Ralph Jordon Croucher (born November 14, 1978), better known by his

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

JRDN, is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

R&B recording artist.

Early life

Ralph Jordon Croucher was born in Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

and moved to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

at nine months old, where he was raised until the age of 10, when his family returned to Nova Scotia. While he was in Toronto, he lived in

Jane and Finch Jane and Finch is a neighbourhood located in the northwest end of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in the district of North York. Centred at the intersection of Jane Street and Finch Avenue West, the area is roughly bounded by Highway 400 to the wes ...

, in the same building as King Lou of the Dream Warriors. The jazz rap pioneer introduced Croucher to hip hop culture at this time. Croucher attended

St. Francis Xavier University St. Francis Xavier University is a public undergraduate liberal arts university located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a member of the Maple League, a group of primarily undergraduate universities in Eastern Canada. History St. Franc ...

where he played on the basketball team. After graduation, he played professionally for one year in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Career

Jordon gained music experience by competing in ''

Canadian Idol ''Canadian Idol'' is a Canadian reality television competition show which aired on CTV, based on the British show ''Pop Idol''. The show was a competition to find the most talented young singer in Canada, and was hosted by Ben Mulroney. Jon Dore ...

''. This gave him an opportunity to perform with Canadian talent, while gaining television exposure. He also worked with Halifax producer Trobiz and recorded mixtapes with the groups N.E.P and Triple Threat. In 2007, Croucher he began to work with producer Classified who produced Croucher’s debut album ''No Dress Code'' in 2007.

2007: ''No Dress Code''

The 13-track record featured singles and videos for "Selfish Times", "Feelin’ Fine", "So Addicted", "Won't Let Go" and "It’s Raining". It earned Croucher the CBC Galaxie Rising Star prize at the 2007 African Nova Scotian Music Awards show, a nomination for Best Urban Single at the 2008

East Coast Music Awards The East Coast Music Association is a non-profit association that hosts an annual awards ceremony based in Atlantic Canada for music appreciation on the East Coast of Canada. Its mission is to develop, advance and celebrate East Coast Canadian mu ...

and an appearance on the CBC Television special, Barenaked East Coast Music.
/ref> He toured across Canada with Classified and Maestro (rapper), Maestro and opened for

Ne-Yo Shaffer Chimere Smith (born October 18, 1979), known professionally as Ne-Yo, is an American singer, songwriter, actor, dancer, and record producer. He gained fame for his songwriting abilities when he penned Mario's 2004 hit " Let Me Love You ...

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Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ( ...

, and

Juelz Santana LaRon Louis James (born February 18, 1982), better known by his stage name Juelz Santana, is an American rapper and member of East Coast hip hop group The Diplomats, also known as Dipset. He is best known for his appearances on Cam'ron's 2002 si ...

2010: Breakthrough success and ''IAMJRDN''

Shortening his name to JRDN, Croucher worked with Toronto's Kuya Productions and the songwriting and production team of Sammy Blues and Bobby Brass, who've worked with

Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur. He embarked on his music career with the hip hop group St. Lunatics in 1993 and signed to Universal ...

Mase Mason Durell Betha (born August 27, 1975), better known by his mononym Mase (formerly Murda Mase and stylized as Ma$e), is an American rapper and minister. In the late 1990s, he recorded on the Bad Boy Records label alongside its founder Sean ...

Ginuwine Elgin Baylor Lumpkin (born October 15, 1970), better known by his stage name Ginuwine, is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. He began his career as a member of Swing Mob in the early 1990s. Signing to Epic R ...

Jesse McCartney Jesse McCartney (born April 9, 1987) is an American actor and singer. He achieved fame in the late 1990s on the daytime drama ''All My Children'' as JR Chandler. He later joined boy band Dream Street, and eventually branched out into a solo mus ...

Nicole Scherzinger Nicole Scherzinger (; born Nicole Prascovia Elikolani Valiente, June 29, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and television personality. She is best known as the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls, one of the best-selling g ...

and

Akon Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam (; born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon, is a Senegalese-American singer, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of " Locked Up" (featuring Styles P) ...

. JRDN signed to Kuya Productions in 2009. ''

IAMJRDN ''IAMJRDN'' is the official debut studio album by Canadian R&B singer JRDN. The album features the hit singles, "U Can Have It All" and "Like Magic", which peaked at #20 and #24 on the Canadian Hot 100 respectively. It was released on November 9, ...

'' is the official debut album by JRDN and was released on November 9, 2010. Since its release the album debuted at number 13 on the Canadian R&B Albums Chart. Off his debut album, the first single "U Can Have It All" brought him to mainstream success by reaching number 20 on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...

and the music video reached number 5 on the MuchMusic Countdown. The second "Like Magic" reached number 24 on the Canadian Hot 100 with its music video topping the MuchMusic Countdown. "Like Magic" has been certified Gold by

Music Canada Music Canada (formerly Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA)) is a non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, and distribute music in Canada. It a ...

on September 10, 2012. He also served as a Youth Ambassador for D250 and was a delegate in the Citizen Voices program.http://www.d250.ca/media.asp?ID=19

Discography

Studio albums

* 2010: ''

Independent albums

* 2007: ''No Dress Code''

Reissues

* 2011: ''High Definition''

EPs

* 2014: ''JRDN'' * 2016: ''Like It'' * 2018: ''Supply & Demand''

Singles

As featured artist

References

Sources

* https://web.archive.org/web/20101125102005/http://www.cwofest.ca/act/102 * http://www.thevanguard.ca/Arts/Festivals-%26amp%3B-events/2010-10-25/article-1882157/JRDN-to-perform-at-Music-Week-awards-gala/1 * http://www.popculturemadness.com/interview/JRDN.html * https://web.archive.org/web/20110708161745/http://www.cityonmyback.com/2010/09/04/news-jrdn-releases-debut-album-november-2nd/ * http://www.muchmusic.com/music/firstspin/jrdn/ * http://www.hiphopcanada.com/tag/jrdn/ * https://web.archive.org/web/20121003073401/http://exclaim.ca/MusicVideo/ClickHear/JRDN-U_Can_Have_It_All_video * https://web.archive.org/web/20110808205326/http://www.mtv.ca/music/video_type.jhtml?id=1384 * https://web.archive.org/web/20101125102005/http://www.cwofest.ca/act/102 * http://www.metronews.ca/toronto/scene/article/681623--jrdn-makes-for-a-highlight-on-canada-s-pop-r-b-scene * https://web.archive.org/web/20101017115754/http://eatthis.inmusic.ca/2010/10/eat-this-artist-jrdn.html

External links

JRDN Official Website of Jordon Croucher

JRDN's Twitter

JRDN's Facebook

JRDN's Myspace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jrdn 1978 births 21st-century Black Canadian male singers Black Nova Scotians Canadian contemporary R&B singers Canadian hip hop singers Canadian male singers Canadian philanthropists Canadian soul singers Juno Award for R&B/Soul Recording of the Year winners Living people Musicians from Halifax, Nova Scotia