The One Who Knocks: An Interview With J Wade & Cloud Boy
Photography by Julien Carr
Jaylin Wade and Jordan Patterson —better known as producer and rapper duo J Wade and Cloud Boy—released a sonically vivid and visually oriented project with their official full-length debut, The One Who Knocks. Both members of the Chicago-based creative collective Creative Mansion, Jordan and Jaylin’s talent has turned them into exciting names in the city’s music scene to those paying attention, so I was eager to sit down with these two self-proclaimed Breaking Bad super-fans (I promise this will make sense later on) when I learned of the opportunity to interview them.
After doing some back and forth messaging on Instagram, we agreed to connect in my Pilsen apartment. Located right off 18th Street, my place is set-up as a makeshift studio with production equipment scattered across the living room. Along with a sound system loud enough to scare any gentrifying neighbors, it served as the perfect environment for them to work on some music and feel comfortable while the interview took place.
Jordan arrived at my place carrying a bright blue messenger bag filled with some of his favorite records to sample. A piano player who learned how to make beats on a cracked version of FL Studio while in high school, Jordan has developed a distinctive production style full of emotional sample cuts and colorful chord transitions that pull the listener’s attention into the beat similar to the way watching a drama-action series on the big screen pulls you out of your seat. Jaylin stopped by about half an hour later. After dealing with an odd Uber drop-off, a second ride, and a bloody hangnail injury, we were able to get the situation under control (shout out to Johnson & Johnson for making good band-aids) and began our interview.
Happy that Wade was able to James Bond his way here after all of that. Now that both of you are here, you guys want to give a little background info about yourselves or the project to those who might be unfamiliar? I know you two have been working on music together for a while now, but how did you both meet and how’d you guys start making music together?
Jordan: He used to be my bully bro! He used to call me Bootyman! [Laughs]
Jaylin: [Laughing] Stop, I did not bully you! That’s a lie.
Jordan: [Laughing] Nah, I know, I’m just playing. We met in computer science class when both of us were going to Lindblom [Math and Science Academy]. We had similar interests and just got along. Jaylin was the president of the fighting game club at the school, and I was into video games too.
Jaylin: Yeah, I actually still compete and go to tournaments and all that. Shit’s real.
Oh shit, word, that’s dope. I unfortunately never really got into video games like that. They always tweaked me out as a kid and still do ‘cause the screen be moving too fast for me sometimes! I do like a lot of video game soundtracks though. Were you guys working on music together from the jump?
Jaylin: Nah, I didn’t really start writing or rapping ‘till after he transferred. I grew up playing saxophone though, went to jazz camp, all that stuff, but didn’t start rapping ‘till later.
Jordan: Yeah, I was making beats while I was at Lindblom but I had already transferred to Mt. Carmel when he hit me up and told me to send him beats ‘cause he had started rapping. I would send him beats and he would record them and then send me back songs. I knew his raps were good, so I just kept sending beats.
That’s raw, I know Jaylin left the state for college after graduating high school and you stayed here in Chicago, were you guys pretty much doing the same thing while you were gone, and did you guys make The One Who Knocks the same way?
Jaylin: I was out in Valparaiso and I hated it man. I was out there studying music performance for saxophone, but I didn’t really like it. There was a point where I wouldn’t even go to most of my classes. Aside from a music business class I took at night, I didn't go to most. I didn’t have any way of recording out there so all I was able to do was write. There really wasn’t much out there. I don’t party like that either, so it just wasn’t a good time. The only thing I enjoyed out there was the cafeteria and the music business class I took, but that place wasn’t for me. I couldn’t record until I came back.
Damn man, sorry to hear that. Glad you realized it wasn’t for you and made back out here before being too deep in your studies to leave. Did you guys start working on the album as soon as you got back or was the creative process for that like how you guys started working on music together when Jordan would just send beats and you would record over them and send songs back?
Jordan: We’ve been working together since 2016 and started working on the project in like 2019.
Jaylin: The project was originally meant to be an EP but we just kept making more and more tracks, so we kept adding them.
Jordan: We made most of the project over at Blake [Parker]’s crib out west.
Oh damn, so was that the Creative Mansion headquarters?
Jaylin: At the time yeah. That’s where we really all started working together as a team.
Jordan: Yeah, like when I was at IIT, every weekend Jaylin would slide to my dorm and our homie Bill, Elkay, would scoop us then we would just head to Blake’s crib like every weekend to cook. We all damn near were there just working on our separate projects.
That’s awesome. With all the different projects going on in the house, were you guys just working on The One Who Knocks and everyone else was just doing their own thing?
Jaylin: No, but our project was always our focus. We literally would make a song, turn on Breaking Bad, have the song on repeat while we watched another episode, and then just repeat that whole process. But the way the house was set up there would be like three whole projects going on at the same time. We would be in the living room.
Jordan: Yup, and Blake would be in their room working on something.
Jaylin: And people would also just be sitting on the couch making beats. So, we all would literally just be in there making all different types of shit.
