Orion, welcome to the show! I can’t fuckin’ lie, yours was a name we had on the list of unlikely guests but I was surprised to hear that you guys were happy to come on the show. You’s haven’t done many interviews together, so I thank you for agreeing to appear tonight.

Brayton: Nah Cara, you’re being way too damn humble. We seen your track record, you’ve had some of the biggest names in the game on this show. Younghood, Isabel, Coke, Andrea, Ryan Ross Hernandez, Weekend. We know you ain’t playin’ and we know for sure this offer doesn’t get passed around too often so we knew we had to say yes.

Jamal: And we know what happened when you had Jay on the show, it weren’t too long before he was your man. So you know I’m kinda hoping lightning could strike twice. I’m only half joking too, you feel me?

I can’t speak for him, but I’m not sure he’d be on board. I haven’t been in Cali all that much over the past few years, but I hear you guys have a reputation for throwing some crazy parties since you’ve been out there. I know a few good friends have been to a few parties that you’ve thrown and have given you all credit for stepping it up in a big way. That used to my territory when I lived out there, glad to see you carrying on the legacy.

Jadyn: I ain’t fuckin’ around with just average, my mindset is if I’mma do something, I’mma do it on a large scale. Brayton took it on when we first came out to California and set the table but I think even he’ll say that me and Jamal have took it up to another level over the last few years. You know how California is, it’s like being in a candy store, you got everything around you to really go all out. The best of the best is out here and that’s the aim every time we throw a party.

Brayton: One hundred percent, they’ve took it on to bigger levels. I knew when we first got here, we’d only survive if we fully embraced the lifestyle out here. It’s different from where we are from, parties back home were always a few beers, some weed and music on the speakers. I sort of took charge of that when we came out here and threw some crazy nights. Now I’ve passed that on to Jadyn and Jamal and they’ve brought it up even higher.

Alright, so I feel like the main thing we need to discuss off the bat is the relationships between yourselves. We’ve all heard rumours and speculation, it doesn’t seem to ever go away but you’ve never really given it any attention. What is the true story, do you guys fall out as often as it seems to be reported or is it all purely just paper talk?

Jamal: We have disagreements, but for real, I don’t think any of it is worth reporting on. Find a group that doesn’t argue, you can guarantee they ain’t successful for very long, you feel me?

Jadyn: It takes longer to finish a track with three ego’s involved instead of just one. When you’re trying to decide shit then it gets complicated with three strong voices giving different opinions. We ain’t ever fallen out or any of that shit where we’re not talking, I think all of that was people tryna make stories bigger than they were.

Brayton: It’s pretty fucked up the way the press reported on Jadyn releasing some solo stuff, we all had the same time off from the group before we were due to go back on tour with Rum and Coke and record the next album. Jamal went back home to Detroit and did a lot of good work in our community, I ain’t planning on releasing any solo stuff just yet but I was working on ideas for solo stuff during that time and spending time with Aubrey. Jadyn wanted to put out some solo stuff and see how that lands, we supported that shit all in our own ways. I dropped by the studio a couple of times and listened to some of it. We figured pretty early that you just gotta let shit be reported the way it’s gonna be reported, we try not to give it attention but it fuels at the end of the day.

I’ve definitely seen that level of media scrutiny and even less pretty much destroy careers before they’ve even started. It’s crazy shit, but you’re right that the best way to deal with it is to shut it out. You guys obviously played a little with it too and I think if you can have your fun with it and use it in someway, it kind of minimises the validity of the whole thing.

Brayton: Facts. We can put it in our music and use it to our advantage. Sometimes other people get brought into it too which is a little fucked up, Rum was brought up in reports and Aubrey’s name has been brought into things. That side of it fucks me up, cause it’s messing with shit beyond the group just for the sake of a reporter guessing shit. They put Rum’s name on blast cause they wrote that shit like she was getting close to Jadyn and driving a wedge between the group. They said she was the one that made him try some solo shit and wanna break the group up. We had decided months ago we gonna have six months off from the group.

Jadyn: *laughs* Her man was on the tour with us, dude’s a bodyguard, he was literally on security for that tour. Rum is fine as fuck but I ain’t getting this pretty face fucked up for just a damn rumour.

So let’s move away from the rumour side of things for now, I’m sure we’ll get back to it later. But the album, after the success of your debut and the E.P, you could have literally put anything out and it would have been an instant success. But you decided to take time away from the group, I’ve heard that it’s been slow progress on the next album but have heard that it’s almost done now?

