Steve 'Flash' JuonThe cover of “Growing Pains” has been carefully crafted to elicit discussion in reviews like this. 24 grew up with a white Jewish mother and a black Catholic father, and if you find his bio online it says he celebrated both Hanukkah and Christmas growing up. His parents were also both fashion models (according to the same bios) and it’s not hard to notice his natural good looks. The album artwork has been purposefully filtered to give it a “vintage photo” feel, but his glow still comes through. All of this comes with an interesting hint though — he’s sitting behind the couch instead of with his family. He’s facing away from them, headphones in his ears, while an interested sibling peers over the back to see what 24 is doing.
We all like an artist with an interesting backstory. Golden Landis Von Jones certainly fits that description. He had a lot of cultural experiences growing up unique to his circumstances, and it’s not a coincidence his parents named him “Golden” visually or financially. It takes money to live comfortably in San Francisco and it doesn’t seem they lacked for it then or now. There’s a universal truth to money though — it can buy comfort, but it can’t buy happiness. Being happy has to come from within, not be imposed extrinsically. You can grow up poor and be content; you can grow up rich and feel unsatisfied and disconnected. The human experience runs the gamut between these extremes. The implication here is that Golden/24 had a good life, a loving family, and still experienced the “Growing Pains” that made him question himself and his value to himself and others.
“Moralizing and telling my new therapist about you
I’ve been walking in a forest, avoiding crowded rooms
I’ve been out here taking shrooms, I’ve been micro-dosing
I ain’t drinking no more booze, it’s a bad influence”
At this point you might be saying “Oh boohoo, spoiled rich kid is sad.” I get that. Counterpoint? First of all we don’t know if he grew up RICH, upper middle class, or just getting by. Secondly I would hope our ability to relate to each other as human beings isn’t limited to how big our bank accounts are. If “Clarity” is any indication I would say that 24 has some broad spectrum appeal. Even if he had it all, or most of it all, he’s still trying to find his way as a biracial young man from a diversely religious household. Does he think of himself as black or white? Catholic or Jewish? All of the above or none of the above? Figuring our your identity isn’t easy for any of us. We could all use a little bit of clarity as to who we think we are and whether or not we accept how the world perceives us.
“When you gettin’ famous, they gon’ shower you with love”
My only experience with 24 prior to this was via BlackMayo, who produced “Valentino,” his most popular single to date. My conclusion then as now was that Mayo should stick to producing and let artists like 24 be the stars. There’s no doubt 24 is a star on “Growing Pains,” but I’m left slightly unsatisfied. This was promoted to me as an album yet it’s only 19 minutes long. I know — everything is shorter these days. Normally I can live with that but when somebody intrigues me like 24 a sub-20 minute album just isn’t enough. He was also promoted to me as a rapper, but let’s be honest, he’s not rapping here. He sang in choir in middle and high school. He’s not spitting words and having them be AutoTuned into something resembling singing, he’s just straight crooning. Again that’s fine but calling him a “rapper” is misleading at best.
What’s the bottom line then? I like 24kGoldn. I have little to none of the experiences he had growing up, aside from feeling different from my peers and confused about who I was, but I still find him charming and relatable. I think he has a lot to offer listeners, and provided he doesn’t get jaded by his success and lose touch with the authentic chord he strikes on this album, there’s a lot more in store in his future.