Catching Jahson Paynter Before the Room Gets Bigger
Following an intimate show in New York, I caught up with Jahson Paynter about his influences, the inspiration behind his upcoming project and where his sound is headed next.
I first discovered Jahson Paynter by accident.
Towards the end of last year, I was working with a Dijon radio station (or something adjacent) playing in the background as “genny please!” came on. At first, I didn’t think much of it. I liked the song, but not enough to stop what I was doing and see who it was by.
Then I heard him say, “Genevieve,” and my ears immediately perked up. There’s a weird feeling that comes with hearing someone say your name when you’re alone in a room, especially when your name is Genevieve and you almost never hear it unexpectedly. So I finally looked at what was playing.
That was my introduction to Jahson Paynter. Less than a year later, I was standing inside Nightclub 101 in the East Village watching him perform that same song.
Seeing Jahson live made it clear pretty quickly that I had caught an artist in a room that already felt smaller than his potential.
He has an ease onstage that makes it hard to believe he’s still at a point in his career where you can see him in a setting this intimate. He’s comfortable without feeling overly rehearsed, and confident without losing the closeness that makes a show in a room like Nightclub 101 special.
Highlights from the set included “maple brown” and, of course, “genny please!,” but the night also offered a glimpse at what Jahson is doing next. His new EP arrives this week, and he performed both of its already-released singles: “no self respect!,” which came out the week before, and “boys don’t cry!” which dropped the day of the show.
Hearing “genny please!” live was an obvious full-circle moment for me, but the set also gave me a better sense of Jahson beyond the song that first pulled me in.
After the show, I got the chance to talk with Jahson about his influences, which I was especially curious about given how I first discovered his music.
Considering I first found Paynter somewhere in the orbit of Dijon, I told him that I had always connected his music to artists like Dijon and Frank Ocean. When I asked who he considers some of his biggest influences, he mentioned Frank Ocean as well, alongside Donny Hathaway and fellow Toronto artist PARTYNEXTDOOR.
There are traces of the alternative R&B world that first led me to Jahson and his music, but hearing the other artists he actually pulls from gave me a better idea of what sits underneath his sound.
Those influences became even more interesting when we started talking about the upcoming EP. Jahson told me he pulled heavily from Motown while making the project and has been trying to find a way to blend that influence with the alternative sound he’s already been building.
“I love Motown shit,” he told me. “That’s just what I resonate the most with.”
With “no self respect!” and “boys don’t cry!” out now and the rest of the EP arriving later this week, we won’t have to wait long to hear where that combination takes him.
Jahson described the project as part of “the journey” and a “stepping stone for what’s next.” After seeing him perform, that felt like a fitting way to describe where he is right now, too.
After the set, Jahson stuck around to talk with fans, take photos and spend time with the people who had come to see him. There was something special about getting to see him at this point in his career, where the person you just watched perform is still standing in the same room a few minutes later talking to everyone who wants to meet him.
It brought the night full circle for me, too. Less than a year after randomly hearing my name in a song while sitting alone working, I was standing across from the person who made it, asking him about the music he wants to make next.
There will surely be bigger rooms for Jahson to play in the future. For now, though, I’m glad I got to be in this one.
Jahson Paynter live at Nightclub 101 10.14.2026 New York, NY
