Julian King talks living in China, evolving his career, Philadelphia roots and more (Exclusive)
R&B singer Julian King is serious about his craft and with his 'Can We Go Back' receiving steady attention, it's only right Attack The Culture pulls him away - briefly - from music-making to dish on everything he's experienced in the past few years career-wise.
From talking about the reason behind his stay in China to low-key feeling like Los Angeles and Atlanta are his second homes outside of Philadelphia, the popular crooner doesn't hold back on keeping it 100 on both his professional and personal life.
As we always do at this time, check out some of the conversation highlights and keep scrolling to experience the full Julian King chop up session.
Julian King. My apologies for not knowing this but is that the government name or is that the alias? I love the name Julian King. It rolls off the tongue easy. The ‘King’ part though, did we add on the ‘King’ part?
Julian: We added on the King part. The idea behind King was to just to put my name amongst the greats. It was actually an idea from a team that I worked with years ago that kind of just stuck. My family is pretty well known in the city and I kind of wanted to step outside of my religious affiliation with my family as to who Julian was as an artist. When I think about people with the last name King, I think of Martin Luther King, someone who has pioneered his way through civil rights and really has become an icon towards the Black community so if I can do just a fraction of what he did within music and within my gift, I’m a happy camper.
I’ve always felt like there was a fashion sense with the music and you. You have this heartfelt music that hits hard but when people look at you, there’s always fashion statements - at least in my opinion - being made. When I look at you, Julian, it’s like two dope worlds. We’ve seen that from Lil Uzi Vert in Philadelphia as well, but for you, where does that motivation and inspiration come from?
Julian: I love clothes, man. I used to have really long hair which was way down my back and for me, everyday was like a canvas that I got to paint. Some days I felt like wearing a basketball jersey and some shorts. Some days, I felt like wearing really tight pants and a patent leather rain jacket. Some days I felt like wearing knee-high boots. I love to switch it up because clothes make me feel confident and sometimes I’m in different moods. Sometimes I dress this way, sometimes I dress that way. One thing is for sure and two things for certain, it’s that I’m always going to look good. I love to play with clothing and I think that’s one of the freedoms that people don’t really give themselves the liberty. There’s so many things in this world that make this world beautiful.
I had no idea you lived in China. Was that just you wanting some Chinese food and it wasn’t enough to get it in Chinatown in Philadelphia or was it something family or business-related?
Julian: At the time, I had just broken up with my ex-boyfriend, fired my last team, I let go of my job, my lease was up. It was getting to be one of those life moments. I got presented with the opportunity and I was like, ‘You know what? Shit. Let’s do it.’ And I did it. The first few months was a little crazy but by the time I left [China,] I didn't even want to leave.
Got you. How is a Philly cheesesteak in China? Can they throw down on a Philly cheesesteak or nah?
Julian: Nah. And even if they did, I’m not trying.
How did quarantine and the pandemic change the music-making? I think we all, myself included, went through a lot of different transformations. Without revisiting every detail, just talk about the evolution - were you able to overcome it?
Julian: It’s interesting. No shade. The first few months? I didn’t do shit. Like, there were times, bro, I was just like I do not give a fuck. I’m not doing this. The world is ending and I’m not going to try to push to be this thing and do this thing if it’s not organically. I then taught myself how to record in Pro Tools and that changed the game. I’m not a big person who likes to have a lot of people in my studio sessions at all. I’m OK with my manager or assistant at the time, my engineer at the time and myself. Maybe a writer. I don’t like a lot of people in my space when I’m in this process. So being able to shut my door and be by myself, it allowed me to write from a different place. I just started writing whatever came out and it’s so interesting because at the end of 2020, I ended up signing with the team that I have now and they loved every record.
Need more Juilan King in your life? Check out the full chop up session with the Philadelphia singer as he talks about fashion influences, hometown heroes and plenty more below.
