St. Louis crooner Jordan Ward released one of the best R&B albums of 2023 in his debut Forward, snapping up attention with its single “White Crocs” and becoming one of the most exciting young voices in music today.
Now, he’s returned to announce its follow-up, Backward, and share the first single: “Smoking Potna” featuring Florida breakout singer Sailorr. In the single, Ward asserts that his “smoking partner” is the only person he smokes with, highlighting the special connection between them. “I don’t pass the blunt to no one else but you, baby / You can help yourself.” Sailorr doubles down on this sentiment, explaining that she may have low tolerance for the smoke, but she likes her own smoking buddy enough to put up with it.
Meanwhile, in an interview with Rolling Stone about the new album, Jordan said, “Coming up off the last project, I felt I had a lot of room to grow with the songwriting, as far as structuring [it,] having more clear takeaways for the songs.”
He says he wants “to keep the story evolving,” and to do so, he’s looked at the songwriting of legends like Donny Hathaway, Joni Mitchell, Bob Marley, James Taylor, and Roberta Flack. The results will arrive January 30th.
You can watch the video for Jordan Ward’s “Smoking Potna” featuring Sailorr above.
Backward is due on 01/30/2026 via ARTium Recordings/Interscope Records. You can find more info here.