Saint JHN has used his talents to take the music industry by storm. JaGurl TV caught up with him at the virtual red carpet at the 2020 BET Awards. His single, “Roses“, which was originally released in 2016, was produced by Fallen and has taken a life of its own on an International level.
“I was touring Russia for two years in a row. So I would sell out all these venues in Russia,” He said regarding the start of his popularity, “I would sell out these venues and go to radio stations in Moscow and I would be like ‘Yo, y’all ain’t playing my record?’ and they would be like ‘We got seven of your records in rotation bro, this has been huge for two years.'”
Producer, Dj Imanbek, later remixed “Roses” in 2019. Saint JHN, who is original from Guyana claims, “It [the remix] made the rest of the world see it.”
The remix of the song is higher pitched and helped the song gain international recognition after it was featured on video-sharing app TikTok and was accompanied by a catchy viral dance. The song received over 4.5 billion plays which pushed it to #1 on the urban radios.
When commenting on this impact he said, “You know what’s interesting? Songs have so many different lives. Before you heard it, somebody was dancing to it in Russia but at a slower pace. Then someone heard it on TikTok and danced to it. Then someone heard the Future remix version and they dance differently to it. It has so many different lives,” He continued, “Its so many different stages of discovery, watching a record I initially wrote five years ago, watching a song have that much life with something I believed in from the start is really cool. Like every form you hear it in, you still hear the song. That’s magical.”
“Roses” has not only taken on the needs for famous TikTokers, but also in serious matters of our community. He took his budget from the single and donated it to bail funds to release arrested protesters from jail in light of the #BlackLivesMatter protests. In addition, he assisted in helping black owned businesses during this crucial time.
“Whatever you saw me do is the first opportunity I got to use the platform I’ve been building to do something good with it. I felt that way years ago but I just didn’t feel like I had the resources or the economic power to do anything.”
After this single has made such an impact, we are excited to see what he will do next. “Every year I plan on doing a thing I’m passionate about releasing music, making clothes, making things that I care about. It’s 2020, you ain’t hear a lot from me. That means I’m patient and you gotta be patient too,” Saint JHN said when teasing about his upcoming projects.
Check out Saint JHN at the virtual 20th annual BET awards on Sunday, Jun 28 at 8:00 PM EDT.
Watch the full interview below.
