A Houston-based musician is bringing his unique blend of grunge, metal and R&B to New York City.
JonoJono remembers his initial start in music at church, but it was riding in the car with his grandmother that initially pushed him to start singing.
“There was this actual gospel song that they always liked to sing when we were in the car and it was ‘Oh Happy Day’ from ‘Sister Act 2.’ My sister and my brother were in the front seat and they were encouraging me and they’re like, ‘Hey, why don’t you try to sing the high note?’ I ended up hitting the high note in the song and they were blown away,” said JonoJono.
He ultimately started singing in the church choir and as he grew, he started to explore piano and guitar. By the time he was in middle school, JonoJono was fully engrossed in rock music, discovering bands like Metallica, Megadeth, Nirvana and Exodus.
“I discovered this whole entire scene of music. Thrash metal and punk and grunge started to be in the forefront of my playlist while R&B and gospel and soul and jazz, those kind of things were also in my playlist,” said JonoJono. “It just became an identity for me, really. As time progressed, you know, I just was putting more and more effort into learning the riffs, learning the licks, learning the solos.”
In college, JonoJono started to toy around with releasing music. He often spent time in his apartment writing riffs and recording them, blending together his favorite genres, and it was his friend Christopher who pushed him to start releasing his music, which ultimately stemmed into a ten-year career.
JonoJono’s latest single, “Clear,” embodies the growth as a musician both musically and mentally. The song looks at what work needs to happen to achieve a peaceful state of mind.
“It basically tells the listener that you can be clear, you can be freer no matter the circumstance that you’re in. Whatever you may be facing, whether it could have been something financially going on in your life or having relational things going on in your life, loss, any of that stuff,” said JonoJono. “How are you doing the work? How are you doing the self-work to be able to pass that energy on to somebody else that could be of help? It’s an encouragement to really stay ten toes down no matter what life throws at you.”
On Sept. 10, JonoJono is dropping his latest album “WE ASKED FOR MORE.” JonoJono told amNewYork that the album has elements of hard rock and punk while touching on several subgenres of rock throughout, with some R&B added as well.
“I didn’t want people to feel like [I was] gonna commit to this one sound,” said JonoJono.
JonoJono said that the tracks on the album have been released since the beginning of 2026. He said that there was an intentionality behind the releases to give his audience a journey, starting with anger and ending with self-awareness and being at peace.
“The album is gonna basically start off with outrage at the external stimulation of what’s going on in this world and the political climate, while it kind of progresses to the introspection aspect of, of what are you doing for yourself, what kind of self-work are you doing if you’re so upset about something that’s going on in your life and putting in the work,” said JonoJono. “Towards the end of the album, it basically goes into, ‘Okay, now you did the work because you were upset, now you’re doing the soft work, but then now this is the result of you doing all that hard work.’ Now you’re at a peaceful state of mind.”
The point, JonoJono said, is to have a human connection while seeking better for yourself.
“The overall point is to kind of give a human connection through this heavy music and basically asking for more out of, not only the government, society, world, but also asking for more within yourself and reaping the benefits of those things as well,” said JonoJono.
JonoJono is particularly excited to release the album because he hopes he can inspire more Black alternative artists to be themselves and release the art that they want to.
“Right now in the ecosystem of music, we’re starting to notice more eyes on Black alternative artists. I’ve been doing this since 2016-2017, and it just wasn’t accepted at that time,” said JonoJono. “I just love to see that we’re seeing a lot of these new and up-and-coming artists doing the sound and they’re opening doors. I just love to see it.”
To celebrate the new album, JonoJono is heading to New York City for the first time to perform. On Sept. 17, he will play at Walnut Bar & Grill in the Bronx (883 E 134th St.) with Kaymars, and on Sept. 20, he will play The Bowery Palace on the Lower East Side (327 Bowery) alongside Markzen and Bvdmind.
“I’m very, very excited, and it’s a blessed feeling, because I have a lot of good support in New York, especially over the years. I’ve seen New York on my radar, and I’ve always wanted to go up there and perform,” said JonoJono. “I’m excited to be able to come up there and really just do my thing.”
You can follow JonoJono on Instagram and Tiktok @jonojono_official. His music is available for streaming on Spotify and Apple Music.