Jordan: And it was like that last year too. At Blake’s old crib in Pilsen ‘till they moved to a different spot.
Damn that sounds chaotic but dope as hell. One thing that really grabbed my attention was the sense of chaos felt throughout the whole project. The production soundscape was so frantic and vivid. The way you floated through the beats really let the listener experience a certain sense of urgency and frustration you had to go through before you were able to let all the words out. Was working in that environment what inspired The One Who Knocks or was it inspired by something else?
Jaylin: It was mostly inspired by the show Breaking Bad bro.
Jordan: Yeah, like the title The One Who Knocks is a breaking bad reference.
Jaylin: We even named the final track after the series finale, Felina.
I honestly had no clue there were so many layers to the album! That makes me want to watch the show and give the album another listen, just to see what other stuff I can find in there. It’s super dope that you guys were able to consistently stick with the album’s concept, even while there was so much music being made around you guys while working on this project. Was that whole process of everyone working together under the same roof the catalyst to the concept of Creative Mansion? Or had you already established yourselves as a collective?
Jordan: Nah, we were already a thing. CM started in like 2017. We were cool with Blake, but they didn’t join officially till like the end of 2018. And then there were others before that. When it started, it was just me, Wade, and Lava… then hmm who joined after? Probably Jackson.
Jaylin: Yeah, Blake, Jackson.
Jordan: Jackson, Gabe, Blake, Bill, Sid, a lot.
Jaylin: We started acquiring members one by one. Shit was honestly like an anime bro!
Does everyone in Creative Mansion make music or are there members who aren’t musicians?
Jordan: Yeah, there’s a lot of people in the group. Some are mainly videographers. A lot are musicians, but we have people doing all types of things.
Jaylin: That’s also some of the stuff I want to start doing. I want to start directing videos. I want to do that. I want to create storylines, and really DO IT.
So, all this is really a team effort huh, I really dig that! How do you guys come together and agree on what to release? Do you guys ever have moments when one of you really likes the way something sounded but the other doesn’t feel it’s something worth releasing?
Jordan: Nah, not really. Usually when we make some shit, it’ll just be there and it’s organic, we don’t over stress about the result.
Jaylin: When we make something we know it’s going to come out eventually. It’s more of a “should we put that on this, this on that” type of thing when we decide what we’re going to release. Like I said, the other projects we released kind of just came together because we were buying time before we released The One Who Knocks. Once we make the idea to put projects together, then it’s just looking at it as “ok, maybe we should put this song on there, then this and that there, and so on.” Even then, we usually always agree on that.
When we do disagree, it’s more about me wanting to release something and him being like “Nah not yet we gotta mix it one more time or polish it up a little bit.”
Jordan: Yeah, but even then, I understand that on the business side we gotta release something.
Why do you feel that everything you guys make needs to be released?
Jaylin: ‘Cause bro, we make so much music I know we have to do something with it.
Jordan: Yeah, we honestly have albums on albums. Even with other artists, I have albums.
Jaylin: Yup, with other producers I also have albums. Albums with every producer on CM, I also got albums with producers outside of CM. You listen to Griselda? I just started working on a project with Ral Duke. He does a lot of their covers, but he’s a producer too and I just started working on a project with him.
I know I already mentioned how the first time I listened to the album I couldn’t help but feel the sense of chaos going on. Were there any specific life events or people you had in mind when you were writing the album? Does the storyline still feel close to home or was it mostly just Breaking Bad?
Jaylin: Yeah man, that’s what I was going through and feeling at the time.
Jordan: Hahaha He’s trying to get the tea! He on his DJ Vlad shit.
Jaylin: Nah, I mean I was going through a breakup at that time. There was definitely some shaky stuff on there.
Jordan: She’s going to see this and go “grr.”
Jaylin: Aye nah that’s cool. That was like 4 years ago. We’re grown.
Jordan: [Laughs] True we’re grown!
I figured that this acceptance of growth from Jaylin and Jordan would be the best way to end the interview. Since the time of the interview, I’ve been able to catch Jaylin perform and share the stage with other hip-hop notables such as local rap standout A.M Early Morning after the release of their single “Through The Night”, and New York’s Theravada. Jordan and Jaylin’s attention to detail is something that The One Who Knocks reflects very well. From there being a whole strategy behind the release, building anticipation for it through other projects, and framing the project with their intended theme through its entirety, both young artists who started working on music together in high school, have now grown into their artistry and put together a mature and poise body of work anyone who’s a fan of hip-hop is sure to enjoy. After years of hard work and knocking through some of the tallest doors that stand between local success and national distinction, both Cloud Boy and J Wade, along with their Creative Mansion colleagues, have opened up a new lane for themselves in the world of hip-hop. If you haven’t done so yet, make sure to give The One Who Knocks a listen. The third track on the project, “Evidence”, made it on Jordan’s, Jaylin’s, and my personal favorite song list. I’m sure the project will have one for anyone else who decides to give it a listen!