Early life
Jalen N'Gonda was born in Wheaton, Maryland in 1994. [2] At age 11, N'Gonda discovered his love of Motown after listening to "My Girl" by The Temptations from his father's record collection. Eventually, his parents saved up to purchase N'Gonda a Fender Squier. [3] By age 16, N'Gonda was proficient in drums, guitar, piano and singing. [3]
At age 19, N'Gonda watched a documentary about a New York performing arts school and began to plan for his future, before learning about the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. N'Gonda enquired about enrolling, with the school's response indicating they had listened to his music on SoundCloud and personally encouraged him to apply. With funds raised from N'Gonda's family and local church, he secured a place at LIPA and booked a one-way flight to Liverpool to pursue a career in music. [4]
Career
Shortly after graduating from LIPA, N'Gonda continued to produce and self-release his music, performing songs at local shows in Liverpool. Within a couple of years, N'Gonda had received multiple offers from record labels, performed at London's Royal Festival Hall and supported Lauryn Hill and Martha Reeves on tour. [5]
In 2022, N'Gonda signed with Daptone Records to record his debut studio album Come Around and Love Me (2023). [6] The album peaked at #68 on the UK Albums Chart, #4 on the UK Album Downloads Chart, and reached #1 on the UK Independent Album Breakers Chart. [7] The album released to critical acclaim, and received praise from Snoop Dogg, Kehlani, and Olivia Dean. [4] [8] Elton John included the album's title track on his list of favorite 2023 songs, and further labelled N'Gonda as an artist to watch. [9] [10]
In August 2024, N'Gonda performed on the West Holts stage at Glastonbury Festival, and returned in June 2025 on The Park stage with The Guardian calling the performance "stunning". [11]
In February 2024, N'Gonda released the single "Illusions", which peaked at #78 on the UK Singles Sales Chart. [12] [13] In October 2024, N'Gonda released "Anyone in Love", which peaked at #21 on the UK Singles Sales Chart, and #14 on the UK Singles Downloads Chart. [14] [15]
In 2025, Rolling Stone included N'Gonda in their annual Future of Music list, describing him as the "leading soul revivalist of this decade". [16] In April 2025, N'Gonda won Soul Act of the Year at the Jazz FM Awards. [17]
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