Detroit and Atlanta are two of the most important cities in R&B history, and Jai’Len Josey, 27, proudly represents both across her stunning debut studio album, Serial Romantic.
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Josey has been a star since her formative years at the iconic Tri-Cities High School, during which she won the 2014 Jimmy Award for best performance by an actress (as Effie White in Dreamgirls) in 11th grade, and nabbed her first television acting credit (Tyler Perry’s Love Thy Neighbor) the same year. By 2017, she made her Broadway debut as Pearl Krabs in the Tony-winning SpongeBob SquarePants musical, which helped get her in touch with fellow big-voiced Broadway alumna, Cynthia Erivo, who helped the ATL native navigate her transition into the music industry.
The Oscar-nominated Wicked star, whom Josey calls a “mentor,” introduced her to Lena Waithe, who offered her a deal with her Hillman Grad label, then an imprint of Def Jam, in 2021. That same year, Josey helped co-write “Pressure,” a slinky R&B jam that remains Ari Lennox’s sole unaccompanied (and longest-charting) Billboard Hot 100 hit (No. 66, 17 weeks). Lennox also tapped Josey to support her Age/Sex/Location Tour in 2023, which gifted the ascendant star some live performance experience outside of the theater. By 2025, Waithe scaled back Hillman Grad, leading Def Jam CEO Tunji Balogun to sign Josey directly to the storied label.
Since the turn of the decade — particularly with EPs like 2020’s lush Illustrations and 2023’s decadent Southern Delicacy — Josey has been meticulously crafting a unique blend of musical theatre-infused R&B that prioritizes both the art and science of vocal performance, as well as her ever-evolving talents as a beatmaker and producer. And now, with Serial Romantic singles like “New Girl” and “Housewife,” she’s injecting her sound with notes of Detroit Ghettotech, bringing faster tempos and dance elements back into her beloved core genre of R&B.
“All I know is crunk music, ghettotech and jazz,” she tells Billboard ahead of her debut album, due April 24. “And of course, gospel. The way that I bring it home is singing on top of that. Whitney [Houston] would blow on some uptempos, and that’s what we’re missing!”
Between a recent signing to famed talent agency WME for global representation (March 26) and an impending debut studio album executive produced by three-time Grammy-winning producer Tricky Stewart, Josey is primed for a star-solidifying moment this spring.
Billboard’s R&B Rookie of the Month for March discusses falling asleep in her first studio session with Stewart, her dream plans for a Serial Romantic tour, and the upcoming Dreamgirls Broadway revival.
How did you end up working with Tricky Stewart? What was that first session like?
Well, the first session… I ate my food, and I went to sleep. [Laughs.] We had already gotten through a full song, and he was listening to tracks I already had. Tricky took six songs that I wrote and produced, six songs of his own, and put them together to figure out what was missing from my music. As he was doing that, I heated up my food, ate it and passed out. I woke up, and they had a blanket over me and everything.
Those sessions were great. I look at him like a father figure. He has shared a lot of great wisdom about not just being an artist, but also a producer. I’m really grateful that my first album was executive produced by Tricky Stewart. That’s a really big blessing.
What made the partnership work?
He allowed me to continue to be an artist. He didn’t even want to touch some of the music I created. He would put his bells and whistles on the songs that I wrote and produced, but he allowed me to maintain the honesty of my own sounds, which I am very grateful for, because in some situations, that creative freedom is not allowed.
What was the first song you knew would be on the project for sure?
I was truly building around “Housewife” and “New Girl,” sounds that I was already producing on my own. I was trying to cultivate my sound. I kind of had it in Southern Delicacy and “She’s Got It” from Illustrations. “Southern Delicacy” is about my grandfather’s passing, but it has the aspects of what I like to produce around. For Serial Romantic, I [gravitated towards] sounds that called me home and defined who I was.
“Housewife” leans into these themes of “traditional” womanhood and femininity that recent pop songs like RAYE’s “Where Is My Husband” have been toying with. There’s a level of choice and opting-in that feels fresh. What were you trying to get across?
When you listen to the song, you can truly understand that I’m reclaiming the word [instead of saying it’s my] current situation. This man [is] treating me so good that I might play a role! I might do it and secure me a free trip to Bali! I equate this to Raye’s song as well: We’re not flat-out saying that this is the representation we’re putting forth.
We’re in a day and age where romance is not at the forefront, and a lot of relationships are faltering. So, in my second verse, when I say, “I’m hanging up the Hennessy, my h—s, and all my six-inch pleasers,” I’m really saying, “If you’re gonna make me hang up all these good things that I got going on for myself, you must be something serious.” It’s reclaiming the word “housewife” and flipping it for our modern era.
How did your musical theatre background inform your approach to producing Serial Romantic?
This is the first album that I’ve made with a super-producer behind me. I took a lot of things from Illustrations, which was the pinnacle of me coming straight from Broadway and truly being in an orchestra pit. Those orchestral elements are embedded in me. Now that I [got] to work alongside somebody, I morphed those elements into the woman I am now. It can be played on the radio and still satisfy my own taste buds. On Broadway, that first note is how you captivate an audience, and they have to be in for the whole two-hour ride. That is the mindset I’m always in when making music; it’s truly all I know when it comes to performance.
