Jarid ready to take off again with release of ‘Reckless’After two years spent in and out of lockdowns in Australia, Jarid Williams feels like he’s back on the runway and waiting to take off again. It’s been a long time coming for the South African-born artist, who now lives in Los Angeles but got his start in Perth, Australia when he was 16.
When the pandemic struck two years ago, Jarid had just wrapped up his biggest year ever: he earned a gold record for his 2019 single “Slow Down On It” and completed a successful
tour of South Africa where he promoted the song on major TV and radio networks. And then in the beginning of 2020, he released a Top 20 single, “Don’t Complicate It.”
“The pandemic slowed things down dramatically,” Jarid says. “I was on a huge high from getting that gold record and the pandemic put a massive stop to everything that was going on at the time.”Stuck at home during the lockdowns, he focused on his songwriting and his fitness – there wasn’t much else to do. But one day he and a friend rebelled a little bit and got together on the low. “We just sat around joking and talking about our experiences in relationships,” Jarid says. That encounter led to Jarid’s newest single, “Reckless,” which is also his first release in more than two years. “We started off putting down some lyrics and by the end of the day I was like damn, this is actually a really good song,” he says. “It related to my life in a lot of ways so I was like man, this is the song.” Jarid finished the music video in December, right before moving to the US, and the song serves as his introduction to the American market. It’s part of a push to expand his brand, and Jarid’s goal for 2022 is for American fans to embrace him as an artist. It’s working so far – “Reckless” remains No. 1 on the Emerging 300 Artists chart by Upcoming 100 with as many as 200,000 streams per day. “It’s a pop R&B record with a bit of 90’s influence combined with today’s sounds,” Jarid says. “I feel like it’s relatable to everyone.
Every person goes through moments of temptation where they feel like the grass is greener on the other side but they’re never quite sure if that’s the case or not. It’s that push and pull kind of emotion that everyone deals with.”His voice is well-suited to the genres, especially after growing up listening to jazz, soul and R&B music. “I love the emotion that comes with the genre,” he says. “Being able to really put how you feel about a specific subject into a song, that’s what I gravitate to the most.”It was a rendition of “Happy Birthday” that first got him noticed. He sang the song at his grandfather’s birthday party when he was 11 and stunned the onlookers. Five years later he wowed people with a rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “Lately” and was a Top 50 finalist for Australian Idol. He later competed against thousands at the World Championships of Performing Arts in LA and became the champion for vocal pop and R&B/Jazz.
He released his first EP in 2017, Unfall In Love, which earned him national acclaim and he toured Australia as part of the sold out Men of RnB tour. Then came his big year in 2019 – and the pandemic soon after.
In addition to releasing new music, Jarid is back to performing again in 2022. He did a listening party in early March in Los Angeles and is releasing a “Reckless” remix at a festival in Huntington Beach later this month. More live performances are sure to come this summer. For more, follow Jarid on Facebook and Instagram (jaridofficial) and check out the music video for “Reckless” on YouTube.