.
Track Three: It's Not You, it's Me ft. Hometown Hero & Aaron Deshaun
"This song is so good, because it reminds me of 'barbershop' talk. I just imagine two dudes, one in the barber chair and the other just waiting for a cut, rapping and telling stories to the group of guys in the shop," Jon told me. " Get Ice Cube on the phone and shoot this video," he jokingly added.
My favorite line in "It's Not You, It's Me" is “Space is all I need, told her I’m just chasing dreams.” It’s a nice, indirect way to cut someone off, while you pursue your ambitions. Timing is everything. I see the trend of people devoting more attention to their craft and not so much to their romantic counterparts.
The song jumps to “Don’t need too many rhyme schemes to TKO a beat.” Well done! Very assertive and confident.
The fast-paced, fiery bars on this track make it an instant AUX-favorite. This track gets even more hype when Hometown Hero tells a narrative about a Instagram honey who tries to finesse him 'pretending to be the wifey type.'
Track Four: Thoughts ft. Patrick Hughes
This track is introspective and honest. It is a modern day, Kanye-like ‘Streetlights’ with a hence of ‘I Wonder.’
“These aren’t just thoughts in my head. Thoughts that I think about right before bed. Plottin’ on how to get my team ahead. Looking for the GPS for the bread.” The acoustic chord strings on the outro feels like closure, and everything fades out with a dramatic exit. It makes you want to reflect and spill out your truths.
When I heard this song time froze and I was truly engulfed in the vibe of it. It’s relatable. There has been countless transition seasons I was in, wanting to pursue my dreams, but at times I felt like my dreams were too big. There are many unreleased projects, poetry, stories and narratives that I hold deep in my heart. Deep in my soul. It’s sort of engraved in my mind. I think about these dreams, day and night.
"If my memory serves me correct – "Thoughts" was the first song I wrote for the project. Maybe subconsciously I wrote it as an ode to Kanye's "Streetlights", but those feelings have been on my mind for a long time. I always wanted to write a song that is raw and honest," Jon says.
An audio clip from an Jay-Z interview wraps up the song. Hov says “I love the women I was with, and I loved things about them, but I’ve never been in love with them. Love is forever and I’ve never felt that ‘forever type of thing’.”
"After [The NacroFamily] sat down and listened to the It's Not You, It's Me project, we thought that Jay Z’s interview would be the best representation of how we felt at the end. It’s weird. The project is almost like double-dutch, you know. We hear songs like “Lap” and “ORDAHOE” which are like bachelor’s anthems, being single in college moments. But then you have “Kwabs” which is the best illustration of being in young love."
Track Five: Kwabs ft. Jordan "JXPVTTY" PATRICK
The one interlude I fell in love with had more of a warm, gentle approach. It’s on the Before I’m Gone project. The song is called "Kwabs." My favorite part is “Looking at the center, plotting at my next move. But I can’t help but think of you, the best muse.”
"I like the track because it honest and high quality. The beauty about the song is that it's short. So, you can’t listen to it, just once! Everybody gets the same feeling when they listen to it, which is hard to do with music,” Jon tells me.
"A Youngin' Dreamin"
Jon talks about being away from home & TRAVELING
For the past year, Jon has been away from family and close friends, due to his transition in China.
“My transition has been hard, but this is a chapter in my story. I am granted a year of self-reflection, healing, and growth. I have always wanted to see the world, [in the past] I felt stuck, I felt uninspired and lost. I had a great opportunity and it was a once in a lifetime chance.”
I often refer to myself as a youngin’ dreaming. Do you think you fit into that phrase, Jon?
“I use too. I think now I am in limbo. I am in this weird place where I have a college degree, all these professional opportunities, but something is missing and my insecurities are getting the best of me. At the moment I am a youngin’ trying figure out the blueprint to get to the dreams.”
Do you have any words of inspiration and guidance to young, independent artists and creators?
"Have people around you that are more talented then you and that can play their position. This shit is hard and not everybody can be Michael Jordan, sometimes you got to be the water boy. Which is dope, because everybody on the team will get a ring."
You’re from Tampa. What do you love about it?
"Tampa is amazing. I love Tampa, because culturally and creatively it is still untapped. There are so many talented people in the city it is mind-boggling. I can’t wait until we get the respect that we deserve. It only takes one; it takes one person getting on from the city and the floodgates will open. Watch. We are close. Also, it is always 85 degrees outside—perfect basketball weather."
What are your intentions for your life, before returning back to Tampa?
"I am going to travel more. I plan on going to the Great Wall in March, and exploring the rest of China. I am also planning a trip to Europe and the Northern tip of Africa before I come home. I am coming back October of 2017, so that is when [the NarcoFamily] will pick up on where things left off and I can be hands on with the music again. When I get back I will have another project finished, which I am currently writing. As far as life is concerned I have some sort of plan, I want to use my time wisely, you know. Figure out my goals, fine tune them and go after them."
