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Photo: Henry Kornaros

Franklin Jonas is reintroducing himself to the world with his very first single under Pizzaslime Records, and “Cocaine” is a rebellion against expectation, proving that finding yourself is both a rejection of what they’ve molded for you and a return to who you always were.

Experimenting with beat-making in college and diving headfirst into audio engineering, 22-year-old Franklin Jonas has never been more than a few steps away from music, yet he let his sound reveal itself to him exactly on time. “Cocaine” is an ode to a tragically nostalgic past, honoring his instrument-forward upbringing with notes of folk and indie. It’s not clear what kind of sound we were expecting from him, mostly because we didn’t know there was a sound to expect at all, and yet we’ve still been left humbly surprised.

A love song that’s deeply melancholic, the single may not only reflect a lover outside of himself, but perhaps the intoxicating love he’s struggled to survive with substances. “‘Cocaine’ is about longing for the coping mechanisms you don’t have or can’t do anymore,” he shares. “It’s the point where you become nostalgic for the bad times, because even the bad times had good distractions.”

Opting for Franklin rather than Frankie, the artist is departing from his old skin and standing in a newfound truth. We’ve witnessed many colorful iterations of Jonas, from the doe-eyed younger brother of superstar siblings, both innocent and charming, to the angsty TikTok personality, both witty and raunchy. Yet, who he stands before us today is not on either end of the pendulum but rather a calm surrender to the person whose arrival we have been waiting for all along. 

Only the one-dimensional get it right the first time, and Franklin Jonas seems enamored with discovering himself. His intrinsic curiosity continues to both guide and evolve with him, and “Cocaine” is a celebration of who he dances as today and a declaration of hope that he’ll meet more of himself tomorrow. 

Watch the "Cocaine" video below: