{"id":2069298,"date":"2026-07-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2069298"},"modified":"2026-07-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T21:00:00","slug":"wonderland-312","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2069298","title":{"rendered":"Wonderland"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tWonderland<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n\t\t<\/a>
\n\t<\/h1>\n
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\n\t\t\tJEAN DAWSON<\/span>
\n\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
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As an imaginative kid, genre-defying experimental artist Jean Dawson would lose himself in the school library. Now five albums in, with an undefined new project in the works, the 30-year-old\u2019s discography has become a story all its own.<\/h3>\n
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\"Jean<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Tijuana-raised Jean Dawson was 14 years old when he got his first tattoo. \u201cI\u2019m pretty sure the dude was fresh out of jail because his home was like prison decor,\u201d the 30-year-old artist laughs. Still, Jean had his mother\u2019s permission. Sort of. \u201cMom wasn\u2019t okay with tattoos, but she knew that if I wanted to do something, I was gonna do it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

16 years later, the black ink on his forearm still reads pain passes, but beauty remains.\u201c I don\u2019t know what I was thinking with that sentiment, but I know when I got it, I was like, \u2018Yeah, this is my life,\u2019\u201d he shares. Mind you, he doesn\u2019t actually enjoy getting tattooed. \u201cMy pain tolerance sucks. I don\u2019t like hurting for extended periods of time\u2026But also, like, I love the art,\u201d he shrugs. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard not to see the tattoo as an accidental mission statement. Across a discography spanning eight years, with standalone singles scattered throughout, there\u2019s a grit that runs through Jean\u2019s music. Much of it traces the darker contours of his life: struggles with mental health, a youth spent in troublesome company, experimentation with substances, and periods of self-harm. Music became a form of escape, steering him away from danger and towards something more restorative. In interrogating those experiences, he found a way to reinterpret beauty. Jean likens his production process to a form of artistic defacement, disrupting perfection to make it feel more human. \u201cI\u2019m putting curse words on things that don\u2019t need it, and graffiti on things that are supposed to be beautiful. I guess that\u2019s the pain passing on to beauty,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

So rather than dwell in the darkness, Jean makes sublimity from ashes. His voice moulds itself to whichever musical terrain he chooses to explore: disco, rock, indie, folk and hip-hop all coexist within his catalogue. Falsetto? He reaches for it with ease. More often, though, it\u2019s that buttery, velvety timbre that anchors his songs, brightening and darkening in step with their themes, whether charting romance, androgyny, mental health or childhood. On paper, such stylistic breadth could sound unruly. In Jean\u2019s hands, every beat, melody and reference point feels remarkably cohesive. The range is evident across standout tracks such as \u201cDevilish\u201d from his 2020 debut Pixel Bath<\/em>, \u201cDARLIN\u2019\u201d and \u201cHouston\u201d from 2024\u2019s album, Glimmer of God<\/em>, and most recently on last November\u2019s compilation Rock A Bye Baby<\/em>, Glimmer of God<\/em>. The latter, in particular, reveals an almost archaeological approach to music-making, excavating sounds, genres and influences before reassembling them into something distinctly his own. <\/p>\n

With legacy artists such as Prince and Michael Jackson among his inspirations, alongside the hum of funk outfit Zapp (and its frontman Roger Troutman) and the swagger of G-funk icon Snoop Dogg \u2013 absorbed through his parents\u2019 record collection \u2013 Jean has built his life around an expansive study of music. Nothing is off limits, though pop remains his mitochondria. \u201cPop music morphs with the time that it\u2019s in. It\u2019s one of the only genres that\u2019s truly genreless. So you can go from pop music being Britney Spears to Post Malone and Miley Cyrus \u2013 ultimately the through line is that it\u2019s popular, but the sound of pop music doesn\u2019t necessarily exist.\u201d That fluid definition explains his comfort in a sonic no-man\u2019s-land: he moves freely across it all. <\/p>\n

Jean\u2019s musical epiphany came at 13, while he was still in middle school. His mother, originally from Mexico, worked as a secretary, while his father, a California-born African-American and military man, helped raise the family on modest means where \u201copulence\u201d wasn\u2019t the norm. Together, they saved enough to buy him his first Yamaha acoustic guitar. \u201cI played it until my fingers would bleed,\u201d he recalls. \u201cFrom a young age, I knew that I wanted to make music; I just didn\u2019t have the means to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the evenings, after a day of ninth-grade shenanigans, he would spend time at a nearby Guitar Centre, experimenting on the keyboards. His visits became so frequent that staff began bringing him sodas while he practised. \u201cI don\u2019t think they understand that they perpetuated my life and my music career,\u201d he says, reflecting on the employees who allowed him access to a space he might not otherwise have had. \u201cA lot of the people who work at these music stores are musicians most of the time. Instead of making it an issue, they\u2019re like, \u2018He just likes music, it\u2019s okay.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Jean<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Even with the helping hand from those somewhat grassroots \u201cmagicians\u201d, as Jean puts it, music wasn\u2019t always a wave he rode solo. Once his best friend and library companion, Marion, joined in, the duo became inseparable. \u201cWe started recording music every weekend, and every time we had days off school. I worked on three, four mixtapes and a bunch of other stuff \u2013 that was the beginning.\u201d Those early recordings were disjointed by design, melodies that began softly before erupting into punk-inflected crescendos. They were his first attempt to reconcile the sounds that had shaped him, from funk-fused hip-hop and old-school soul with a gospel undertone to the virtuosic pop of the \u201890s. In effect, it became voluntary homework in self-definition, long before he adopted his 2019 moniker, Jean Dawson.<\/p>\n

