Music, faith and family takes TikTok creator and entrepreneur to new heights, helps him ‘keep it smooth’ in hard times
JahVelle, also known as JRSaxophonic, joined by Khaby Lame, international TikTok sensation and influencer, one of many connections he made in TikTok’s 100 Black Creators Program. Photo courtesy of JahVelle Rhone.
In February, we recognize the invaluable contributions of Black Americans during #BlackHistoryMonth. This article is part of this series, highlighting Black entrepreneurs, creatives and business owners from the Greater Manhattan, Kansas area. Want more stories on Black-owned business? Click here to read more.
Photo courtesy of JahVelle Rhone, JR Saxophonic
It was at home with family in Kansas City, Kansas, that JahVelle Rhone, musician, content creator and entrepreneur, first discovered his love of music. “It all started in the basement of my childhood home, where my dad used to play the guitar after church, and my brothers and I would dance for hours upon hours to his music.“ JahVelle recalls, “I knew that I would love nothing more than to be a musician because that day, the joy we felt in that basement and listening to the sounds of the soulful music had to be supernatural.”
Known to over 1 Million followers on social media as JRSaxophonic, the intersection of JahVelle’s talent as a saxophone player and digital media creator has taken him around the country and through doors he only dreamed were possible a few short years ago. Recognized for his soulful, smooth sounds across multiple social media platforms, JahVelle insists, “My staple would be to inspire, to bring joy and cultivate a soulful wave in music through love, positively, and empowerment.” He adds, “And my only rule is to keep it smooth.”.
Grounded by his deep Kansas City roots, JahVelle made his way to Manhattan, his current home, where he attended K-State and finished his undergraduate degree. Not only did the K-State campus provide him with a degree, but he found his partner and future wife. Today, he is happily married to an author and elementary school teacher, Teandra, and together they have four children: three daughters and one son. JahVelle’s day job keeps him close to innovation and media creation at the Sunderland Foundation Innovation Lab, located at the Hale library, where he currently serves as the Media Director and worked with Associate Director Jeff Sheldon to bring many of the concepts in the lab to life.
The long road to overnight success
Like most “overnight success” stories before him, JahVelle put in thousands of hours perfecting the crafts of both music and technology long before he became a TikTok influencer. Playing in a number of venues across the region, JahVelle built a unique brand image, personalized to what he loved most, which gave him an exclusive position.
When he got started, social media was only in its infancy, and TikTok didn’t exist yet, but JahVelle used his media and technology knowledge to weave in audiovisual content into his concerts. “I loved incorporating media into what I did as a musician. That really allowed me to stand out from other musicians, because I had the production value along with a concert experience, and I knew how to bring those two together,” says JahVelle.
To incorporate these two backgrounds during a show, JahVelle created a short movie clip, ranging from two to three minutes, based on various experiences and places from his present day life. These clips were inspired by one of his favorite entertainers, Michael Jackson, who also incorporated media into his performances. “He used to make people have an experience when they went to his concerts,” says JahVelle. He wanted to have the same effect on his audiences, so JahVelle began to think of ways in which content could bring people into a richer musical experience. “I figured out how to get a projector into the concert venues and how to stream original films that I created for my audience to make them feel more immersed into the experience,” He adds, “And it worked like a charm to be honest.”
JahVelle’s innovative styles and ability to fuse multiple forms of media was not only a crowd pleaser but the foundation for what would attract and inspire millions on social media only a few years later.
JahVelle started to recognize that his work was more than music in 2020, just as the world entered a lockdown. But he ran into some setbacks at first. “I was at a point in my life where I was wondering, ‘Do I want to continue to be a musician?’ because things were not manifesting in the way that I thought it would,” recalls JahVelle. As he considered putting his music on hold to refocus elsewhere, he started to notice trending videos on TikTok and how the growth of the platform began to have a significant influence on society.
JahVelle in a still from one of his TikTok performances.
During 2020, JahVelle decided to download TikTok so he and his family could participate in a trending TikTok dance. After joining the app, he began to wonder if he could do his music on the app and possibly get an audience. “I started creating videos, and I would get like one, two likes, and sometimes zero views,” says JahVelle.
With the unsuccessful start on social media, JahVelle started to reach out to his friends from Kansas City comedy shows, where he had previously performed. His friends had also joined TikTok, and he noticed that they experienced account growth and success faster than him, making him feel doubtful of his efforts. However, these friends were not going to leave JahVelle behind, and they give him some advice. He recalls, “They were like, ‘You got to post three times a day – just stay consistent’. And I started to do that, and at the end of December I started seeing gradual growth. I joined in August, and started posting consistently in September, and from September to November I gained close to 1,000 followers,” says JahVelle.
Encouraged by the gradual growth, JahVelle continued searching for ways to expand and reach a diverse audience. “I wanted to live stream as a musician because I knew that it would help grow my account. At the time, nobody was doing that. TikTok counts me as one of the first instrumentalists to live stream and do performances on their app,” says JahVelle. Incorporating live streaming into his content plan led a niche community of TikTok, known as TikTok Live, to notice JahVelle’s work and offered him a partnership with them.
At the start of 2021, one of JahVelle’s friends from the comedy group told him that TikTok was offering a new program, an incubator for black content creators called TikTok Black Creatives Program. The program was sponsored by Stay Macro, which is the largest black-owned media company. Inspired to support influencers in his industry, film producer and Stay Macro founder, Charles D. King, collaborated with TikTok to create the Black Creative program. “King chose 100 of the top TikTok creators on the app at the time, and there were literally thousands and thousands of people worldwide, and they chose two instrumentalists. They chose me and this guy, John the Violinist from Ohio,” says JahVelle.
