Memphis native and University of Memphis music student, Jordan Occasionally soared through the ranks of the Billboard NXT Competition.
The competition kicked off on TikTok in September with artists creating their best 60 second cover of the new song, “Out Out” by Joel Corry & Jax Jones ft. Charli XCX and Saweetie, and tagging their video with #BillboardNXT. Out of the many submissions, only 12 talented artists were selected.
Each week the 12 artists were given a new challenge and then were rated at the end of that week. The challenges included Original Song, Genre Swap, High Note & Slo Mo, Run It Out & Slow It Down, and then Overall Ranking. Jordan worked their way through the ranks each week, and after the Overall Ranking in December landed at the No. 6 position.
You can view each of Jordan’s competition videos on TikTok at @Jordan_Occasionally to see how they took their unique spin on each week’s challenges. With 19.9K followers, they have a prominent presence on TikTok, so it is no surprise that combined with their talent, they did very well in this competition.
Jordan’s accolades go beyond the Billboard NXT Competition though. They were recently named a Rising Black Artist on Songfluencer’s Tidal Editorial Playlist. Their music highlights the “funkadelic and soulful sounds that they grew up with.” Their debut album, “Indigo,” features hits like “Don’t Stop” and “Issaparty” which capture the joy of Jordan’s personality.
Jordan was also awarded the very first “Student Communicator of the Year Award” from the University of Memphis this past February. They were awarded this accolade for the work that they did for Black Lives in 2020.
Jordan has made their mark in the Memphis community as a musician and as an activist, being heard on the local radio and interviewed in local news sources. The University of Memphis is proud to see the impact that Jordan is making in the music community and beyond and can’t wait to see where their drive continues to take them.