Jadyn: I don’t feel like it’s almost done yet, I think we’ve probably got another three months recording before we can legit say it’s done. We’ve got a few tracks finished completely, mixing and everything that are nailed for the album. But I’d say we’ve still got half the album to finish. We just ain’t there yet, but we’ve got stuff ready to go now.

Jamal: I think we’ll have the album out before the end of the year though, but we can give you an exclusive that we got the first single ready to drop. It’s called “All Accelerator, No Brakes” and we’ve decided to put it out after this interview. We did this shit for you Cara, we ain’t doing that for just anybody.

Well there we have it, an AfterDark exclusive. Tell us a little about the new song then, what can fans expect?

Jamal: We’re picking up where we left off. We showing our ambitions on this track, it’s a relentless track. I feel like we’re coming out of the gate big on this one and setting the table up for the whole album from day one. There’s references to the rumours and the speculation and shit, but right at the center we basically just making it clear that we’re doing this shit on our terms and we’re gonna take it wherever we want it to go. For real it’s a track that starts this next era and if you thought we killed it first time around, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

That’s some pretty high expectations, I’m sure the fans will be excited for the release. With the album still a while away, can we expect any collaborations on the album?

Jadyn: If something requires a little of that extra sauce then we’ll definitely be open to finding that ingredient. We’re still in the recording process for the album, right now there ain’t nobody else on the record other than the three of us. On our debut album we had Aubrey and Alexis featured on a couple of tracks and Marina sang a couple of bars throughout the album and they worked for that album. For this one, it feels like we ain’t heading in that direction, it feels like we’re gonna create an album that’s just us three. But we ain’t done yet, if the right thing comes along then we definitely ain’t shutting the door on that.

And what about Marina, we all know she added something to that debut album and it became it’s own thing. It doesn’t sound like she’s gonna be around on the latest album then?

Jadyn: We still fuck with Marina, that shit ain’t changed. She’s heard a few of the tracks already in the studio, we still hang. If there’s a track that she can add her vibe to, then she’ll be the first person we ask for that. She delivered fire vocals on a bunch of choruses for us on our debut, but we ain’t pushing for those big choruses on this album right now. But she always around with us when we’re cooking shit up in the studio, she’s somebody who we trust her opinion with our shit, even if it’s career stuff or personal shit, she’s hung with us since we got into this. She ain’t the type to say what she thinks we wanna hear, she gives us the truth and we value the fuck outta her.

I’m sure her fans will be happy to know that the door isn’t closed on a potential appearance. Let’s talk hypotheticals though, you’re in an industry that is stacked in that Rap, Hip-Hop and RnB culture right now. Are there any names out there that you’d like to work with if the right opportunity came up?

Brayton: We’d work with anybody if it was on the right sort of vibe. But if we’re just looking at names, shit … someone like Kidd (Amaze) is probably the artist I have the most respect for right now. I’d work with Kara in a heartbeat on the right track, we’ve produced a few things for her and I think we work well together. Aubrey, I know she ain’t focussing on recording at this point in her career, but I think when she’s at it, she’s a fucking powerhouse.

Jamal: Too many names to mention, honestly. I vibe with a lot more genre’s that you probably wouldn’t expect. If we keeping it Rap or RnB I’mma say Drew and Thickmouse right now. Drew brings you up a few levels, he’s a perfectionist in what he does, for sure. And Thickmouse, she’s bringing her own style to that shit and I can vibe with that. Outside of our own styles, Slim Money, Layla, Alexis Brooke again. Fuck it, a name like Ryan Ross Hernandez or Joshua Grimmie would stand out as something unique, for sure.

Jadyn: Man, we can just roll off the names of anybody right now. Your man Jay-C, I know he ain’t released anything for a minute but when he steps back in, watch how his shit blows up. Younghood is a dude I’ve always respected, Rum & Coke, we already on the same vibes. Billy is the fuckin’ man. I’d fuck with his ex Andrea, she ain’t afraid to get nasty on a track, for sure. Suzie and Layla are the fucking dominant females right now and if you want to be at the top you have to align yourself with the best and they’re there. I’d work with Tisha Jackson in a second, I think she’d be top of the list for me at this moment. We’ve spoken a couple of times about hooking something up, but just ain’t been able to figure it out. One day, no doubt.

I’m sure most people on that list would be on board with working on something, for sure. I have a good feeling about the industry this year, it usually seems to be the case where we have a quieter year followed by an active year and it’s great news to add the new Orion album to the list for 2024. Thanks for dropping by and good luck with the new single!