Check This Out: Jordan Rakei – ‘Wallflower’
Jordan Rakei is an artist to watch.
I first heard of Jordan Rakei when I visited Barcelona in April.
I stopped by a coffee shop after a long day of being a tourist and soon after I arrived a song came on in the café that I immediately vibed with. With my limited “Struggle Spanish” I inquired what song was playing and was told it was an artist named Jordan Rakei, and the song was ‘Taowo’.
I wrote down his name and the title of the song on a slip of receipt paper, and put it in my back pocket. I completely forgot about it until I came back to the states. I replayed ‘Tawo’ which led to a deep dive into Jordan Rakei’s discography and back story.
Jordan was raised in Brisbane, Australia
However, he was born in New Zealand and identifies as an New Zealander (which is a much better accent imo). His parents exposed him to American soul music and classic rock at a young age which greatly influenced his current style. He released his first EP “Franklin’s Room” at age 18 in 2013 via Bandcamp. And like Stevie Wonder, Prince, Cody Chestnutt, Bon Iver and Kevin Parker have been known to do, Jordan became a “bedroom producer”. Meaning he composed majority of the songs in isolation in his own home.
After gaining momentum with ‘Franklin’s Room’
Jordan moved to London and has been based there ever since. This year he released the full-length album ‘Wildflower’ and had his first U.S tour. If you ever get a chance to see Jordan Rakei live, DO IT! But at the very least, buy his new album ‘Wildflower’. Its jazzy, gorgeous,sonically layered and even cinematic at times. Jordan Rakei’s new album also adds to the legacy of classic underground albums that music label Ninja Tune has produced.