Orlando Jones (Star Of Fox’s Hit TV Show Sleepy Hollow) Releases His First Music Video “Thug Music Vol. 1- Play At A Maximum Level”

Inspired By Recent Events, Orlando Jones Tackles A New Medium To Weave A Musical & Visual Narrative In The Quest To Encourage Dialogue & Debate

Fun Fact: Kanye West, Maroon Five and David Banner all made their television debuts on the Orlando Jones Show on FX in the early 2000s. His love of music and eye for launching new talent may not be surprising, but audiences will be surprised to learn that he is a prolific singer in his own right who is dropping a unique new music video. Although he’s known to many audiences as a comedic talent, Jones has in fact worked in every facet and genre of the filmed entertainment business for nearly two decades. He began his career as a teenaged comedy writer on one of the most popular shows in TV history, Cosby Show spin-off A Different World.

After working on the pilot to Fox’s hit show Martin (starring Martin Lawrence) Jones put his writing career on hold and relocated to New York to launch the new cable channel FX. His range of responsibilities included hosting SoundFX, a daily live music show where he interviewed renowned musical acts including Nirvana, Flaming Lips, Arrested Development and many others.

One year later Orlando would return to Los Angeles to join the cast of MadTV. His unique trajectory from comedy writer, to television host, to playing in integral role in launching a 14 year long sketch comedy franchise for a major network cemented his role as a multi-faceted talent and drew the attention of major filmmakers. After his second season on MadTV, Orlando was cast in a starring role in Liberty Heights from Academy Award winning director Barry Levinson.

Orlando quickly established himself as a formidable dramatic actor following up his role in Liberty Heights opposite Academy Award winner Adrien Brody with a part in Paul Thomas Anderson’s tour de force Magnolia. He continued to pursue a wide range of comedic and dramatic film roles in a string of successful films which remain a staple on cable television including the football classic the Replacements, Double Take with Eddie Griffin, Biker Boyz, Office Space, Evolution, Time Machine and Drumline. He also remained active in television with countless guest starring roles on beloved television shows including The Ghost Whisperer, House, Girlfriends and more. Not content as simple a film and television performer, Jones took to Broadway, playing the title role of “The Wiz” opposite Ashanti and Tony Award winner LaChanze.

Even gamers will recognize Jones’ voice as Marine Sergeant Banks in Halo 2.

Orlando currently splits his time between voicing several characters on Adult Swim’s hit show Black Dynamite, a starring role as Captain Frank Irving in Fox’s massive global hit Sleepy Hollow and recording the soundtrack to his graphic novel style action comedy Tainted Love.

Inspired by recent events that have been resonating deeply throughout the core of society, Orlando is releasing the single Thug Music Vol. 1-Play At A Maximum Level. He’s using his music and accompanying visuals to weave a compelling narrative as a platform for debate, dialogue and engagement to ask—can individuals create a social movement that might actually change the world?
“I’m a big fan of the Steve Jobs quote that launched Apple’s “Think Different” campaign in 1997” Jones explains. “It says - Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square hole, the ones who see things differently--- they’re not fond of rules. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things. They push the human race forward and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world---are the ones who do”.
Jones relates the quote to the recent deaths of black males in Florida including Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis as well as a range of other miscarriages of justice. “I wonder where young black men like Jordan Davis fit into this conceit. Would he have been “crazy enough” to change the world? Or Trayvon Martin-could he have been part of the movement to “push the human race forward”? Sadly, we’ll never know what might have come from their unrealized potential, not to mention the countless other fallen brothers and sisters whose lives were cut down too soon and for whom justice was not served. What of Renisha McBride and Rekia Boyd? Emmett Till and Medgar Evers? Aiyana Jones and Latasha Harlins” asks Orlando.
He goes on to add “These individuals changed things. They put a face on the legacy of ‘Unforgivable Blackness’. Contrary to the spirit of Steve Job’s words we continue to ignore them and those like them. You and I see them every day; boys and girls, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, mothers and fathers. People whose humanity and agency is denied in life and whose memory is tarnished in death to serve a media narrative that their fate might not have befallen them if only they minimized their otherness and didn’t appear ‘too threatening’.”
Jones is careful to point out that he speaks as a private citizen who is deeply troubled by what he believes to be indefensible crimes that are not adequately prosecuted by law enforcement. “I am not a politician. I am not an academic. I have no earthly idea how to create systemic change on a policy level so that people stop dying and get written off as another statistic. However, I do believe in the transformative power of narrative storytelling across a multitude of platforms. Media representations of persons of color matter. How we see ourselves and how others see us represented in popular culture sets the stage for how we will navigate a world where privilege is the Golden Rule---“Those Who Have The Gold Make The Rules”.
“That’s why I wrote this song, “Thug Music Vol. 1-Play At A Maximum Level” and the forthcoming “Tainted Love” graphic novel-- to explore themes of how our culture has been co-opted and appropriated (sometimes with our implicit endorsement) and then spoon-fed back to us (and society at large).
In selecting “Thug Music Vol. 1-Play At A Maximum Level” as the first release of my musical journey, it’s important to point it it’s not intended to be a Top-40 joint. The sound I’m sharing is raw, evolving and from my soul” Orlando opines. “Some of you will (hopefully) feel it and others might not find it to their liking. I welcome any constructive criticism; but I’ll be much more interested in what you have to say if you bring your own creative game to the conversation.”
In closing, Orlando reiterates “let’s make sure the faces of our fallen aren’t relegated to the dustbin of irrelevancy but instead treated with the same reverence as the faces in that Apple campaign with the quote I am so fond of. It’s the very least we can do!”
Link To Orlando Jones “Thug Music Vol. 1- Play At A Maximum Level” Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuXI7m1j2FA&feature=youtu.be

Music and lyrics by Orlando Jones and Selvah
female vocals by Lee Anna James and Selvah
Rap provided by CRUMM)