By: S. Erin Batiste

What do you get when you combine catchy lyrics, cool melodies, raspy falsetto, magnetic personality, quiet confidence, and runway good looks with an even cooler, effortless blend of R&B, neosoul, soft rock, jazz, retro funk, and a bit of hip hop swagger–straight, no chaser? Mr. Ordinary, better known as singer/songwriter Steph Jones. This quirky yet sophisticated music savant shows Buzzine that he’s making sweet, sweet self-classified music and shopping his new project (after recently requesting a release from DTP) his own way.

Steph Jones refuses to be labeled, and his new Untitled project can be described much in the same way. Buzzine got the unique opportunity to sit down and listen in on some new tracks. In the first, “Look What You’ve Done,” Steph is singing in post-breakup mode: “Look what you’ve done / gone and hurt me just for fun / girl you said I was the one / but I’m going down like the evening sun.” Later, he reaches the point where he starts to question why the relationship ended, and second guesses or blames himself, crooning: “Maybe it’s the way I kissed you / maybe I just came too fast / maybe I just didn’t have enough cash / maybe I was too intelligent / maybe you were just too fine.” Steph confessed to Buzzine that he is “not a robot, by any means, and [has] had [his] heart broken,” but also emphasized that even though it’s a sad song, the vibe and the music still feel good, saying, “I don’t want people to be moping around.”

Inspired by the theme song from the 1980s Tootsie Roll Pop commercial, “Delicious” has a definite sexy, funky, retro, go-go feeling going on. Steph exclaimed, “That is my song, that’s my song!” describing the playful beats and flirtatious lyrics as his excitement about the uniqueness of women and his celebration of the power of all women. This experimental set of lyrics (which he pinky swears are not “delicious in a nasty way”) are as charismatic as they are quirky: “I’m not the kinda guy to chase ya / but somehow you keep me on the run / cause every time you open up your mouth / I’m frozen / love like an ice cube on the sun.”

The last track, a remake of “You Are My Sunshine,” is a combination of quiet storm rock and what can only be the “Steph Jones way” or clever branding of neosoul and R&B. Steph recently shot the video for this track with director Kamar Robinson in what he calls the vision of “the beach, black and white, with some splashes of color.” The video, which has been picked up by BET and is set to air in July, has granted him success and validation in his newfound contract of freedom. Steph is enthusiastic but cautious, saying, “I [also] have a record, La La Means Love, which is doing exceptionally well in the UK, so I’m getting ready to go and do some radio appearances and do a million drops, whatever I gotta do. But it seems like, in the past two months, the moves that I’ve been making on my own have been really powerful and people are respecting me because I’m doing it by myself.”

After Buzzine finished eavesdropping on Steph Jones’s new Untitled project, we decided to sit down and chat it up with this Texas native, ex-Ford model, self-confessed “mama’s boy” who raves about his music life after Ludacris, bedazzling, and cornbread casserole (hey, we figured if 50 Cent gets “21 Questions,” so do we!):

S. Erin Batiste: Where did you grow up?

Steph Jones: I was born in Houston, Texas and raised in Missouri City. It’s like what Inglewood is to Los Angeles.

SEB: How long have you lived in the City of Angels?

SJ: Since 2002.

SEB: What is the best thing about LA?

SJ: I love the weather…when you actually have an air conditioner. It was 110 degrees in the Valley the other day–my car was sweating!

SEB: What is the worst thing about LA?

SJ: THE TRAFFIC! Man, you would swear that there was a premiere going on for the final movie because people be driving all day, like, how can there be traffic at 2:00 in the morning?!

SEB: Your background is actually the runway as a Ford model. How did you–or what made you–segue way over into music?

SJ: Music has always been my passion. When I came out to LA, I needed a job. I was going to school and I started doing the modeling thing. I [did] Gap, Old Navy, Tommy Hilfiger, Wilson’s Leather, Express Men, L’Oreal hair, and print. But in the midst of all that, I was telling people I’m a singer, and I know in the back of their minds they were like, “Man, shut up and take these pictures.” People wouldn’t take me seriously. 
I was like, “This modeling stuff is cool, but I don’t get gratification from it,” so I started writing songs. I was my own producer, manager, everything. Somebody introduced me to MySpace and I started with two songs and a white background, and then I got on YouTube and saw that people started following my personality ‘cause I was just being myself, not trying to be the “artist” but the person, Steph Jones, and that’s how my [Feel Good] movement was created.

SEB: How long have you been at it in the music game?

SJ: About six years. But once I really started focusing on my music, I got a deal within seven months.

SEB: Who are your musical influences? What’s on your iPod right now?

SJ: I have everything from Coldplay, Bob Marley, Stevie Wonder, Donnie Hathaway, Fleetwood Mac, Gil Scott Heron, some of the speeches that Martin Luther King had done. Anything that moves me, I put it on the iPod on shuffle because I love the element of surprise.

SEB: You come across musically (and visually) as quite eclectic. How would you describe your style?

SJ: Well, I don’t really like to describe my style. I let [other] people categorize [me], but I’m trying to take it back to old-school, like when Ray Charles could do a country song, then he could do a pop song, then he could do an R&B song–people were like, it’s just music. I don’t believe in blocking creativity, so I just let it out.

SEB: You also write a good portion of original material. What do you use for inspiration? What moves you when you sit down to write?

