The first single, “Carry Your Throne,” is accompanied by a cinematic video full of snarling dogs, soldiers charging to war, and contemplative scenes in a church. Instead, he returned to his home studio, found Jesus, and was inspired to create a new album, The Definition, which skillfully weaves chunky hip-hop beats and lush instrumentation with Bellion’s light, almost folksy voice and intelligent, street-smart lyrics.
Despite having his first placed song turn into a global smash, unlike many songwriters, Bellion, an articulate, sensitive Long Islander who dropped out of Five Towns college (alumni include Adam Levine and Wyclef Jean) after one year, didn’t leverage his writing skills to pen hits for a host of other pop wannabes. “This isn’t a shot at Rihanna or anything, but every single song on my album is better than ‘The Monster,'” says 23-year-old Jon Bellion of the Eminem duet with the Bajan pop superstar that hit the top of charts last year.
