Biography
Kent Jones, recognized initially for his command of several instruments and his production work, stepped into broader view in 2016 as a singer and rapper whose fluid blend of R&B, hip-hop, and pop surfaced on the double-platinum Top Ten single “I Don’t Mind.” Connected to Cool & Dre and to DJ Khaled, whose pair of chart-topping albums include Jones’s contributions, the artist began shaping his own catalog with three mixtapes that arrived late in the 2010s. Into the 2020s he added another charting appearance, this time as a featured voice on D-Nice’s “No Plans for Love,” and led his own tracks such as the Rick Ross collaboration “Bout That.”
Born Daryl Kent Jones in Tallahassee—sometimes listed simply as Daryl Jones—he first encountered music inside his local church. Jazz soon drew his focus, especially the recordings of Quincy Jones, prompting him to develop fluency on drums, bass, and keyboards. Hip-hop followed, with the bass-heavy methods of Dr. Dre and Timbaland leaving a lasting mark on the sound of his own productions. A move to Miami placed him alongside Cool & Dre, whose close ties to DJ Khaled opened further doors. The resulting arrangement gave Jones a joint deal between Epidemic, the label affiliated with Cool & Dre, and We the Best, Khaled’s imprint under Epic distribution. His first mixtape, Tours, surfaced in July 2015; three months later The Documentary 2 by the Game included Jones’s writing and production on “Dollar and a Dream.” Issued as a single the following April, the Tours track “Don’t Mind” propelled him forward, climbing to number eight on the Hot 100, number nine in the U.K., and registering strongly in Canada along with markets across Europe and Scandinavia.
Over the next several years he issued two more projects, Too Much Too Soon and The LUH Tape, while joining records by DJ Khaled, DNCE, Fat Joe and Remy Ma, and E-40. The singles “Merengue” and “I Like It” closed out the decade. Still signed to Epic, Jones resurfaced in 2021 with co-production credits, guest spots, and lead singles that included DJ Khaled’s “We Going Crazy,” D-Nice’s “No Plans for Love” also featuring Ne-Yo, and his own “Bout That” with Rick Ross. The D-Nice track, a radio favorite, reached number four on Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart.
Born Daryl Kent Jones in Tallahassee—sometimes listed simply as Daryl Jones—he first encountered music inside his local church. Jazz soon drew his focus, especially the recordings of Quincy Jones, prompting him to develop fluency on drums, bass, and keyboards. Hip-hop followed, with the bass-heavy methods of Dr. Dre and Timbaland leaving a lasting mark on the sound of his own productions. A move to Miami placed him alongside Cool & Dre, whose close ties to DJ Khaled opened further doors. The resulting arrangement gave Jones a joint deal between Epidemic, the label affiliated with Cool & Dre, and We the Best, Khaled’s imprint under Epic distribution. His first mixtape, Tours, surfaced in July 2015; three months later The Documentary 2 by the Game included Jones’s writing and production on “Dollar and a Dream.” Issued as a single the following April, the Tours track “Don’t Mind” propelled him forward, climbing to number eight on the Hot 100, number nine in the U.K., and registering strongly in Canada along with markets across Europe and Scandinavia.
Over the next several years he issued two more projects, Too Much Too Soon and The LUH Tape, while joining records by DJ Khaled, DNCE, Fat Joe and Remy Ma, and E-40. The singles “Merengue” and “I Like It” closed out the decade. Still signed to Epic, Jones resurfaced in 2021 with co-production credits, guest spots, and lead singles that included DJ Khaled’s “We Going Crazy,” D-Nice’s “No Plans for Love” also featuring Ne-Yo, and his own “Bout That” with Rick Ross. The D-Nice track, a radio favorite, reached number four on Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart.
Albums
Singles
