Kent Jones is More than Just the DJ Khaled Protégé Behind “Don't Mind”

In an era where David Bowie is dead, Donald Trump is alive, and people say “LOL” out loud to each other instead of actually laughing, the world can feel like a shaky and uncertain place. However, there are a few consistencies we can cling onto. The earth will (hopefully) keep rotating around the sun, the clocks will move between the same 12 numbers, and the four seasons will continue to swap places. And, every time summer rolls along, it will bring with it the same things: sweat, sun, the pungent aroma of weed smoke, and a handful of irresistibly catchy summer bangers, which we will all simultaneously play on repeat, like robots, until the leaves begin to turn brown and shrivel, and Autumn rears its chilly head to kickstart the cycle once more.

This summer, one such track has permeated the airwaves straight from Tallahassee, Florida. The track comes from Kent Jones, who is signed to DJ Khaled’s label We the Best and is best described as his 23-year-old protégé. Even if his name rings absolutely no bells whatsoever, you will have definitely heard “Don’t Mind”, which was released as an official single in April, and has spent the past few months floating around the top ten on both sides of the Atlantic. The pure magic of the track has even inspired its own fan-made dance routine, and, most importantly, has lead Jones to become the opening act on Beyonce’s Formation tour. Yes, Beyonce. As in, the holy entity that is Beyonce. The one so perfect she must be cloned.

Like Jidenna’s “Classic Man” and D.R.A.M’s “Cha Cha” before it, “Don’t Mind” oozes that bouncy Miami sound. The lyrics are a lesson in courtship sung in English, Japanese and Spanish, and as borders are closing and the building of giant walls imminent, it’s refreshing to hear a song that embraces such a wide variety of languages, even if they don’t progress any further than “She said, "Hola. ¿Cómo estás?" She said, "Konnichiwa.” I mean… Google Translate was invented for a reason, right?

With previous ambitions of being a jazz professor, Jones is obsessed with the great Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington and Quincy Jones. Like our boy Khaled, he speaks in the kind of profound riddles and inspirational sound-bites that should be found chiseled onto a piece of wood and hung over a door handle. All of this makes for not just an interesting artist, but an interesting human being. So with that in mind, we sat down with Jones to find out why he's much more than a singular summer jam.

Noisey: “Don’t Mind” was never planned to be released as a single. Why is that?
Kent Jones: The record was never meant to be on my mixtape [Tours] let alone released as a single! There was a sonic issue with the track the day before the release, and at the time we were focusing on the artwork. I just put out the mixtape to get a buzz [because] I wanted people to hear my music. The fans made “Don’t Mind” a single – I had no idea.

But it sounds like such a hit! You had no idea at all?
I made that record and four other records in a couple hours, it all happened so quickly. It’s always like that. I’ve only had one record that I remember making in life where I took a few days on the production of it. The only reason it took longer than most was because I took two beats and I put them into one – I really went in! Other than that no, we move quickly. When we are in the studio we call it the trenches.

The trenches? Is it because back in the day soldiers were in the trenches for days at a time?
I mean, you have to get out of there quick or you’ll get trench foot from overthinking.

Oh right.
I don’t stay on something for too long, even in terms of lyrics the whole track was a freestyle, that’s how I’ve been doing things lately. I can write but its just different ways of working, whatever gets the job done.

The crux of the song is basically one chat up line in numerous languages. Have you been getting any positive feedback from the ladies?
Yeah it’s been crazy. I feel like when you tap into people’s culture, you’re in their back yard and you make a personal line in your song and call it fifty different names it’s not the same anymore. There has been nothing but love from the oldest to the youngest to the little girls my goddaughter’s age – a lot of kids.

And the dance move…
I know the first steps of it but the only reason I haven’t fully taken up the job of learning it is because it’s a very feminine dance.

You play so many instruments; you’re basically a one-man band. What was the first instrument you taught yourself to play?
The drums. Before I was walking, I was banging on everything but then I got over that. My family tried to put me in piano lessons when I was about eight but they were with an old lady and I was not into it at all. I picked the piano up on my own later and just flew at it. I wish I could meet that old lady now – she’d be in shock.

The piano is the bedrock of your sound. Why is it so vital to your music?
Every pianist has great rhythm. You are taught to have great rhythm. When I was learning the keyboard and practicing I went for months without using the sustain pedal because it helped perfect my rhythm. A lot of musicians lose rhythm on the chords so I worked to strengthen and perfect my rhythm, and it worked.

Were you the popular kid at school who could whip out an instrument from their lunchbox at any moment?
By the end of high school, yes I was. High school was where I discovered my talent. I have to give it to my music professor because he had his foot in my ass every day making sure that I was focused.

You also had plans to become a jazz professor at one point, right?
Yeah, the only reason I didn’t pursue music at college was because the program got shut down but then I rediscovered my passion for jazz later on. Looking at my story now, a lot of dots connect from when I was in college and music is what I’m supposed to do.

What did you do after college didn't work out?
I met Cool and Dre. Cool discovered me when I was 18 years old. Dre was in LA. They took me in, I lived, ate, and slept at the studio and Dre came down a year later. We got a vibe in and we started building in life not just music. That’s my family literally, I couldn’t choose any other team to work with.

You’re currently signed to We The Best but you have a different sound to Ace Hood, Mavado, Vado etc., how does that dynamic work?
As far as We The Best, all I can see is me and Khaled. We are just bouncing off each other with such energy. I need his energy around me constantly.

You’re featured on “Don’t Ever Play Yourself” off Khaled’s new album – that’s a big look. Can you share any tips to avoid playing yourself?
It’s called be nice to everybody, don’t ever fold; I don’t care who your opponent is. Never get pushed back, never fall and if you do fall you ride up. Never stay down or surrender.

Has it always been an ambition of yours to have those huge gold and platinum discs on the wall?
You know, I’ve just been playing the game; I barely knew that I was winning it.

What a line. You’ve been spending too much time with Khaled.
I’ve looked up to see the product of staying down and working.

And another one. There's a lot to live up to after releasing a successful single. Does that intimidate you at all going forward?
Not at all, it’s perfect. I’m not one of these guys that get a one-off hit, pop a couple bottles at the club, shoot a video, blow a load of money at the strip club and then back to the bottom again – that’s not who I am. We’ve put in a lot of work and that’s really going to show.

By the sounds of it, you have a lot of love for the people who support you.
The thing is, all of my team saw things in me that I didn’t see. That's when you know you’re around the right people. At the same time there are people who are going to try and suppress you because they are afraid of what you are going to become.

They don’t want you to win.
Exactly.

Don't Mind is out now on Black Butter in the UK and Epic in the US.

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