THE UNDERRATED: SAINt JHN

COLLECTION ONE

By Mohammad Chaudhry

SAINt JHN may be one of the most well-kept secrets in the R&B industry today. Recently rising to fame with the Imanbek remix to “Roses” and featuring on the Lion King Soundtrack, his popularity has been increasing over the years. The Brooklyn native has two albums under his belt, releasing Collection One in 2018 and Ghetto Lenny’s Love Songs in 2019. As someone who followed his career avidly, it puzzled me why his sound had yet to blow up in the music scene. A deep yet melodic voice over intense, dark production seems like a blueprint to be commercially successful. The style of R&B he delves into is oversaturated and more than often mediocre, but SAINt JHN captures the sound and the tone perfectly, setting the vibe with Collection One.

Collection One was released on March 30, 2018, and was the artist’s debut album. With standout tracks such as “Reflex”, “Roses” and “I Heard You Got Too Litt Last Night”, the album is very consistent in its sound. Switching between rapping and singing effortlessly, the album covers the lifestyle of a partier, while covering the aspects of the regret and the depression that come with the drugs. We have the transition from the opening track, “Lust”, to the following track, “3 Below”, illustrating the change-up in sounds and styles. While “Lust” has a melancholic feeling to it, highlighting the effects peer pressure can have on people at parties, “3 Below” contains a more trap-infused beat, with the groove being a lot more braggadocious. JHN has the incredible ability to flow from an aggressive tone to an almost comforting one. He takes the beats he’s given and simply flows over them, leaving it impossible to decide whether he is more talented as a rapper or a singer.

From “3 Below”, we are introduced to the tracks “Surf Club” and “Roses”, hard-hitting tracks featuring the same style of boastful lines over trap-infused beats. However, while “Surf Club” features the party lifestyle on a surface level, “Roses” infuses a tone of regret in the chorus. JHN warns those who want him to go all-out, saying, “You know how I get too lit when I turn it on, can’t handle my behavior when I turn it on”. In saying this, he states that there is no holding him back once he does decide to unleash his full energy, and that he becomes uncontrollable in terms of his actions. The beat switches from the confident sound in the verses to a slower, sorrowful beat, to amplify the change in tones throughout the track. “Roses” is the start of the transition from the party sound of the album to more personal tracks, highlighting insecurities and fears.

Collection One carries two different stories on the same album. In the first few tracks, we are introduced to the first part of the story in terms of the parties and the drugs. However, that takes a deep and sudden turn with the track “Reflex”. From the very start, the beat gives us an example that this track is different from the previous tracks. There is no happy undertone to this one, rather a tale of regret. The drugs and the women that come along with the lifestyle JHN partakes in on the album lead to feelings of pain and insecurity, along with a determination to climb out of the hole he has fallen in. JHN blames the drugs for the regrets in his life, singing about how it doesn’t allow him to stop things he shouldn’t have said. It is a deep introduction to the other side of the persona JHN carries himself as throughout the album.

While “Reflex” is about the pain the drugs put him through, “God Bless the Internet” is more among the topic of the women in his life. “God Bless the Internet” is JHN’s realization of those who chase for clout and fame when seeing his rise to fame. JHN explains that they try to latch on when he first begins to rise in terms of popularity, with their grip becoming tighter the more he rises to fame. The drugs are a factor in this situation as well, proving JHN’s fear that he would not be able to control himself previously. We see this in the chorus, with JHN saying, “Maybe I should not be drinkin’, before you ask me just how I feel, maybe I should not be drinkin’, ‘fore I speak my mind, that’s not ideal.” He then speaks about his girlfriend along with a side piece, saying, “Yeah I got a girlfriend, yeah I should be faithful, but I think of you like Wi-Fi, and I think of her like cable”. While it is not stated explicitly, JHN may use these similes in a way to explain his level of connection with the different women he sings about. Changing Wi-Fi networks is easy and quick, alluding that the connection between JHN and the side piece is not as strong as it may be with his girlfriend, who he refers to as cable. Connecting to Wi-Fi is not a physical connection, while connecting to cable requires physical materials. Due to the level of connection, JHN may be indirectly sending a message about who he prefers, with the stronger connection with his girlfriend giving the listener a thought that he may be preferential to her than the side piece.

At the same time, Wi-Fi is easier to connect to, and you can disconnect with no consequences attached. When saying the lines about being faithful and the similes, JHN’s tone changes. When speaking on thinking about the side piece as Wi-Fi and the girlfriend as cable, his tone makes it seem as if he prefers the side piece. He leaves this up to interpretation for the listener, with there being multiple options for the meaning behind the line. However, both are necessary for him to function, alluding to JHN’s dependence on both. It is an interesting line, with the interpretation depending on the listener’s thoughts on the track.

Tracks “GOD BLESS THE RATCHETS”, “N***a Sh*t(Swoosh), and “Traci Lords” further add to the party lifestyle theme of the album, while “Brilliant Bitch” and “Some Nights (Extended)” show another transition to the regrets and the insecurities that come along with the parties. The album ends with “I Heard You Got Too Litt Last Night”, a lighter sound to round out the album. It’s a reflection of the topics covered throughout, from the drugs to exes JHN still cared about. The track itself is directed to one of those exes, with JHN checking up on her after the mistakes they made the previous night, from the drugs to the time they spent together. Fittingly, the album ends with the lines, “But fuck it baby, no regrets, and never switch it up.” The album is a cycle, one JHN goes through every time he decides to truly go all out and leave himself to behave in a manner outside of his control.

Collection One was SAINt JHN’s first studio album, and showed his potential as well as his knack to switch tones smoothly. It is a story of misery and ecstasy, a tale of regret yet euphoria. The album represents the repercussions JHN faces with his lifestyle, and the emotional torture that arrives with the drugs. It is fitting that the album starts off with the more aggressive tracks and introduces the slower, softer tracks after, representing the period of regret and sadness JHN receives after the “high” from the drugs wears off. He tries to chase the feeling of ecstasy with the latter tracks of the album, but it wears off once again, leaving JHN unable to stop himself from committing questionable decisions. The final track serves as an afterword to the album, representing how JHN and those he parties with are the day after the events at the party that took place, and a vow to do it all over again another time. It is a twisted lifestyle, with the immense difference between beats at times representing the mood swings taking place throughout the night. It is one of the rare albums that leaves a listener truly satisfied with each track. Nothing is out of place, and each song is special in that it can be anyone’s favorite of the album depending on what mood they are in. Collection One is one of the strongest debut albums in terms of sound, and JHN kept up that same mentality through his next piece of work, Ghetto Lenny’s Love Songs. SAINt JHN is one of the most versatile artists in the industry today, and should receive the credit he rightfully deserves.