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It’s hot, it’s heated and we’ve been in dire need of tunes that can take all that temperature down but keep the vibes high. We’ve fallen hard for the retro stylings of newcomer Reign Judge, who channels old school cool and lyrical wit on her latest single ‘Overdrive,’ a slight tempo shift from her previous work but still showcasing her gritty love lyricism. Reign popped off this year with her bombastic soulful approach, perfectly suited for the weather that has your AC in overdrive. If you need a cool melodic compress in your summer playlist, then Reign Judge is the solution and we had the pleasure of catching up whit her about her recent success, latest single & more:

OnesToWatch: Why are you an artist? 

I used to do modeling and I really felt I had more to offer to the world creatively. Creatives are often people that feel very deeply and I definitely fall into that category. I had a lot of emotion and nowhere to put it. I grew up doing opera, classical and jazz pre-professionally. Like I've performed at the Hollywood Bowl doing operas. I turned 23 and it got to the point where I was like, okay, what am I going to do long term to make my soul happy every day? It quickly became pretty clear to me that it was being an artist. I love photography. I love film, I love fashion. I love music. I just love all the creative outputs that there are. It's that 360 vision and perspective and outlook. That's what jumped me into making that transition. 

Love it.
You weren't going to settle for just being genetically gifted. When do you think that transition became firm in your mind? 


It had been slowly pitter pattering into my brain. I think I felt fearful and almost embarrassed to admit that to people, because obviously I'm already engrossed in the industry.
I had some public eyes on me already. You know, there's such a cliche of being a model-turned-artist. I didn't know how to get across to people that it is very serious and that music is my whole life. It almost felt high pressure for me to admit it because I want to do this to the highest degree possible and I believe in my heart that I can, but I've never written music or anything prior to this. Anyways, it was bubbling up for about a year and I remember I went on this trip to Utah last year in May and it was a very spiritual trip. After that, I felt ready to take this leap of faith, to be the one to believe in myself for other people to follow suit. I got back from that trip and instantly put together this cover with a little music video that I posted. It happened pretty quickly from there. I met with a good friend and iconic songwriter, Billy Walsh, and we've been full steam ahead. 

Sounds like a perfect time to dive into your process. Obviously, you come from a different background. You admitted you haven't been a songwriter since forever ago.
So what was that like, especially when you get hit up by an established pro who's willing and wanting to work with you? 

It's so funny, the biggest question was the whole songwriting aspect, because that is a skill that you can sharpen, but some people have it and some people just don't. I'd never tried to write a song because I don't play instruments and that felt like a big obstacle for me. I had no idea what writing was going to look like. At first we thought it was going to be a process of me going in with a bunch of writers and finding the flow, and there was a back and forth like that for a while. But eventually I was over it and just wanted to go into the studio with producers and see what might happen. I think when you're meant to do something, you're meant to do it, and it was bottlenecking inside of me after a certain point. I went in and in 2 weeks, I wrote 10 songs. It came very intrinsically. I wasn’t completely foreign to music, from my opera training and music theory background, but things like song structure were new. Even so, it flowed out of me really naturally. I think if you're a music lover and a curious person and a nerd at the end of the day, it will work. I religiously watch performances and love reading lyrics, I love poetry and I love symphonies. I love listening to all the aspects of songwriting. So all the tools were there, and this was like the first chance I ever really had at applying it for real.

I’d like to point out that even if you didn’t play “instruments,” the voice is still an instrument, and you obviously are very educated as a singer. I’m curious about how you’ve built your artist persona – both from your perspective as a model, but also with all of your passion for various forms of art? 

I'm so happy to answer that question because something that I want to be so clear about is that it's really just not a persona to me. Musicians like to tell a story, and as an artist, you bump it up, but the way I'm dressed in my videos and the way that I present and the over-the-top nature of everything, it's so me and I've always been that way. I love retro glamour, I grew up loving Eartha Kitt. It's always been the way I am. I've always been in thrift shops, I've always loved really darling clothes and really over the top clothes and color. Like my two music videos, I’m wearing clothes I own, not a costume. I style myself. For the “Wouldn’t You Like to Know” video, I designed it in collaboration with a designer. All the work that I put out, whether it's visuals or music, I want it to be me and I want to come across really authentic. I don't have a team of people telling me “This is what's fly right now.” It's really exciting to finally have a way of just really expressing myself to like the fullest degree. 

Love it. The artist-you is just a little more exaggerated version of you-you. 


