With millions of streams on Spotify and hundreds of thousands of followers on both TikTok and Instagram, Arden Jones is riding a rocket to popularity. His catchy songs teeter between pop and hip-hop and those in attendance at the Neighborhood Theatre on Friday, May 19, knew every word to every song.
It’s not often that you a) hear an artist roll through more than 20 songs in an hour or b) hear the crowd sing along to every one of them. Perhaps that’s why he takes pride in being called a “hook machine” in his website bio, “for the way he can churn out songs on a daily basis, and has developed his own layered sound and style, a lyric-based rap-pop crossover.”
Arden played a variety of well-known songs — “Starstruck,” “Riptide,” “Fucked Up,” “Smile,” “Daisy,” “Not Afraid At All” — including some unreleased music while also taking requests from the crowd. He also found time to perform a song with opening act Sarcastic Sounds, the Toronto-based hip-hop producer who built on his buzz from Battle of the Beat Makers to collaborate with Lil’ Wayne and a deal with Columbia.
Keep an ear out for Jones and Sounds, chances are you’re going to be hearing a lot of them in the future.
Be sure to check out Queen City Nerve’s Soundwave, Charlotte’s most comprehensive live music listing, so you don’t miss out on any shows or concerts coming up. And hell, if you’re looking for something else to do, you can check out our events page as well, which runs the gamut of things to do in Charlotte. You don’t ever have to be bored again. You can check out more of Jeff’s pics and live reviews here.
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