Rising Stars: Meet Jade Pope of atlanta // los angeles

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jade Pope.

Hi Jade, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
my name is jade pope. i’m 17 years old, i was born in atlanta, ga, and hav e been producing and composing music since 2017.

from a young age, i had a strong ear for southern grit—it shaped my early childhood and later grew into what i understood as masculine empowerment. when i was eleven, i started consistently using FL Studio. i had about 3–5 months with it before we moved out of the south and into california. learning that portable skill was my way of holding onto atlanta’s culture—i wanted it to bleed into every beat i made.

once i landed in cali, starting 6th grade, i made a quiet vow: never let my environment erase my atlanta roots. even through changes, evolution, and the birth of my first concept album, .blankface, i remained a student of southern rap culture.

in 2022, my rapper ego was born. i started studying the greats—not just to admire them, but to learn how to become one. outkast was my north star. speakerboxxx//the love below taught me everything: speakerboxxx gave me tape structure and that raw “pop this in the trunk” feel, while the love below showed me how to build an experience—instrumentally, vocally, emotionally. it felt like learning how to sell your honesty to someone you wanna build something real with.

with my latest tape, ANACONDA, i blended what i’ve studied about atlanta’s hip-hop legacy with the love and people i’ve come to know in california. playboi carti’s IAMMUSIC also hit me deeply around the time i was finishing the project—his sound pushed me into new territory.

but at its core, ANACONDA is a tribute to a childhood friend—the one who stood by me during the only time in my life where i truly got to be a kid outside. growing up mostly in the city, my social life stayed confined to school. i never had neighborhood friends, and that weighed heavy on me. this tape is for him—for the moments we did get to share—and for every part of myself that still craves that kind of real, rooted connection.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
not at all. and i think part of that is just… being young, black, femme, autistic, and growing into myself while also building a voice in music.

moving from atlanta to california was a big shift—not just geographically, but culturally. i went from a place that reflected my roots to somewhere that didn’t quite speak the same language, and i had to learn how to hold onto myself through that.

there were also personal challenges—dealing with identity, dysphoria, mental health, and the pressure to succeed in environments that didn’t always understand or hold space for me. a lot of what i’ve built has come from carving out room where there wasn’t any. at times i felt like my honesty was too heavy for people. but i kept making music anyway.

what’s kept me going is my connection to sound—being able to translate my emotions into art, and knowing that my story might reach someone else who feels just as unseen.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
i’m a producer, composer, rapper, and storyteller.
i work across mediums, but my roots are in music—specifically southern rap and experimental hip-hop. my work blends raw southern grit with digital storytelling, and i specialize in building soundscapes that feel like memory. like something you’ve lived through even if you haven’t.

i’m known for pulling from both my atlanta upbringing and my spiritual queerness—i let both worlds speak through the beats and lyrics. i’m most proud of how personal my sound has become. nothing feels like it’s trying to “fit in.” i take pride in bending genres, playing with masculinity and softness, and letting my music sound like my body feels—fluid, intense, sometimes gritty, sometimes dreamy.

one of the things that sets me apart is how i design my projects as whole universes. it’s not just about a tracklist—it’s about a story. every sound, every sample, every breath has a reason. my mixtape ANACONDA is the best example of that right now—it weaves together homage, grief, love, childhood, rage, softness, and pride in a way that feels like a diary pressed into a subwoofer.

more than anything, i think what makes my work different is how unfiltered it is. i’m not afraid to talk about dysphoria, identity, loss, or spiritual transformation through sound. everything i make is tied to who i’m becoming—no masks, no fake confidence. just real, feminine, evolving power.

Who else deserves credit in your story?
tyler, the creator has been a huge influence on me, especially in how he builds concepts into his work—even as early as bastard. 2022 was the first time i really dove into a wider spectrum of artists. i finally had enough money for spotify premium, so i could curate what i listened to without relying on youtube or random algorithms. it gave me editorial control over what entered my ears—and that changed everything.

thamonster, my close friend and longtime collaborator since 2020, inspired me to expand my vocal and conceptual range. i’ve always seen ben through a director’s lens—his voice feels like a supporting character in a film, intentional and cinematic. but beyond that, we’ve got that brotherly energy where we can just sit down and make something—no ego, no friction, just trust. i literally called this man an hour before my first date in three years, sweating bullets, and while he helped me prep, i was making the loop for BLOKKBVTCH and he laid down the drums. like—that’s the bond.

sobemakes gave me my first real chance to show my truest form on a mixtape. her producer, mastr_g, taught me how to blend tags and interludes in a way that made the whole tape feel alive—like every second moved with intention. it was the first time i felt like my sound had a full body to stretch inside of.

and lastly, i gotta give love to my closest and longest friend—ryland fountain. we met when we were ten, writing song parodies in class, and he’s stuck by me ever since. even after i moved, we stayed connected through bandlab, always adapting. when we recorded CAP back in 2020, we knew we had something. we weren’t just making songs—we were shaping what the soundcloud and underground space could be.

Pricing:

• song feature verse: $250
• hook/chorus: $150
• live show booking (local) : $300 base (15-30m set)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/xxxayne
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/notxxaynee
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/notxxxayne
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/xxxayne
• Other: https://soundcloud.com/blanketbadelaire

Image Credits

Noah Reyes