Jor’Dan Armstrong is here to redefine what it means to be a Christian artist, bringing a modern-day approach to gospel music that audiences around the world can’t deny.
The extremely talented singer, songwriter, producer, actor, and husband hails from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, here to make his mark on the music industry in the most positive light — while changing the narrative or stigma of who a “Christian” is.
Describing himself as “God-fearing,” Jor’dan wants his message to be of inspiration, positivity, also fly.
He states, “I’m a fly guy. I love nice things too. I really want people to know you can still know who God is but still be a fly person. I do like the way that the world’s changing now with Christians like me, like us. It’s not the old traditional way anymore, but the music’s still a bit traditional. I always want to make sure I’m being used to change the sound or the perception.”
Most recently, Jor’Dan released his critically-acclaimed new single titled “My God,” even tapping the one and only Lil Yachty for the song’s official music video.
AllHipHop: How was it growing up in Baton Rouge?
Jor’Dan: Living in Baton Rouge for myself was a crazy experience. I lived in all the terrible neighborhoods. I lived in all the hoods in the ghetto. During that time, my mom kept me in church. I was in church a lot so I got the best of both worlds. I got the positive lifestyle, but also lived in the negative areas. I was able to know the lingo of the streets, but have the positivity and the foundation of God. It’s weird I came up like that because now, I use that in my music. Now, I know what the streets are talking about. I know the slang, I know how they feel. I know how it feels to open the fridge and have no food. I went through the struggle, but I also know God. That’s one of the key things about me, something I got from growing up there.
AllHipHop: Biggest influences coming up? I know you like gospel music.
Jor’Dan: Honestly, it wasn’t a lot of gospel people. My foundation has always been that, but I was influenced by a lot of people. Of course Kirk Franklin and stuff like that, but I was influenced a lot by R&B music and hip-hop in the 90s. I’m a 90’s baby, grew up in the 90’s. I grew up listening to Jodeci and Boyz II Men. For hip hop, I’d say No Limit, Cash Money. I was around all of this stuff, especially being from Louisiana. Those are really a lot of my influences, then put a Christian message over it. That’s where my sound comes from.
AllHipHop: You come from the struggle, how does it feel to be able to make a living off music?
Jor’Dan: It feels great because I’m doing something I love. This is something I’d do even if I wasn’t living off it. I’d be trying to hurry up and clock out of my job to go home and work on music. That’s really dope I get to do this for a living, it helps create a lifestyle for me. It’s fortunately my lifestyle, and I’ll never retire. [laughs]
AllHipHop: “My God” out now, how are you feeling?
Jor’Dan: I feel great man, “My God” was a great record. I love the fact that everybody loves the record. I love the message of the record of course, but I always love to see the response. It’s really dope we’re reaching people outside of gospel and Christian music. This record is something that everybody can relate to, whether you’re in it or out. That’s really dope, and I had a lot of fun making it.
AllHipHop: In the intro of the video, you talk about wanting to make a banger for the summer. What was the energy in making the song?
Jor’Dan: I recorded it at my house. I have an extra bedroom, I flipped to a little studio. I wanted the energy to feel high. I wanted it to feel like the sun, bright, palm trees, top down. I wanted that feeling, but I also wanted it to feel inspirational too, to where somebody will hear this record and feel like “Man, I guess I never thought about God. It’s really got me straight.” I wanted that feeling too, also it’s a song about glorifying how dope God is to me. How it takes care of me, how it supports me and my family, how I made it this far. I couldn’t have done it without Him.
AllHipHop: How’d you tap Lil Yachty in the video? What’s your guys’ relationship?
Jor’Dan: One of my partners who I’ve been working with, he works with Yachty a lot. He came up with the idea and thought it’d be really dope to have Yachty be a part of the video. I knew it’d be perfect for Yachty because Yachty’s a character, he’s gonna do something crazy. We came up with the idea of having him basically act as my car salesman, sell me a car. We just said “Action,” and Yachty did his thing man. It’s so many good takes we didn’t use, he was actually hilarious. It was really dope working with Yachty. It’s cool to have artists like myself have the opportunity to work with artists like him because we’re on 2 different sides, but we both have the same foundation too. Sometimes I noticed too, you’d be surprised: just because people are doing certain things, doesn’t mean that they’re going to know who God is. I want to change that too.
AllHipHop: Best memory from the video shoot?
Jor’Dan: Working with Yachty, just having him a part was a big deal. Just the fact that he took the time out to come to be a part of what we had going on. The conversation we had afterwards about him talking about his foundation in God too, we had a connection.
AllHipHop: Can you talk about your latest single “Can’t”?
Jor’Dan: Yeah! New record “Can’t” man, I’m super excited. It’s a record that everybody’s gonna feel, definitely a joint that talks about how I can’t live without God. It’s impossible. A lot of my records are straight and to the point. It’s really not many metaphors, but it’s a record that you could definitely ride to as well. This time when you’re riding, you got the top down and you’re riding at night. I used to love night rides, so this one is a record for that.
AllHipHop: How would you describe your fashion sense?
Jor’Dan: I can go trendy. I’m not a big, big label plaster across the clothing type person. I really like the centerpieces, I’m really big on that. But I definitely love the big brands: Prada, Gucci, Louis. I’m wearing Prada today. I’m a big fan of the stuff Yeezy does, Kanye does. I love Virgil’s stuff as well, I’m really big into that. I also have my own line, my wife has a line. We live and breathe fashion, that’s what we do.
AllHipHop: 3 things you need in the studio?
Jor’Dan: My wife, plenty of water, and a microphone.
AllHipHop: What can we expect from your forthcoming album?
Jor’Dan: Some incredible music, this is one of the best times of my career. I’m really there. Mentally, I’ve learned so much about the industry. Making music since 2009, it’s been over 10 years. It’s no greater time than now because of all that I’ve learned throughout this time: being
self-sufficient, recording my own music, writing my own stuff. It’s really dope I was able to hook up with a great team last year, we’re really gonna go crazy. I’m so excited about this year man, it’s fire.
AllHipHop: Goals for yourself as an artist at this point of your career?
Jor’Dan: One of my goals is to change the perception of who a Christian is, also what Christian music sounds like. I’d love to be the voice of that. I‘d love to be the face, the image of the change. I want to lead that. That’s my legacy, something I’d like to leave here. Jor’Dan Armstrong coined this genre, coined this sound. That’s my ultimate goal, again to bring people to God.
AllHipHop: I think of someone like Lecrae, is that someone that you follow?
Jor’Dan: Absolutely, Lecrae does a great job of that. He even did what he did: he coined a sound. He coined a lane, and I’d love to do the same. I think we’re on the right track to do that.
AllHipHop: Anything else you want to let us know?
Jor’Dan: Everybody follow me on everywhere. New music is out all the time. By the time somebody hears this, there might be something else new out. Stay tuned. Follow me on Instagram if you’re trying to reach me really quick, that’s @wheresJor_dan.
