In Conversation with JADYN GHALEN
Presented by Half-Moon Music // Interviewed by Ashford York
Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA
August 13, 2023

Driving through California during the summer with the windows open and your music playing is one of my favourite things to do, when you get to do that for work, even better. I made my way through the Hollywood Hills mid-day on a sunny August afternoon, just off Mullholland Drive there’s a small group of houses located within these hills, close enough to the action but just out of the way enough to maintain it’s seclusion when needed. It’s views look immediately down onto Ventura Boulevard, it’s not a mansion by any stretch of the imagination but it’s a four bedroom home, with a large driveway, bedroom balcony’s and a swimming pool. In any other walk of life this would be considered excessive or high class but in our industry it feels slightly simplistic and humble, certainly two words that I wouldn’t have used to describe rapper and hip-hop artist ‘Jadyn Ghalen’, the man that I’ve made the journey out into the hills of California to speak to for the very first time since he shot to fame in the industry back in 2020 with his group ‘Orion’.

It's been one of the most notable rises within the industry in the past few years, initially with ‘Orion’ with his brother Jamal ‘Circuit’ Ghalen and cousin Brayton ‘Bellows’ Carter where they released a debut album, an E.P and a string of hugely successful singles along the way, quickly moving through the ranks of the music industry from newcomers to one of the most talked about names around within the space of just months. Their rise coming quicker than anybody would have likely predicted added additional weight to any decisions made regarding the future of the group. The plan was always to deliver a debut period, showcase themselves with singles and build towards the debut album, deliver the debut album and potentially a mix-tape or E.P before taking a step back and considering their next step based on how the debut run panned out. This is a plan that was created by ‘Orion’ and their record label ‘Tric-Jam Records’ and one that played out as well as anyone could have imagined. The only stumbling block was the eventual decision to take a break before eventually re-convening for the sophomore album. Rumours swirled around in the press constantly about in-camp tensions and how one member wanted to take the break while others wanted to continue under the ‘Orion’ name at a time when they were hot.

There’s a lot to this story with some of the rumours having a semblance of truth amongst the hyperbole and I’m almost certain that each individual member of ‘Orion’ has a different version of the story. But the facts remain the same for everybody to see, Jadyn is the one member of the group that truly embraced the idea of seeing what was available to him outside of the ‘Orion’ machine and it has paid off immensely so far, with two hit singles and a third recently released, a debut E.P that is extremely imminent and a guest spot as a featured artist on a track with Radio Vine that received a lot of critical acclaim. All of this coming at a time where ‘Orion’ re-convened to their support act status on one of the final legs of the Rum and Coke World Tour and the trio recently getting back into the recording studio to work on their sophomore album as a three-piece group. Rumours are swirling once more that they’re struggling to work cohesively on song ideas and themes for the album, but those rumours only seem to entertain the trio who have playfully taken shots at each other recently.
I met up with Jadyn at his Hollywood Hills home to talk about the upcoming E.P and future plans both solo and as a member of ‘Orion’ as well as various other topics that include the constant rumours, various previous collaborators and potential future ones and a whole number of other things, so without further ado, please enjoying a fascinating insight into a somewhat enigmatic character that has been one of the forerunners of the industry in recent times;

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Jadyn, my man. First thing I gotta say, I’ve just listened to the E.P, why you gotta keep things so tight on that. Four tracks, dude. Come on, you can give us more than that, right?

Jadyn: You know, I said that might be a problem for some people. It’s a taster though, designed to give people an idea of where I can go with my own stuff. I got some serious stuff held back for somethin’ else down the road though, you get me? But for now, I had a lot of conversations about it and took note of what advice I was given on all kinds of stuff. People kept on saying that I should always be looking to hold somethin’ back, you know? And I don’t just take advice from anybody, we’re talkin’ somebody that’s been around this business. They’ve seen themselves on the very top, creativity at their peak and burn themselves out because of it and struggle to get past that idea of ‘what next’? That conversation is somethin’ I kept coming back to cause I was ready to drop some shit that other people would call an album and ride on the back of for three years or more.

You know, that’s super interesting to hear because I think the way you seem to work the business is probably a major contributing factor in finding yourself in the place that you are right now. We look at Brayton and Jamal and they had the same downtime, right? Brayton jumped on a track with Kara before you guys had even started your break but both of them have stepped back rather than forward in terms of being active and some would say that you’ve overtaken both of them.