Despite middle school ruthlessness and Jean\u2019s reluctant participation, he still carved out space for self-discovery. \u201cI didn\u2019t go to school dances, and I missed out on a lot of things because I was heady as a kid, but being in the library was a special thing for me and Marion,\u201d he shares. \u201cI think about that kid a lot. He\u2019s definitely still very present within myself, and takes the driver\u2019s seat a lot of the time, to the point that it kind of throws me off.\u201d<\/p>\n

He never anticipated that presence would continue to shape so much of his life and creative output. Today, he\u2019s a Grammy Award-winning artist, recognised for his production and arrangement work on Beyonc\u00e9\u2019sCowboy Carter. Also under his spike-studded belt are songs with artists A$AP Rocky, Lil Yachty and SZA, summers spent touring with Linkin Pink and co-signs from Sir Elton John himself. <\/p>\n

Even among that already impressive list of musical peers, Miley Cyrus occupies a place of her own. Though the two have never met, Jean\u2019s admiration runs deep. Did it begin as a crush? Maybe. \u201cHad I been 11 years old when she was, you might have had some issues with me,\u201d he laughs. And of course, there\u2019s the music. But what fascinates him most is the way she has navigated a life lived almost entirely in the public eye, embracing a spotlight that never seems to dim.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy first understanding of fame was watching Hannah Montana,\u201d he says, before launching into a 42-second meditation on celebrity, identity and self-mythology. \u201cI\u2019m in awe of somebody who can navigate being successful for fucking ever, and not lose their mind. To be perceived by people who don\u2019t understand you \u2013 none of it is natural. It is just this thing that we\u2019ve manufactured; our own personalities to sell something, and nine times out of 10, what we\u2019re selling is an after-image of what we were trying to become. By the time it\u2019s selling, you\u2019re like, \u2018I\u2019m not even that anymore\u2019, but you have to continue, and thenyou\u2019re cosplaying yourself \u2013 which goes back to Hannah Montana.\u201d<\/p>\n

From there, the fandom only deepens. He reels off the many incarnations of Miley Cyrus with the enthusiasm of a lifelong devotee: \u201cMiley Cyrus the rapper \u2013 with the Jordans\u201d, or, Bangerz<\/em>-era Miley, and, perhaps most importantly, the \u201cParty in the U.S.A.\u201d years. \u201cI don\u2019t remember a time when Miley Cyrus was not around in some capacity,\u201d he says. \u201cBut what I perceive her to be doing now looks like freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

At 19, with the release of his first mixtape, \u201cBad Sports\u201d, Jean also found himself reckoning with a truth that felt oddly liberating. \u201cThe only true ordeal in our life is death. There\u2019s no solution to it, nor does there need to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Making peace with that idea meant learning to stop treating every uncertainty as a problem to be solved. He arrived at the principle of Occam\u2019s Razor: the simplest explanation is usually the best one. In practice, that often meant allowing his 13-year-old self who \u201chad all these ideas and imagination\u201d to guide the artist he would become.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, I\u2019m expressing [that creative freedom] in a way that allows me to do it all, and there\u2019s no reason I can\u2019t,\u201d he says of a forthcoming body of work that remains deliberately undefined. \u201cThe songs I\u2019ve been making tug at my own heartstrings. It\u2019s a little self-indulgent, but I need this right now \u2013 to make stuff that feels very familiar to who I have been, what I learned from and how I learned from it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sentiment echoes the lesson behind his first tattoo. In pursuit of something lasting, he has learned to embrace the discomfort of beauty that resists neat definition or containment. \u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s an album yet\u2026I don\u2019t know what it is,\u201d he tells me. \u201cAll I know is that it\u2019s honest.\u201d<\/p>\n

WONDERLAND SUMMER 2026. GUEST EDITED BY MILEY CYRUS. SHOP NOW.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Photography<\/strong>\u00a0Mario Sorrenti
Chief Creative Officer & Styling\u00a0<\/strong>Alastair McKimm
Words<\/strong>\u00a0Aswan Magumbe
Hair<\/strong>\u00a0Bob Recine
Make-up<\/strong>\u00a0Diane Kendal
Set Design<\/strong>\u00a0Philipp Haemmerle
Executive Producer<\/strong>\u00a0Dana Brockman
Producer<\/strong>\u00a0Max Bonbrest
Casting<\/strong>\u00a0Alexandra Antonova for Samuel Ellis Scheinman<\/p>\n

Lighting Technician<\/strong>\u00a0Lars Beaulieu
1st Photo Assistant<\/strong>\u00a0Kotaro Kawashima
Photo Assistants<\/strong>\u00a0Paolo Afante, Kurt Mangum
Digital Tech<\/strong>\u00a0Charles Meyer
Fashion Assistants<\/strong>\u00a0Taylor Wood, Kassidy Taylor
Hair Assistant<\/strong>\u00a0Jeelan Aleem
Make-up Assistants<\/strong>\u00a0Eduardo Jiminez, Breanna Harmon
Set Assistants<\/strong>\u00a0Oscar Haemmerle, Xavier Mozejewski
Production Assistant<\/strong>\u00a0Din Morris<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t30 July 2026\t\t\t<\/div>\n
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Magazine<\/a><\/div>\n
Music<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\n\t\t\t\tOxis<\/span> <\/span><\/a>\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\tStarcrawler<\/span> <\/span><\/a>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wonderland JEAN DAWSON As an imaginative kid, genre-defying experimental artist Jean Dawson would lose himself in the school library. Now five albums in, with an undefined new project in the works, the 30-year-old\u2019s discography has become a story all its own. Tijuana-raised Jean Dawson was 14 years old when he got his first tattoo. \u201cI\u2019m […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,257],"class_list":["post-2069298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-wonderlandmagazine-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2069298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2069298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2069298\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2069298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2069298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2069298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}