From Youthful R&B to Timeless Jazz by Mr. E | A Deep Dive into Destin Conrad’s Dueling 2025 Albums
Alberto Aliaga | Sep 9, 2025
Destin Conrad has been making waves in the R&B world with his debut album, Love On Digital, released earlier this year. And to be fair, he was making waves long before it dropped, and is making even more now. But for a proper debut collection, Love On Digital re-introduced Conrad as something he had always been: an impossibly gifted songwriter and vocalist, a confident LGBTQ voice with a clear artistic vision steeped in timeless Neo-Soul. Conceptually, the album explores what dating looks like in a hyper-connected world from Facetime dates and saucy voice notes to late-night sexts, and how all of it defines the new age of finding love and exploring lust. The album shines a light on the highs and lows of intimacy in an era where falling in love behind a screen is as common, if not more so, than falling for someone face to face.
Kissing In Public is the single that kicked off the project, but it’s more than just a pre-release banger. It serves as a celebration of queer love and emotional transparency - core values that reverberate through the entire album. Here, Conrad channels the golden era of R&B through a modern muse, fusing spacey synths, floating percussion, and nostalgic nods to create a warm, futuristic sound that is distinctly his own, albeit still rooted in the timeless history books of the genre’s past.
P.B.S and Bad Bitches are club hits underlined by flirtatious lyricism and danceable beats, while Soft Side and Delusional dig into a more introspective side of the album - a deeper dive into Destin Conrad. Both of the latter tracks find our protagonist deeply vulnerable, connecting with listeners by way of relatable emotions and immersive songwriting. These contrasts allow the emotional weight of the album to carry it from the dance floor to the quiet moments that follow, while Destin showcases his ability as a vocalist that can craft a banger and a ballad with seamless transition.
Love On Digital is a powerful debut and a mainfesto of identity that feels intentional and authentic to Destin Conrad at every beat, even as starry features grace the tracklist. Through and through, it feels wholeheartedly him. His vocal range is front and center in every song, smooth and full of personality, as if he’s having a personal conversation with each listener. At moments, the music itself feels like proof that love in a technologically convoluted era can still feel connected, honest, and authentic.
Just months after releasing Love On Digital, Destin Conrad is making a daring change of pace with wHIMSY, An Alternative Jazz Album, Presented by Mr. E. Driven by a jazz-forward sound and a funky alter-ego, this is not just another album that follows suit to his established stylistic direction. Instead, Destin is trading his signature spacy, digital sound for organic instrumentation that transports listeners to an intimate smoke-filled jazz club.
Destin Conrad’s artistry is evident in both projects. His discourse explores intimacy from different angles but has the same underlying emotional toll. Love On Digital is flirty, playful, and effortlessly modern while wHIMSY takes a step back and slows things down. They bookend Destin Conrad’s musical range. One moment the listener is in the club shaking ass then they’re in a quiet, dimly lit room. And as has always been the case with Destin’s thoughtful poetics, both projects reward attention, unlocking new nuances with each listen. Together they exhibit different layers of Conrad as an artist and a human being.
wHIMSY was recorded during an inspired two-week stretch in L.A. Although the project feels spontaneous, it also feels intentional. From the first note, it pulls you into an underground, calming state. It feels intimate, allowing listeners to be a fly on the wall and witness the mad genius that happened between Destin Conrad, his collaborators, and the instruments themselves.
wHIP sets the tone as Keyon Harold’s trumpet harmonizes with Conrad’s sultry voice. It’s a slow warm up invitation of the mood and emotion to come. Seen similarly in wASH U AWAY, Terrance Martin’s saxophone creates an intoxicatingly intimate environment. Both tracks offer a unique call and response that you normally witness between two vocalists, feeling as though the vocals and the belts of brass are themselves having a private conversation.
Although, wHIMSY thrives on collaboration, Destin Conrad never loses control of the narrative. All of his collaborators feel as if they are an extension of his musical direction. Even the interludes, Glory and Ambre’s Interlude (But Jazz), feel as if they’re not breaks but breathing spaces to allow the instruments to move the album forward, just like the vocals. It’s as much about space and layering as it is about melody, inviting a listener to sit down, dim the lights, and let the project take over.
wHIMSY is so compelling because Destin Conrad is at his absolute boldest. His refusal to play by the expected rules of R&B - or even the groundwork that his prior releases have laid for his own expectations - grants him new spaces to freely maneuver. Not created to chase the charts but to craft something timeless and blatantly unique, Destin pivots in a rare way for an artist still so fresh in his career. And because of that, it positions Conrad as more than what he had already proven to be - an impeccably talented, impossibly young heir to R&B’s top shelf. Rather - by way of wHIMSY - he emerges a maestro of emotion and an architect of a space, allowing listeners to immerse themselves into something eccentric yet still tethered to his prior - and incredibly recent - debut masterpiece. Together, the projects coalesce into his true full-length studio debut.