Jadyn: I ain’t ever said shit about what they chose to do with their time off. We’re always talking, Jamal decided to get away from California and head home to Detroit cause that’s his place, those are his streets and where he feels home. I know he’s worked on some shit, but he wanted to just go back and live his life, I think the shit he’s worked on back home is stuff that he’s brought with him into the studio for the second record. So I don’t think there’s that fire in him to do this shit without us and Brayton stayed in California so I see him regular. He got himself in tight with Aubrey and they’re doing their thing, they been together legit three years now. I joked about how her pussy has put him in early retirement, but that’s the shit everybody is thinking. But for real, I know he writes a lot of stuff and when he does start releasing his own shit, it’s gonna be something special. He’s the one with the talent, I said that from day one. We just came along for the ride cause he ain’t about that life, he’d have written and recorded shit just for himself forever if we don’t push him to get it out there. We’re tight, there’s a lot of talk and some of it’s true, we argue all the time but we’re still tight.

That’s another thing though, the rumours have been constant for a while now and they sort of paint you as the one that’s trying to step beyond the group. It must be exhausting to see it creep up every time you do something on your own.

Jadyn: If they’re talkin’ about you, it’s all good right? … We ain’t the first group this happened to, it’s part of the job. I see it, it don’t affect me in any way though. I’m doing my own thing and in a while we’ll be doing our thing as a group again, no doubt.

One of the biggest stories tried to involve Rum into the equation, I remember that was the hot story in the office for days and of course I’ve seen it before and didn’t pay it any attention. It must be frustrating when other names are brought into it.

Jadyn: They’ve gotta sell stories and sometimes there’s no story to tell. We were supporting Rum and Coke and I had a couple of disagreements with Brayton and Jamal cause we were coming up to the break that we had agreed. Brayton and Jamal wanted to keep going. We said we’d take six months to do whatever we wanted to do and get back to record the second album. We all used to hang with Rum a lot on tour, cause she vibed with us in a real way and we’d always go back to her bus and drink and smoke and hang out. She hooked me up with Dahlhouse management on my solo shit and she took some of the blame for that. But she would have done the same for Brayton and Jamal if they asked for her advice. I was a little closer with Rum than the other guys so she sorta got dragged for that. She was cool with the story, she’s been through crazier shit than that and really don’t give a shit about press. But it was written up like she was on some sorta Yoko Ono type of shit to break us up.

It’s a vicious cycle, but I guarantee that same type of story will come up again with a different group in a few years. It’s cyclical. We’ll move away from that side of things and talk about the solo work, it’s been well received to say the least.

Jadyn: You never know how it’s gonna play out. I believed in what I was putting out there and people have jumped onto it pretty quickly. The E.P is supposed to be a taster, to give people an idea of what to expect when I do put out a solo album. We put out three singles from the E.P to highlight those tracks and see what type of interest there is in my solo stuff. There was always a chance that people would only want to hear me with my brothers in ‘Orion’, but seeing how those solo tracks have done so far gives me more motivation to continue down that road whenever I can.

Like I said at the top of the interview, only four tracks. But it feels like you’ve chosen four of the best rather than loading the E.P with a couple of big tracks and a few others to fill out the E.P. It feels like it’s four potential singles on that collection of tracks.

Jadyn: Yeah, I think if I put any solo stuff out there, if I can’t see that track potentially being a single then I have to really think about whether I want to include it. If it ain’t good enough to be released as a single then it shouldn’t be good enough for the album or E.P. in my opinion. That’s a difference between solo and group work, with ‘Orion’ there was a bunch of songs that I didn’t think were good enough to go on the album, but you have to pick you battles. I fought for some tracks I really believed in, but the compromise was that I would have to also give Brayton and Jamal the chance to pick what tracks they believed in. With the solo stuff, I know that I decide what goes on and what doesn’t.



And working alongside both Tric-Jam Records and Dahlhouse Entertainment, does that have any bearing on the decision making process?

Jadyn: Nah, the label pretty much lets me get on with it. When I started the project, I had a meeting with a bunch of people from the label and a couple of people from Dahlhouse to talk about what my ideas were for the release. You tell them what you need from them, studio time, producers, engineers, mixers, assistants and all that sort of thing and they go out and get you what you need to make the record. I can’t speak for other people on the label, but they’re pretty happy to just let me go and do my thing.

You’ve said you have some stuff held back from the E.P, what are the future plans beyond the E.P in terms of your solo career?