SJ: Life. I write all of my songs at this Starbucks that we are at right now. I sit in the corner, and one of my favorite things to do is people-watch. I look and I try to guess their lives, where they come from, and how long they’ve been here. Another thing that helps me is I read a lot of books that stretch my imagination, so the more I read, the better I get with my wordplay. I tend to get bored really easily, and the only thing that can keep my attention is melodies.

SEB: I have to talk about it–you recently elected to leave Ludacris and the Disturbing Tha Peace label. Can you talk about your decision a little bit more?

SJ: I have no love loss, but at the end of the day, they make their best decisions in order to further their career, and I am my own entity. I do the same for me. I didn’t feel that DTP as a record label could give me the best possible release, and I felt that I needed to be either independent or go with somebody that would just let me run and not try to contain me at all. Maybe that’s the hard way. Maybe I’m hardheaded, but I’ll never do anything that I can’t put my whole heart into. That has nothing to do with being personal because with any other label, I would’ve requested a release. They’re talented, but being with Disturbing Tha Peace kept me inside this little box, so I just decided to leave. I love all those guys because they had my back. I hope they still do. I would ride for them.

SEB: So now that you’ve taken your career into your own hands and you’re shopping your music on your own, give us an idea of what kind of sound we can expect on the new project.

SJ: I have a lot of mid-tempos, I have a few slow songs, but my album is more upbeat and you feel better than before you listened to it. I’m set to be one of those timepiece artists–like you remember exactly where you were and what you were wearing the first day you heard the song. That’s the type of music that I feel needs to be in the industry today.

SEB: Who have you worked with in the past, and who would you like to collaborate with?

SJ: I co-wrote “Kick Drum” on Chingy’s album [Hate It or Love It 2008] and was featured on “All Aboard.” I’ve written for Jordin Sparks, Jesse McCartney, Blake Lewis…so I do anything from soul to R&B to pop. If you’re listening, your boy Steph Jones would like to work with: Andre 3000, Will.I.Am, Chris Martin from Coldplay, Lupe Fiasco, Kanye West, The Key, Dizzee Rascal, and Duffy. They’re on my hit list.

SEB: What advice do you have for other young artists who are trying to get signed or break into music today? Do you have any regrets or pitfalls that you think could be avoided?

SJ: I don’t believe in people just making it. There is no smooth sailing. Because if [you] make it from smooth sailing and something happens, [you] won’t know what to do with [yourself], so I believe every single artist has to go through some type of BS so that [you] can appreciate when the real stuff happens to [you]. I believe in hard work.

SEB: Aside from modeling or making music, what does Steph Jones love to do in his spare time?

SJ: I people-watch, I pop bubble wrap, I snowboard. One of my favorite things to do is paintball. I hike every morning. I paint, I bedazzle T-shirts—yes, I’m man enough to say [that]!

SEB: So I know all the ladies wanna know–is there a Ms. Ordinary in the picture?

SJ: Of course–I’m married to music, are you kidding me?! And no, I’m not cheating on music. I love her with all my heart. Music has taken me. Oh man, and we be making some sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet melodies, oh ohhhhhh oh ohhhhhh!

SEB: What do you look for in a potential woman?

SJ: Um, actually, I really don’t. Every woman has a certain sexiness about themselves. I look for somebody that’s slightly different, and where I lack, she’s able to help me; and where she lacks, I’m able to help her. It’s almost like a jigsaw puzzle. Women have powers, all of them. Some of them don’t look deep inside of themselves to know that they actually possess those powers, but they do. Have you ever seen a woman giving birth? I couldn’t do it!

SEB: How would you describe your ideal first date?

SJ: It’s so unorthodox, it’s so random. When I say Mr. Ordinary, it has nothing to do with ordinary–it’s anything but ordinary, but that’s my ordinary. So a first date with me might be “Let’s race,” and then, “I’ll see you next time,” or let’s go read a cool book or put on some funny shades and watch TV, or watch a German film and [imitate them]–just some different stuff.

SEB: Tell us one thing no one knows about Steph Jones.

SJ: That’s kind of hard because I let people in on my life. I’m allergic to cats. If you have cats, I ain’t coming to your house!

SEB: You’re known for making up catchy words and quirky phrases, such as “Frands” (Friends + Fans), but I think my favorite has to be “rich broke.” Can you define that lifestyle?

SJ: I’ve always been rich in thought, broke in my pocket. You get it how you live it and you make the best out of every situation that you can.

SEB: As an artist who’s used somewhat of an unorthodox route to your music debut, what are your thoughts on American Idol, Girlicious, and other reality shows that search for new singing talent?

SJ: American Idol is hard. I auditioned for American Idol the year that Fantasia won in New York. I slept outside for two days, went up and killed the Stevie Wonder song, and the lady came up to me and was like, “My gut instinct says to go with you, but I’m just gonna have to pass.” That was probably one of the hardest things that I’ve ever had to endure in my life. They gotta get up in front of thousands of people and sing, and that’s not an easy route.

SEB: Where does Steph Jones see Steph Jones in five years? Where do you want to be?

SJ: Two platinum albums down. Huge name in the industry but using the power of what I’ve obtained in the right way. Some of these artists out here, when they were in their prime and had so much power, [they] didn’t use it to uplift the community that needed uplifting. Me, I love people. If you breathe, I love you. I can’t change the world, but I definitely can do my part.
 

Well now, Buzzine says Steph Jones is not so ordinary after all. For more on this superhuman-esque singer and his melodies to snap to, you can check him out at www.myspace.com/stephjones2.