All About Soul: JayDon Revives Music That Makes Us Feel the Love
“Music is within me - I can’t live without it. It’s my passion, and it’s going to continue to be that way.” JayDon is bringing his love for music and entertainment into the limelight with his latest single, “Boujee Baby” featuring Zeddy Will. JD McCrary, known as JayDon, is a Los Angeles native whose love for music traces back to his early childhood. “My whole family does music- my aunties and uncles and even my dad. So, my love of music started there; it started [at] home,” he said. From listening to the timeless works of Sam Cooke and Stevie Wonder, to learning how to dance from his grandpa, music was infused into JayDon’s life early on. Naturally, this evolved into a desire to create his own music.
This transition from engaging with music to creating it has been shaped by both the influences passed down from JayDon’s family and his own musical discoveries. Growing up, his inspiration came from legends like Sam Cooke, Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder, but as he got older, artists like Kehlani, Beyonce and Bryson Tiller also fueled his creativity.
Michael Jackson’s music was also a launchpad for his love of dancing. “I started learning to dance from my grandpa when I was five. I wanted to be able to do Michael Jackson's dance moves, so that’s how I got into it. Then, I started teaching myself things by watching Chris Brown, Bobby Brown and a bunch of dance stuff on YouTube.” Funnily enough, JayDon shared that he didn’t attend an official dance class until he was 16 – meaning all his choreography up to that point came straight off the dome. This blend of honoring the legacy of past greats while experimenting with new styles helped him carve out a lane uniquely his own.
JayDon is signed to Usher and L.A. Reid’s record label Mega and has been sharpening his skills in the entertainment industry for quite some time. He has appeared in well-known films like the 2019 “The Lion King,” voicing Young Simba and “Little.” The latter, he shared, was one of his favorite projects to work on. “One thing I learned about myself from these projects was my love of entertainment,” JayDon shared. “I always receive compliments from people and they say that I have great energy and great livelihood and I feel like it works well because I’m able to show my skills.”
When it comes to his burgeoning music career, JayDon has already released four hit songs–all by the age of 18. His catalog includes songs like “Ah! Ah!” with 310babii, “Lullaby” feat. Paradise, “I’ll be Good” and his most recent single, “Boujee Baby” featuring Zeddy Will.
He released “Lullaby” in June of 2025 and explained that he wanted to create a song that had R&B vibes, while also representing his hometown. “I wanted to show everyone where I’m from, which is why it has more of a West Coast vibe. I released it on Valentine's Day and it was for the ladies and I wanted people to know like, ‘this is really me.’ It’s been my favorite song since I made it.”
The West Coast backdrop shifted with his latest single, “Boujee Baby.” Filming the music video brought JayDon to New York, alongside Zeddy Will. “Boujee Baby had more of a drill vibe to it. So, I felt like New York was the right call and it was a different scenery. It was fun.”
For JayDon, his inspiration comes not only in how his music sounds but also lyrically and thematically. “I try not to box myself in because it can be easy to get typecast with your songs. So, I write my life. Recently, I’ve been making a lot of turn-up music, so I take some of that and I try to have fun. The music that I have coming up, I have a lot to choose from, but it’s going to be a good mix. I’m not going to stay in one spot, I’m going to blend it all in.”
Of course, every musician has their list of dream collaborations, and for JayDon, that includes Kendrick Lamar, Steve Lacy, Usher and Kehlani. With an EP in the works, he’s looking forward to pursuing those collaborations throughout his career. But more than that, it’s the impact he hopes to have on the music industry that inspires him most. “I want it to be cool to perform and sing to girls again. And not really talk about violence so much, I want it to be cool to talk about love and talk about the beauty of life. And when I hear my name, I want people to know, he does music because he loves music, not because of making money or anything. It’s from the soul.”