More than a soundtrack: music smooths out hard roads, opens doors
Taking notes from his father, JahVelle had always played music around his own home, creating a joyful environment for his family, his first audience. In hard times and good, music provided the family a solace and joy that brought them together. Little did JahVelle and his family know how important music would be in the coming days.
With the acceptance into the Black Creatives Program, momentarily, JahVelle’s musical career was onward and upward. But his family was beginning to endure a scary season together. “The day I found out I was a part of the [TikTok Black Creators] program was actually the day my wife and I were shaving our heads because our daughter, Layla, was starting to lose her hair from chemotherapy,” says JahVelle. “It was a crazy, absolutely bittersweet moment, where it was like ‘Wow, I am super excited about this [opportunity], but at the same time, it is met with such gravity with what’s happening in my personal life,’” says JahVelle.
As JahVelle’s now 7-year-old daughter battled a stage-3 Wilm’s tumor, the family commuted between Manhattan and Kansas City for her treatments. At first, JahVelle looked for ways to adapt to his situation, and he hunkered down in a hotel conference room to make content and tried to keep going. However, the ongoing content creation and program workload became difficult to manage, and with his daughter in cancer treatment, JahVelle began to wonder if he should quit the program and direct his full attention to his family.
He was surprised when Layla insisted he keep playing. “When I told my daughter that I was probably going to stop, she told me, ‘No, because it makes me feel better when you play.’ And this was coming from a 5-year-old at the time, and I was like, ‘What??’ He recalls, “She said it was the one thing that made her feel like things weren’t changing. How could I stop?”
With his daughter’s encouragement and a renewed commitment to the opportunities in front of him, JahVelle embraced all the knowledge and introductions the TikTok Black Creatives Program offered. JahVelle and the other participants received incentives to complete program assignments. “Some of those incentives were getting coached by [artists like] Gabrielle Union and Common, and also by several incredible people who are making headway in today’s society,” says JahVelle.
The program also provided JahVelle with practical tools to run a business, manage himself as a brand, foster industry partnerships, and more. These business and brand foundations started to shift JahVelle’s view of himself and his work beyond influencer and musician. “That’s where I really started thinking, ‘Okay, it’s more than just content creation. I can create sustainability and legacy by doing this,’” says JahVelle.
It wasn’t long before he was securing brand deals with confidence. With the help of TikTok’s program, he signed his first deal from Rockstar, a Pepsi entity. “That was my first big contract. They [TikTok Black Creative instructors] taught us how to negotiate our contracts, read through them, hire lawyers, agencies, and managers to help us through our contracts, along with things to avoid, which is something we never think about. With all of that, you really have to protect yourself as a brand, an artist, and a creative because people will try to take advantage of you,” says JahVelle.
Since this first brand deal, he has partnered with a number of household names and major brands who have helped him grow as a content creator, entrepreneur, and musician, including a partnership with Meta, YouTube Shorts, and Goorin Brothers (a hat company). He is also a Sony Music Influencer, and recorded his first major recording with Universal Music Group, among other opportunities.
Locally, JahVelle accessed entrepreneur resources to support him and his growing brand and business. “My wife and I started an LLC with support from the Black Entrepreneurs of the Flint Hills. We had help from Sheila Ellis-Glasper and Jermane Glasper, who are some of our best friends. They walked us through starting our first LLC back in early 2021, and to this day we’re still in good standing.” JahVelle continues, “We’re learning what that means, keeping track of our numbers, we’re tracking our books, and it's been a great experience.”
Now that his business and brand are set on solid foundations for growth and legacy, JahVelle saw the opportunity to pass on what he learned about building a business for influencers. With the career of “influencer” being new and somewhat undefined, JahVelle discovered that most creators don’t have tools and resources to build a business from their identity and work. After a conversation with Kudzi Chikumbu, Global Head of Creator Marketing at TikTok, JahVelle decided to write a book. “Even though I didn’t see anyone else develop a book [on this topic] yet, I immediately started making my bullet points and how I was going to organize it because I knew people want to learn how to do this.” JahVelle continues, “I’m creating a book about my life as an influencer and the journey. It will have supplemental materials for people who want to become influencers.”
While JahVelle and his family’s story is far from over, this moment is something of a happy ending to his daughter’s cancer journey. “Layla is two months in remission, cancer-free,” JahVelle says. “We are super excited about that. We are very grateful. She had some incredible opportunities.”
The Rhone family with daughter, Layla, center, pictured here at the Kansas City Chiefs first playoff game, along with Chiefs CEO, Lamar Hunt and wife, Tavia Shackles.
7-year-old Layla’s courage facing cancer opened influencer doors for her as well, and JahVelle’s knowledge of business and brand positioned him to guide her through that process and help her make the most of it. “She got to partner with TikTok For Good, as well as the American Cancer Society, to help raise money for them. She also did a partnership with Sporting KC, and she will partner with the Kansas City Chiefs at their first playoff game.” JahVelle explains, “The Chiefs just called us last week to talk to my daughter and see if she would be at the first playoff game with them.” He laughs, “She reminds me daily that she is more famous than I am. She is in second grade, and she’s already done some really cool stuff.”
As JahVelle’s influence and brand expands, and his daughter’s as well, new doors continue to open for the family. No matter what JahVelle experiences, however, he remains committed to the people and practices that ground him most, faith, family and the joy of music, just like his father taught him, always led by his guiding motto: “Keep it smooth”.
Catch JahVelle’s smooth sounds, influencer collaborations and musical journey on TikTok and YouTube by searching @JRSaxophonic.