I would just say, before, I was a model and as a model, you're meant to be a chameleon and become a bunch of different versions of yourself. I always made sure it was rooted in who I am and my taste and my perspective and vision all that stuff. But it’s different from being an artist, where you get to build the world that you want to build. Now, I get to go all out on my vision of myself and the world and my perspective. That dress, from the video, that’s what I’m wearing to the grocery store. And I get crazy looks for sure, but I feel like myself. There's nothing better than feeling comfortable in your skin. 

I haven't gotten quite to your level yet, but I know that it feels good when you can get there. Tell me some of the origin stories and lore of the singles you have out? Why did you decide on these couple of songs to get yourself out there? 

“Infatuation” was my 1st single. There’s a very specific sonic world that I'm building with my music and very specific touchpoints, and “Infatuation” to me felt like the nucleus of everything I’m creating. It doesn't go too deep into any of the references. When I went into making this project, the spiel that I gave to everyone I've worked with is that I want to make a doo-wop album with hip hop drums and jazz, R&B & pop inflections. So some songs lean more pop, some more jazz and some more R&B. This song just felt the most well-rounded, and got all the touch points without leaning too deep into any of them. It was a nice foundation to build everything on top of. It was also the first song I wrote where I was able to listen to it from a third person perspective and really relate to it. It’s just always felt undeniable and very me. 

You did a great job describing your own music, which maybe is intuitive, but not everyone has the words to do it sometimes. Is everything upcoming grounded in that similar genre-collision? 

100%. Because this is my first project, I really wanted to create an undeniable sound and identity. That's very important to me. I want there to be consistency throughout the world. Something that feels like a superpower of mine is I really deeply know who I am. I want that to come across in the world that I'm building. It really is a doo-wop jazz album with hip-hop drums. I love albums, I love eras, and I really want this to feel focused and intentional. I don't want to be putting out stuff that I feel unsure about. 

If everything goes to plan, where are you in a year? 

I just want to be singing, man. As often as possible. I'm so excited to be performing. My music feels very fit for a festival, so I’m excited to work toward that. It's very happy and good energy, which was really important to me.
In a year, my dream is just to be performing for people, continuing songwriting and sharpening my skills.

Gonna pivot to some more fun spontaneous questions. If you could perform with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be? 

This is such an intense question. I'm the kind of person that the people I look up to, I want nothing to do with. Like, I'm scared and I'm obsessed with you. I’m a fangirl. My all-time hero is Amy Winehouse. Singing with her would just be insane, she's such a North Star for me. I love Dionne Warwick. Mariah Carey. She's the best and most underrated songwriter of all time. Those are my 3. I would just have to die after that. I wouldn't know where life goes after that, but those are definitely my 3. 

Can I get a couple of fashion hot takes from you? 

Oh, please. These micro trends have to go away. It's a bit ridiculous. Fashion history at large is capitalizing off of people not knowing who they are. I really hate the whole micro trend thing. It’s obnoxious and weird and wasteful and annoying. Specifically, I don't like basketball shorts with a little tank top. It's just not my vibe. 

I'm old enough to remember when that first came out. It's nostalgic for me, but I get it. 

I just felt they were so much more fly about it in the 90s.


What's a fashion trend you think should come back?

I miss people doing their hair, that sounds so shady, but up until the 2010s, people were so creative with their hair. Think of Lauryn Hill, she would have the dopest hairstyles always. Hair used to be such a statement and a part of people's identities and no one does that anymore. Everyone wants a silky blowout nowadays. 

Last couple of questions. I would love a non-music recommendation. 

I would say something to read, and my something to read is Nikki Giovanni. She's an amazing poet and she has a large collection of all her works, and I read her poems almost every day, and that was a really big help when I knew I was going to be writing songs soon. I think music is just poetry at the end of the day. I love her tone. I love how she kind of balances seriousness and unseriousness to discuss real world topics so eloquently, but so casually and it feels really approachable. She's just fantastic. 

I would also love some music recommendations. 


I'm going to say Linda Lewis. She used to be a famous background singer. She did backgrounds for a bunch of iconic people, but she has some solo projects out and she has this song called “The Same Song.” That's one of my all time favorite songs. I love the lyrics for that song. She has this really beautiful, pure voice that just sounds so angelic and singular. 

I love it. We’ll end on anything you want to say, your words. So advice, anecdotes, shout outs. 

I just want to really thank anyone who's taken the time to check out what I'm doing and is open and receptive and supportive to it. It still feels so surreal. I feel so honored that people take time out of their busy days to just check out anything I'm doing. I'm really grateful for it. 

Thank you so much for your time.