How did different eras of R&B inform your vocal and melodic choices?
It’s just embedded in who I am as a Black woman coming up in Atlanta, growing up on Monica and Brandy and those legends we were listening to on the fly. We don’t understand how it’s truly in our DNA. It comes with being a Black woman who went to church and listened to what her mom was listening to while cleaning on Sunday mornings.
How did you land Ghettotech as a key sound for this album?
My mom is from Detroit, Michigan, and the music that she used to clean the house to — and the music that she grew up on — was Ghettotech. My mom was one of the first interns at So So Def Records, and she also worked alongside TLC for [Perrie “Pebbles” Reid’s] management company. She was already knee-deep in the different subgenres that were popping up. I remember listening to instrumentals that she would play, but she would also have jazz playing. Some Nina Simone and Donny Hathaway mixed with hip-hop, too.
When did you start working on Serial Romantic in earnest? Did that timeline overlap with the “Pressure” run?
Nah, I was a young girl in the mindset of Southern Delicacy then. Serial Romantic is [the period] after a terrible relationship and my grandfather’s passing. My frontal lobe is now fully developed. That was not the case when “Pressure” happened. I had more insecurities.
I started making some Serial Romantic songs while I was on tour with Ari; I created the “New Girl” beat around the end of the tour. But I sat on it for a minute. I didn’t write “New Girl” until 2024, and then it dropped early 2025.
What doors did the success of “Pressure” open for you?
Ari Lennox being kind and having me open for her on tour opened up doors as well. I got to perform my own songs every night, and then I also got to see her perform the song we wrote together. I keep that experience very near and dear to my heart. “Pressure” opened a lot of doors for sessions that I was able to be in.
This past Grammy weekend, I was in the studio with James Fauntleroy. I’ve been creating with Noah Ehler, who [worked on Kendrick Lamar’s] GNX album. I’ve been able to pick different executives’ brains and learn from producers, so I can broaden my sound and explore different depths. I really don’t think that would have happened without “Pressure.” I wouldn’t be signed to Def Jam, I don’t think. I was signed as a writer first.
Ari has always said I come in there like the Terminator, get my job done and go home. “Pressure” allowed me to continue my work ethic as a writer. If I know how to be of service to an artist, then I’ll know what that feels like for me.
“Truce” is an instant standout; it’s such a deeply felt vocal. How did that one come together?
I have to give thanks to Jozzy and Tricky. Jozzy wrote the first verse, and I wrote the second. When Tricky first played the demo, it felt like something I hadn’t heard before. Very nostalgic, in a way. I thought it would be fire to add a bridge too, so I wrote one and we got busy on that. I’m glad that I didn’t add too many backgrounds to the beginning of the song, because that sparseness is what attracts people.
Producers are scientists, especially when they’re also vocal arrangers. Tricky had his hands throughout that song to make sure that it sonically felt good. I’m really connected to the songs that I create on my own, so I truly need to dive into the songs that somebody of Tricky’s stature felt I could captivate.
Did your approach to vocal arrangement evolve while making this album?
Usually, the way I begin putting songs together is by mumbling and then creating layers and a primary beat around it. Even if it sounds bare, like “Truce,” it’s still in there somewhere. The difference between this album and my earlier EPs is that I’m still learning how to create beats. I’m always learning how to reuse the tools I already have, and my strongest tool is my voice. That is my first instrument, and it’s also the first that goes into beat production for me. On “Heart & Strings,” the backgrounds are part of the orchestral elements of the intro. Across this album, I was given the freedom to use my backgrounds as production more so than just an extension of the lead vocal.
How and when did you come up with the album title?
Originally, it was called The Heart of Josey, and it was going to be very sentimental and deep and dark. Very Scorpio-like and inspired by Frida Kahlo’s The Two Fridas painting. It was gonna be gory. Maybe that’s for the next album. A lot of these songs were happy and upbeat, so my manager suggested I name the album after a song I [had] already completed, which was “Serial Romantic.”
Are you bringing Serial Romantic on tour?
First off, this is a red show. My hair is red and curly. It’s theatrical. Spotlights. The band is on stage the whole time. I’m on stage the whole time. Very intimate, so I can interact with people and walk through the audience. I don’t think it should be any big venues. And it’s rock, R&B, ghetto tech, indie — something for everybody. Serial Romantic truly is a quirky show. I like polka dots, so people should wear them. People should expect to hear live vocals and be on their feet for a full hour. Lots of whimsy!
What was it like seeing your SpongeBob co-star, Ethan Slater, hit the big screen with Cynthia Erivo in the Wicked films?
It was such a crazy crossover! I cried through the whole thing and went back to see it so many times. I love Ethan. I’m happy that he was in it, and he played the right role. He looked ready for it — like he was in his purpose.
Is a return to Broadway in your future? Dreamgirls is coming back this fall…
I don’t know! If I’m not on stage, I’ll be in the audience. And I’ll be on a stage for my own music regardless.
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