SingersRoom.com chops it up with Rojo about her influences, her sound, the city and more. This is just a teaser too. Full interview coming soon…
Toronto native Rochelle Jordan has been making a name for herself, especially with the release of ‘R O J O,’ a project with in-house producer Klash. On the project, Rochelle showcased her raw and unique talent on the 15-track set, which was reminiscent of the 90s sound. Drawing elements from the likes Aaliyah, Kelis, Samantha James, and even Paramore; it was largely Ameriie and her debut album ‘All I Have’ that impacted Rochelle’s sound the most.
“Pretty much all those songs on that album, I dedicated my life to for a really long time,” Rochelle tells Singersroom exclusively. “I’m talking like four years, I was dedicated to listening to her harmonies and melodies and everything that she was doing with Rich Harrison. That’s kind of what I fell in love with.”
Despite spending years perfecting her craft, Rochelle struggled in the beginning stages to breakthrough as an artist, and ended up focusing more on being a songwriter. “It’s kind of hard in Toronto to get your start, especially when you don’t have connections and you don’t know what to do or how to go about taking it seriously,” Rochelle explains. “When I turned 18, I kind of faded back from singing and I was more songwriting. It wasn’t until my early 20s that I met up with Klash.”
“I can definitely say being from Toronto now that Drake kind of broke out in the states, it definitely helped my sound reach further than it would have if he didn’t,” she says.
Though breaking into the U.S. market is no longer the main obstacle for the Toronto native, she still battles a health condition on a daily basis. Much like singer T-Boz, of the Grammy-winning girl group, TLC, Rochelle Jordan also has sickle cell anemia. Rochelle even reached out to T-Boz via Facebook and asked for advice on how to deal with the blood disorder while being a singer.
“I found her Facebook and I was like, ‘Oh my God, T-Boz, I heard that you have sickle cell anemia. How do you deal with that being in the industry?’” Rochelle reflects. “She actually hit me back up. She was like, ‘Oh my God. That’s so dope. Okay, well when you’re in the industry, you got to make sure you’re taking care of your health and all that kind of stuff. Balancing your sleep and your food and whatnot.’
“It’s really dope. That’s one thing that not a lot of people know about me. And that’s one thing I’ve fought with my entire life. I fought all the way to where I am in my life right now. It’s been good. It’s been okay.”
Stay tuned to Singersroom.com for our full exclusive interview with Rochelle Jordan.
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