Jadyn: The plan is to get the E.P released and then we go back into ‘Orion’ as the main focus. I don’t know when I’m gonna be putting more solo stuff out after the E.P but I don’t think there’s any reason why I can’t work on ‘Orion’ stuff and solo stuff at the same time. I don’t think it needs to be one or the other. I think after the E.P is released, the next thing will be to work on a solo album. I could work on two albums at the same time with ‘Orion’ and my solo album, but that’s the type of shit that can cause serious fireworks in the studio with the guys, so I haven’t decided yet. It’s more likely that the solo stuff will wait until we have another break from ‘Orion’ again, but I don’t know right now.

You did recently appear on a track with Radio Vine titled “Jury” which was very well received and certainly came out of nowhere as a collaboration that nobody would have expected. Is that something you’re looking to get more involved in?

Jadyn: Man, I’m always looking for some interesting shit like that. Working with different people opens your eyes to all types of ways of working and it’s crazy to see how they do their stuff. Radio Vine came outta nowhere and hit me up, she told me the idea of the track and I took it as a challenge to work with someone so different from what I’m used to. I think they make for the best collaborations. I’m always looking to work with other people that will challenge me. It’s easy to hop on a track with someone with a similar style but when you go into other genres and blend two different styles it’s crazy shit to me. It’s definitely something I’m looking to get more involved with either with ‘Orion’ or on my own.

Just adding to that, are there a list of dream collaborations that you’d like to manifest into the universe?

Jadyn: You never know which ones are gonna work until you’re in a room together. But for sure, there’s a lot of people out there that I’d like to step into a studio with, no doubt about that. But everything has to come together in the right sort of way for it to happen. I’ve reached out to a few people that have agreed to do something down the line, I’mma hook up with Keshia Love on a track that I’m working on right now but that’s gonna be when I get back on my solo shit and I’ve met up with Tisha Jackson a couple of times and we’re working on an idea together but we ain’t sure what that is gonna be right now. These things may turn into nothing but those are two that I’ve spent time with recently.
If we’re just talkin’ names then I’m open to working with anybody if it’s on the right project. I think I could do something pretty special with Alicia Lena, Billy or Rum and Coke. They’d probably be top of the list right now. But there’s Kara, Younghood, Layla, Andrea, Marina. The list is pretty endless. I think I could do something pretty fuckin’ incredible and unique with Ryan Ross Hernandez or maybe even like a collab record some time down the road with Kidd, Lotus or Jay-C that I think could work. But we just talkin’ out loud and making noise right now.

I think the ceiling is pretty high for you right now, I think any of those collaborations would be a huge thing to witness. But lets just go back to ‘Orion’, you’ve said that’s the next move. You recently returned to the stage together on one of the final legs of the Rum and Coke world tour and I believe you have already had a few recording sessions, is this leading to the second album and how have the sessions gone so far?

Jadyn: We’re back in the studio to work on the sophomore album, definitely. We’re about two weeks into recording, we’re working on songs right now. It’s going alright, but we’ve got some disagreements to work out between us. I don’t see us finishing in the studio for a long time though because I think this time around we’re setting the standards even higher. It’ll make the record better for it, but it’ll be a more challenging recording process. I know people want to hear that we got some stuff cooking and coming soon, but there won’t be anything for a while until we’re really deep into the recording sessions.

You spoke about your relationship with Brayton and Jamal which seems to be pretty solid despite disagreements and that sort of thing. Of course you all have your own thing going on outside of the group, Jamal has returned to California to record the album and Brayton remained in California during the break. How is the lifestyle out here in California now that you’ve sort of established this place as home?

Jadyn: It’s perfect, you feel like you’re at the center of everything that you need to be at the center of. Ain’t no quiet evenings in California, I’m sure you already know that. It’s fine living all the way through right now, fine dining, high class parties. Luxury lifestyle in the Hollywood Hills. It’s a million miles from where I came from and the streets that I grew up on, but we put the work in to get out of that. I’m not taking any of this for granted, I know the luxuries that I have right now and I know that if I take my foot of the gas then this could all change. But I’mma be living this lifestyle for a long time to come, you know.

And that seems like a pretty perfect way to end this conversation, the E.P will be dropping next week. You’re riding high right now, my man and I can only see your star continuing to rise over the next few years. Best of luck with everything and I’m sure I’ll catch you again somewhere down the road.