We were lucky to catch up with Jon “King ROSS” Sanford recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jon “King ROSS”, appreciate you joining us today. Do you wish you had started sooner?

To be completely honest, I don’t wish I would’ve started any sooner or later than I did.

I graduated high school and since my grades weren’t initially good enough for me to go to college and play football, I didn’t know what to do. It wasn’t until a year later that I decided to pursue a career in music. I immediately started writing… on thing lead to another and a year after that I started making beats. So, the timing was actually almost perfect…

The only thing I wish I would’ve done differently, that I believe would’ve made a big difference, is I would’ve taken an accelerated course on music engineering, instead of making it a minor at the local community college I ended up going to.

Once I made my mind up to pursue music, I looked into attending IADT (International Academy of Design and Technology). I had a few interviews and was about to take out a student loan for classes… I was basically in there… But then, last minute… I allowed my dad to talk me into going to NSCC (Nashville State Community College) to major in OT (occupational therapy) and minor in Music Engineering. One of the worst decisions I made in my life.

I hated school. I had no passion to be there and couldn’t even take a music engineering class until my third semester.

I ended up leaving school and just taught myself how to do everything. It was just easier and less stressful that way… If only I would’ve did what I intended to do and not allow someone else to sway me into doing something else, I believe I would be further along than I am now. It would’ve saved me thousands of dollars in debt, time and my peace of mind.

Fortunately, from the time I began writing (2010) and making beats (2011) to the time I released my first song (2016), I experienced a lot. Not only did I get to practice and learn a lot about the craft, but I also went through many ups & downs in life within that time, so I had plenty of things to write about.

Things didn’t go the way I wanted them to, but it all worked out in the end… It always does.

Jon “King ROSS”, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Yes, my named is Jon Sanford aka King ROSS

I was born & raised in Nashville, TN. I grew up on the southside in a neighborhood called Woodbine.

From the moment I was born, I was around music. If it wasn’t my parents blasting their music in the den, it was my brothers and sisters playing music in the bedrooms. The holidays at my grandmother’s house were no different… every year, every gathering ended with my aunts, uncles and cousins jamming out in the kitchen together for hours. I couldn’t escape it.

With as much as I was surrounded by music though, surprisingly, not much ever caught my ear. Only here and there would a song ever stand out. Over time, I got bored and frustrated with music… After a while, it was almost like a weak medicine; I needed it, but it rarely did its job… which was to make me feel anything meaningful.

It wasn’t until one day I came across Jay-Z’s ‘You Must Love Me’ that made me say “Yes! This is what I’ve been looking for. This is what rap music is supposed to be.” In the same breath, not only did I realized that I was too young to fully understand the essence of R&B and Classic R&B, but I also realized that not many rap artists made anything I truly wanted to listen to. After having those realizations, it was right then and there that I decided that I was going to rap and make music my career… I thought: “If I can’t relate to barely anything I’m hearing, why not make my own music!?”

In the world of rap, most rappers only talk about money, sex, drugs and violence. To me, that’s boring, lame and destructive. It’s a brainwash… In my eyes, most rappers are poor role models to the youth and poor examples for our community. In my eyes, regardless of how much good you do, you cancel all that out by rapping about money, sex, drugs and violence in all your songs. By no means am I Mr. Perfect or an angel… some of my raps and songs involve these things too, but that’s not my agenda. I told myself when I decided to begin making music that I would only tell stories or speak words wisdom, love and motivation. I’m often told that my music is real, yet kind of sad… but it’s like that for a reason. My agenda is to speak for those who don’t have a voice and let them know that they’re not the only one’s going through what they’re going through… that they’re not alone. My agenda is to spread awareness, love and uplift.

That’s what separates me from 85-90% of rappers out there and that’s what I’m most proud of.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Being able to do what I want… not in a rebellious way, but in a way where I’m fully able to express myself in whatever way I feel. What so many fail to realize is that life is a blank canvas and from the moment we’re born, we have the freedom to create our own realities… we have the freedom to create whatever life we want for ourselves.

It’s an escape from the mundane life this world often tries to force upon us… It does my heart, mind & soul well. It truly is therapy.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

The biggest lesson I had to unlearn is that not everything you do is going to be a hit. I used to be a perfectionist… For hours, I’d obsess over every little detail of every song and project… Then, when I would release it and it didn’t get the respond I hoped for, I’d be devastated.

I had to realize that not everyone will hear your music… and out of all the people who do, not everyone will enjoy it. That’s just part of the game.

I had to unlearn getting my hopes up too high and relearn how to remain confident in my work, while not having an expectation for outcome… to just be one with my craft… to continue to put my all into it but know that whoever’s meant to hear my music it’ll find them… whether it be now or later.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/king____ross
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingjonsanford
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/King____ROSS
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@king____ross
• Other: https://soundcloud.com/kingjonross https://cash.app/$kingjonross email: [email protected]