Rochelle Jordan

Progressive R&B artist Rochelle Jordan threads her flexible voice with equal facility through pulsing slow jams and luminous club tracks. Based out of Los Angeles with roots in London and Toronto, her sound throughout the years has been equally cosmopolitan, drawing from hip-hop soul, Missy Elliott and Timbaland’s collaborations with Aaliyah, and U.K. garage, among other styles ranging from the new jack swing era to the present. Since releasing a handful of solo projects during the first half of the 2010s, she has allied with TOKiMONSTA’s Young Art label for the album Play with the Changes (2021).
Originally from London, Jordan moved with her family during early childhood to Toronto, and in her household was exposed to a wide range of music, including soul, reggae, contemporary gospel, and underground dance music. She caught the attention of long-term collaborator KLSH with covers of ’90s R&B tracks that she uploaded to YouTube. The two soon got to work on building a discography with an annual series of projects released from 2011 through 2014. It consisted of ROJO, Pressure, Origins, and 1021. During this phase, Jordan was referenced by fellow Torontonian Drake on “Club Paradise,” and she co-wrote and sang on Childish Gambino’s “Telegraph Ave.” Additionally, Jordan and KLSH saw their work sampled by Paul Woolford on the Special Request track “Soundboy Killer.” Over the next several years, Jordan issued the occasional single and more frequently was featured as a vocalist on tracks by the likes of Cyril Hahn, Sepalcure, Machinedrum, Jimmy Edgar, and Jacques Greene, as well as Machinedrum and Edgar’s duo JETS alias.
Jordan put behind a restrictive solo label and management deal, signed with the artist-friendly Young Art, and in 2021 returned with her widest-ranging recording, Play with the Changes. The album, produced by KLSH, Machinedrum, and Edgar, was out that April. ~ Andy Kellman