Jon Bellion vs. AJR

Katherine Valen ’19, Contributor

Although they have been classified as the same type of music, Jon Bellion and AJR are very different. The first huge difference is the fact that Jon Bellion creates his music alone and AJR is a band. Jon Bellion is a singer, rapper, producer, and song-writer. Most of his songs are sung just by him. AJR is a group of three brothers: Adam, Jack, and Ryan Met. They started creating music in their living room, hence the title of their first album: Living Room. The messages within The Click by AJR and The Human Condition by Jon Bellion are also very different. AJR speaks mostly about their personal experiences such as not being famous or the things that inspire them to write music. On the other hand, Bellion writes about society and the problems within it. Jon Bellion does write some songs about himself or his past, but most songs contain an underlying message criticizing society. Overall, Jon Bellion and AJR are very different and it would be a mistake to confuse their music.

Many people started to mix these two artists together when they heard the similarities in the way the songs are produced. Many of the beats or sounds throughout the songs in each artist’s work are made from voices or are acapella. This will create a similar type of song but definitely not the same. The lead signer of AJR, Jack, and Jon Bellion have similar voices which also adds to the mix up between music. Once again, although they have similar voices, the messages and beats within the songs are very different. On Twitter, there was a comment on AJR’s new album called “The Click,” claiming their song, “Netflix Trip,” started almost identical to Jon Bellion’s “Human.” When played back to back they are very similar but the members of AJR denied the fact that they copied Jon Bellion’s song. They claimed to have created it many years before Jon Bellion released his album and hadn’t even heard his song before they made it. Both songs start similarly, but they move into very different beats.

Jon Bellion and AJR are two of my favorite artists, containing very different songs. I love that both producers send powerful messages through music and I encourage everyone to go and listen to the albums The Click and The Human Condition.

Photo source: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jpJwPpxv4_A/maxresdefault.jpg