When people think of Smithtown, they likely aren’t thinking about who made a musical impact. In fact, it doesn’t seem like anyone of particular significance has hailed from this humble abode, and the recognition of Long Island artists seem to stop at sensations like Billy Joel and Mariah Carey. What people don’t seem to know is that Jon Bellion is a musician in a multitude of capacities, and a significant one, too.
In addition to his own work, the 31 year-old singer/songwriter hailing from Lake Grove, NY has been working since 2011, but his love of music began long before that. A real life Troy Bolton, he was torn between his passion for basketball and music while attending Sachem High School North. He ended up deciding to pursue music by his junior year however, and attended the music program at Five Towns College in Dix Hills. However, he ultimately dropped out at 19 to pursue his songwriting career professionally. After working for Warner Brothers for a year, he signed a deal for executive Kara DioGuardi, and the rest is history.
How much of his music is really recognizable, though? Well, he’s written for the likes of Justin Bieber, Camilla Cabello, Miley Cyrus, Dua Lipa, Maroon 5, and Katy Perry. His most notable song perhaps is likely “The Monster” by Eminem featuring Rihanna, which he co-wrote the chorus for. The song ended up winning a Grammy in 2015 for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, which he subsequently shared with Rihanna, Eminem, and the other accredited writers and producers of the song respectively. More recently, he was a fellow nominee on the team of Justin Bieber’s composers for “Triple Chucks Deluxe”, nominated for Album of the Year. Additionally, he was solely nominated for the MTV Europe Music Award for Best Push Act in 2017.
Besides writing for some of the biggest pop singers and rappers of today, Bellion has produced plenty of music of his own. He has released four mixtapes and two studio albums. His first, “The Human Condition”, released in 2016, peaked at number five on the US Billboard 200. The album includes the track “80s Films,” and includes a lyric referencing something that may sound familiar: “She said, ‘How’d we end up in this parking lot in Smithtown?’”
Rather obviously, despite the great honor of being a composer for such big names, one would think it becomes a little degrading when you’re not a big name yourself. Moreover, fans of artists tend to forget the tens of people working behind the scenes on a single song, and blindly credit the single famous musician for all the work. To Bellion though, reaching maximum fame and success is not paramount, as it costs everything else you have in the long run. He tells CoupDeMain, “Of course they (the record labels) want you to get bigger, but then you realize the level that you have to operate on, so is it worth it? Is it worth your marriage? Is it worth your family life? Is it worth all these things? And it’s not.”
