Destin Conrad understands his artistry naturally goes beyond R&B — but instead of downplaying the genre as being a box, he embraces it while creating the music he wants to make. After experimenting with jazz on wHIMSY, the singer dabbles with reggae on his latest offering Roadrunner.
Packed with 13 tracks, Roadrunner taps into Conrad’s Jamaican roots through the rhythm of reggae and dancehall with splashes of R&B. The island-flavored project has enough heat to carry into the fall. It features collaborations with rising British-Nigerian star kwn, Bajan singer Amanda Reifer and Jamaican singer Stalk Ashley.
Besides the standouts that each artist appears on, other highlights on Roadrunner include Conrad’s reimagination of Kevin Lyttle’s 2004 hit “Turn Me On” and “Chi Chi.” The latter samples T.O.K.’s 2001 track “Chi Chi Man,” which received backlash for its homophobic lyrics. Conrad, who is openly gay, took to X to celebrate clearing the sample. “THE FACT WE CLEARED THE CHI CHI MAN SAMPLE!! I ENDED HOMOPHOBIA,” he cheekily posted.
Speaking on Roadrunner, Conrad exclusively tells Rated R&B, “Making this project made me realize how naturally all these parts of me could live together. I didn’t have to separate my Jamaican heritage from my relationship with R&B. I just gave myself the freedom to play and follow what feels good.”
As indicated above, Roadrunner follows wHIMSY!, the deluxe edition of his experimental jazz project, which dropped earlier this year. “wHIMSY is an off the cuff, free idea, that is my passion project,” Conrad previosly told Rated R&B. “This is something I’ve always wanted to do—from my years in the Jazz Choir during high school to now, having the opportunity to release this project and reinventing what Jazz means to me now.”
In 2025, Conrad released his Grammy-nominated debut album, Love On Digital, followed by the standard edition of wHIMSY, which arrived four months later.
As for what’s next, Conrad told Billboard in a recent interview, “Maybe after this reggae album, I’ll go back to my R&B roots. But who knows? It’s just whatever I’m feeling like at the time.”
Stream Destin Conrad’s Roadrunner below.
