In Rotation: rjtheweirdo

Dallas native rjtheweirdo started making music early, sitting alongside his dad and learning the architecture of a track before he ever stepped to the mic. You can hear that producer’s brain all over his debut EP, At Least She’s Beautiful. The drums hit exactly where they need to, leaving massive pockets of open air for his vocal arrangements. He recently inked a deal with Ty Dolla $ign’s EZMNY imprint. Ty even slides in for a feature on the project, alongside Jaymin and Nali. That EZMNY co-sign alone is enough to get a click from me. Ty knows vocal production better than almost anyone breathing. But what kept this EP looping in my headphones all week is the pen. Mainstream R&B has spent the last five years drowning in guys bragging about being toxic. Frankly, it gets exhausting. RJ is doing the much harder work of dissecting his own ego, his avoidance, and his sheer terror of getting hurt. On tracks like "The Perfect One" and "Loud Silence," he strips away the usual bravado. He admits his missteps. I will always respect an artist who risks looking foolish over looking cool. In a recent sit-down on the Can We Talk RnB? podcast, RJ talked about wanting to bring real emotion back to the culture. He pulls it off because the basslines knock hard enough to disguise the therapy session. The industry is catching the wave. New York’s Power 105.1 (WWPR) just added him to rotation, a heavy look for a new artist out of Texas. The playlists are stacking up too, with "The Perfect One" climbing Spotify’s RADAR US and Apple’s R&B Now, while "Catchabody" landed on Fresh Finds. His Spotify audience tripled this month alone. He is bringing raw truth back to the forefront. Check it out below.