This New Year’s Eve will be golden, thanks to 24kGoldn. The “Mood” rapper will be one of the many performers helping to ring in 2022 during Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party. The event, hosted by Miley Cyrus and Pete Davidson, will also see Saweetie, Jack Harlow, Brandi Carlile, Billie Joe Armstrong, and Kitty Ca$h. The event, airing at 10:30 pm ET on NBC, will make sure the new year starts on the right foot. And for those of you unsure who 24kGoldn is, here’s the scoop:
1. 24kGoldn Is A Rapper & A Singer.
Born Golden Landis Von Jones on November 13, 2000, 24kGoldn grew up in San Francisco, California. “Yeah, that’s my real name,” he told Spin in December 2020. “Being born in 2000, in the Chinese Zodiac, it’s also the Year of the Golden Dragon.”
His parents were both models, so they started putting Golden in modeling and acting as a child. “I did that until I was maybe a sophomore and junior in high school, right around the time I started picking up music,” he told Spin.
“I rap, but I feel like I’m not a rapper. Like, I dress better,” he told Spin. “Nah, I’m just kidding. Of course, the world is gonna see me as a rapper, but I feel like what I’m doing is breaking out of that box and showing the world that ‘Yo, you can be a black pop star, you can be a black alternative artist, you can be a black rapper, you can really do whatever you want.”
2. He Bet On Himself & It Paid Off.
24kGoldn first experienced success with 2019’s “Valentino,” which hit No. 92 on the Billboard Hot 100. Follow-up singles didn’t do any better. In 2020, he decided to do something different with “City of Angels,” a guitar-driven track that showcases his wide range of musical influences.
“[The label] didn’t believe in it, so there was no plan to do any videos, no priority playlisting, nothing like that,” he told Spin. “So I took a couple thousand bucks and just started linking up with influencers and running marketing campaigns and making that shit work.” As 24kGoldn’s fanbase grew, he was getting ready for what would be his breakout track.
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3. He Is Best Known For ‘Mood.’
2020 formally introduced the world to 24kGoldn. His song, “Mood,” featuring iann dior, topped the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time in October. By the time 2020 was over, “Mood” had spent six non-consecutive weeks at No. 1. At the end of 2021, the song had gone Platinum four times, per the RIAA. 24kGoldn’s follow-up to “Mood” — “Coco,” featuring DaBaby – failed to replicate that success, but it still went Gold status.
“When we made the song, we were having a genuinely good time, and the essence of that was captured in the song,” he told Rolling Stone in February 2021. “Whenever anyone else listens to it, they can be in their house alone, but by listening to the song, they feel the same fun we had making it. The contrast between the way the world was feeling and the way the song feels was so big and beautiful that it uplifted people.”
4. 24kGolden Sees Himself As A ‘True Artist.’
24kGoldn has released songs throughout 2021 – “3, 2, 1”, “Love or lust,” “Company” (featuring Future), “Prada” (featuring Lil Tecca), and “More than Friends.” While the songs haven’t charted on the Billboard Hot 100, they continued to help the star develop a following and fanbase. He ended the year with 1.1 million Instagram followers and 5.8 million followers on TikTok.
“When I was in high school, everyone called me a SoundCloud rapper, now I’m a TikTok rapper,” he told Rolling Stone. “I don’t blame the people who say that. It’s easier for people to put you in a box than accept the whole of your being. With time, people will realize I’m here to stay and that I’m a true artist, not a fad.”
5. He Plans On Running The World.
24kGoldn initially wanted to be a hedge fund manager or an entrepreneur, per Rolling Stone. His music career took off at the University of Southern California, studying business on a full-ride scholarship. He wants to run his own label someday and has used his burst of fame to observe how the industry operates.
“I need to know these things so I can be that wealth of resource, that wealth of knowledge that my team has been for me,” 24Goldn told Rolling Stone. “I feel like coming from that artist’s perspective and still having that business mindset. I’m going to be able to do it better than anyone else.”