Key Sentence:
- MARQUEE TIKTOKER NEVER LISTENED TO PUNK UNTIL TWO YEARS AGO.
- NOW HE’S INTRODUCING THE REFERENCE POP GENRE WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM TRAVIS BARKER.
One day after Jxdn’s electrifying debut single “Comatose” was released in March 2020, Travis Barker called. Jxdn, whose real name is Jaden Hosler and forms his nickname in lowercase, is best known for his dance and dubbing videos on TikTok.
He was visiting a live playlist in Florida when Barker called his team. A few months later, Hosler became the first character on Barker’s DTA Records label.
More than a year later, he finally released his first album, Tell Me About Tomorrow, which started with Barker’s voice and said that John would be the next big thing.
“He’s really like my dad,” Hosler told Barker. “He’s my family now.” For Hosler, who decided to make rock music before releasing his first song, there was no better way to work with him. As a result, Barker became a significant contributor to pop punk’s return to mass music, creating new projects from a growing roster of artists, including Machine Gun Kelly, KennyHoopla, and Willow.
Last year, Barker co-wrote and co-wrote Kelly’s Tickets to My Downfall, which peaked at #1 on the Billboard 200. In addition, John appeared in the album-bound film Downfalls High.
Hosler, now 20, was one of the first stars of the TikTok generation to make a successful transition to music. Her second up-and-coming single, “Angels & Demons,” has over 100 million streams on Spotify. Better Off Dead, which was later heard written with Lauv and Blackbear.
“I’ve been inundated by the music my whole life,” says Hosler. His father was a player and a member of their church worship team. Raised in Texas and Tennessee, Hosler also sang in folk and starred in high school plays.