Photo Credit: @Rlyblonde on IG
[Perri Jones](https://www.instagram.com/perrijonesofficial/?hl=en) is a female recording artist who’s doing exactly what she loves. Born in Harlem, New York but moving to Houston at age 6, the singer, songwriter, and model got the best of both worlds. With the ability to play instruments such as the xylophone, drums, and piano, her sound is a magical blend of soul, R&B, and pop fans can’t get enough of.
At age 11, Jones fell into the world of public speaking, going on to receive first place in the national Martin Luther King Oratorical Competition. During this time, she fully embraced her passion and love for music and performance, making the decision to dedicate her entire life to her artistry. 3 years ago after graduating high school, Perri returned to her roots in New York.
Boasting 50K followers on Instagram alone, what you see is what you get: Perri in her most natural state. Now signed to Loyalty Records, the 22-year-old releases her new single titled “Teardrops.” Flaunt Mag caught up with Perri via Instagram Live, who was located in her bedroom in New York.
**How are you holding up in New York?**
Everybody’s been quarantined out, trying to be safe. Hopefully everyone stays inside. Quarantine has really given me some time outside of my music to learn about makeup and beauty.
**You moved back 3 years ago right?**
Yes, I came back to pursue my career. Not that Houston isn't the ideal place, but I wanted to really give myself the diversity and variety. I’d done a lot in Houston already, so I wanted to get on a bigger playing field in regards to R&B singers. Houston’s more for rappers.
**Were you influenced by the H-town music?**
Of course! Bun B, Pimp C, everybody. My new EP will be dropping hopefully in August, I have a song on there called "Slab.” Anybody from Houston knows the slab culture comes from the South. It's slow, loud, and banging. Cadillacs, pimped out with the candy paint. I definitely tried to incorporate that inside of my music.
**Talk about all the instruments you play: xylophone, drums, recorder, piano.**
Honestly, I want to become a stronger musician. I've been playing the piano since I was 10. I've been learning how to play the guitar now for a year. Growing up in school, I took onto music. Anything that had anything to do with music on the extracurricular activity side, I was always involved. I played the drums, the xylophone, the flute. I'm still beginner level at all those, I have so much more to do.
**What’d you learn from your father?**
Everything. \[laughs\] The better question is what I haven't learned. With him being in the industry and knowing the ins and outs, I’m a student. I'm always learning how the business side of things work. More importantly for me, I'm learning how to be more creative. Learning how to really get involved as a writer, not just a singer.
**At age 11, you began public speaking and received 1st place in the national Martin Luther King Oratorical Competition. That’s crazy.**
All the states do this oratorical competition, I won when I was 11 years old. That's how I first started out performing, getting in that mix for being on stage and getting comfortable talking to people and engaging with an audience. That's how I found out I wanted to be an entertainer.
**What did “Free” do for your career?**
Aw man, "Free" is probably why we're sitting here talking. At the time, I’d do covers. I‘d do my own little remixes and original snippets. I know a lot of artists start out doing covers, I wanted to do something different. I wanted to incorporate my writing to give myself a different spin. When people come look at my page, I can actually showcase myself as an artist. "Free" was a post I was doing for my Instagram and social media, literally everybody’s like "you have to make this song!"
Blogs started posting it, the first blog was They Have The Range. It got so much love that I went to the studio the next night and recorded the whole song. I put it out 2 days later, it’d gotten a million views in less than a month. Everything was a domino effect after that. I was already working on the _Ugly_ EP, then added that song. That led me into doing performances and meeting with the label I'm with now.
**Talk about your journey to Loyalty Records, shout out Stephen.**
Shout out Stephen! He reached out to me: “you're really dope, I definitely want to connect you with some people.” We started working like that. Within the next couple of days, we sat down and had a meeting with Charlie Walk. We talked about my future with Loyalty, I liked what I heard. It's been a really dope experience. With this quarantine, we haven't gotten to do everything we had planned so far, but it's going to be dope. I'm super excited.
**Tell us about your new single, "Teardrops"**
I’m so excited! I co-wrote that with my creative director, oranjuicejonesii. It was a vibe, it was so organic. We went into the studio, he started it off. We created a song off of text messages based around hardships that are faced when in a relationship, because we wanted it to be realistic. We always try to write off of real-life experiences. It was somebody he was talking to, I started adding on to it. I'm a female, so I know what it's like to feel that way. We kept bouncing off of each other, it was really dope. We got to work with Jack Laboz, the producer on there. KBeazy jumped on, put the drums on there. It was magical honestly, I'm excited for what it does after all of this nonsense.
**3 things you need in the studio?**
Some tea for sure, my phone so I can write Notes, and I’ll probably bring some sage. Clear the room, set the mood.
**How have you been holding up between COVID and the #BLM movement?**
With the temperature of the world, we know what the problem is. We've always known. It's really exciting to see my people in action. I did a song called "Won't Stand Still” on SoundCloud and Youtube. True artists reflect on the times that they're living in. I had to say something in regards to what was going on, and I did that. I feel really excited for the future, we're all growing and coming together closer as a people.
**How was working with Loaded Lux on “Gravy”?**
That was super dope, he's a dope vibe. Our birthdays on the same day, we literally found that out when we were shooting the "Gravy” video. The day before our birthday, he says "hey, I wonder what I’m doing tomorrow for my birthday." I’m like "tomorrow’s my birthday!" We’re like “oh my gosh, twins.” He's a legend, I respect him on every level. He's a big brother to me. The "Gravy" record was so organic, it wasn't an intense studio session. I went in there and within an hour and a half, the record was done. A week and a half later, we shot the video. It was real organic, I was really blessed for that experience.
**Goals for yourself at this point in your career?**
I want to become a better musician. I want to become a stronger businesswoman, now that I've started my own production company. It's really tough. It's really hard but I'm learning how to become more responsible. I can't speak for all of us but as creatives, we're unorganized and all over the place. It's a challenge, but I'm up for it. Outside of business, I want to make sure that I find peace within. This lifestyle is hard to balance that out, I'm kind of crazy. My overall goals are to become a better businesswoman, to become a stronger musician, and to maintain my mental health.
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