Simone Joy Jones is the gift that keeps on giving. Most know her as Lisa from the Peacock hit series Bel-Air, a spin-off of the classic Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, but after the show’s third season, Jones sought to cement her name in a new role: as a singer. As 2024 came to a close, Jones released her debut album Magnet under the moniker S!MONE.
“All of these songs or stories [are] from my last two years in LA, which, at the time, were just so pivotal” she tells Uproxx about the project.” I had gotten the biggest job of my life, so far. I’m still in my early 20s [and] I had been hurt falling out of love. So everything was just so potent.”
Magnet is an impressive body of work from that stamps her as a multi-talented artist. S!MONE charms through ten stories that explore the essence of magnetism and how we as humans are drawn to each other and experiences that are most beneficial when being our true selves. S!MONE offers raw records like “Homebody” and “Why Does It Rain?” as well as glamorous efforts like “Tangerine” and “Borderline.” Speaking about Magnet, S!MONE said “it boosted my confidence as a storyteller,” adding, “to see the growth from my very first EP that I made in my bedroom was exponential. [Magnet] helped me by just loving me back.”
Through just one listen of Magnet, S!MONE hopes that she can accomplish one goal with her listeners. “I hope I’ve told my experiences authentically enough so that people relate, or maybe they’ll judge me, but I welcome all of that,” she says. “Mostly, I hope they sing along and make these songs a part of their rotation.”
With Magnet out now, we placed S!MONE under the Uproxx Music 20 spotlight to learn more about her influences, inspirations, and aspirations. Scroll down to discover the best of S!MONE.
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What is your earliest memory of music?
It is definitely singing in the car with my parents, with our radio. We used to have Christian CDs and Prince CDs. Anything that was ’80s, they had it on CD. That’s my earliest memory and then it would be in church after that, with my mom. [This is around] four to six years old.
Who or what inspired you to take music seriously?
I feel like it was my parents because music was never a dream or a faraway thing for my parents. They always set it up as, “Oh yeah, that’s a career. If you see it, you could do it.” I remember in first grade, I went to my teachers and we had this assignment of “Who do you want to be when you grow up?” and I was like, “I’m gonna be a singer! I’m gonna be an actress!” and they were like, “Okay, we need a plan B because that’s gonna be really hard.” I took that assignment home, and my mom said, “You go tell that teacher that you don’t need a plan B and I don’t care if you fail because if you work really hard on your plan A, then it’s gonna work out. You don’t need a plan B.” That’s when it really became real to me.
Do you know how to play an instrument? If so, which one? If not, which instrument do you want to learn how to play?
I’m learning piano and guitar right now. I love this new… just being in control, it’s like speaking the same language as everybody else in the studio. I work with musicians that I love. Everything on the project for Magnet was built from the ground up, there are no loops or anything except for “Borderline.” So, I respect music and I can read music because my instrument has been my voice, especially coming from Broadway and musical theater. So, I’m a musician, but not in tactile ways. Now I am. I love the way my voice sounds with [the] electric guitar. That’s my favorite, I would say.
What was your first job?
I was hustling candy from Costco. My parents are always entrepreneurs and they’re like, “You gotta work for yourself! You gotta work for yourself!” They’re like, “Working for your dreams is hard, but working at McDonald’s is equally hard.” I said, “Real!” My dad bought me this big box of candy from Costco and he was like, “I’ll front you this, and then the money you make from this one, you buy the next one.” So I was hustling candy in sixth grade. I was the only girl doing it. I was selling everything for $1 each and I was making so much bank. I was like, “Oh word, this is working. This is money. Got it.” Wait actually, hold on, before I did that, I was on Broadway. My first job was Broadway. My first job was a play called Miracle Worker. Yeah, that was my first job. That was fifth grade. I left fifth grade to go do that.
What is your most prized possession?
That’s funny. I had the fires next to me, and honestly, I didn’t take much. My grandmother had a clock in her house that I took to my house, so I put that in my car, I put my guitar in my car, and my photo albums. I don’t really have any possessions that I’m like, ‘I need this.’ Everything else can really be replaced, except the photos.
What is your biggest fear?
I feel like I literally eliminated my fear of death a very long time ago. It would just be losing my family or them getting sick. That’s my big fear for sure.
Who is on your music Mt. Rushmore?
My musical Mt. Rushmore is really tough because I’ve been influenced by so many artists who have changed my life, but right now who comes to mind are these: Michael Jackson, Erykah Badu, SZA, and Childish Gambino.
You get 24 hours to yourself to do anything you want, with unlimited resources: What are you doing? And spare no details!
I would start in San Antonio, I would wake up with my family. I’ll have a private jet outside [and] I’ll pick up my homegirls from San Antonio. I would have food and everything on the jet, then we would fly to LA. Basically, it would be a big setup for a big party in the day. We got 24 hours, I just want my family and my friends to be set up with a big party somewhere beautiful. We would go pick up my friends, we would fly to a beautiful Topanga house, and we would all chill there for the day. We would have anything that we would want. Maybe a pool and a hot tub and such. I know that’s probably a selfish thing to do with all of my resources and 24 hours, but I would just want a party for me and mines.
What is the best song you’ve ever made?
That’s a great question because there are songs that mean different things to me, but I don’t know if I would put them first in front of people, and I feel like I’m constantly getting better. But you know what song I really, really love? “Matter Of Time.” The musicianship in that one, the way it was made, how sexy it feels, how raw it feels, the way I feel like I get to sing, but it still feels like it could live in a play in a well. I like that one.
What’s a feature you need to secure before you die?
I mean, Beyoncé is always gonna be my answer, but I’ll probably feature on her thing. I’m trying to think of someone other than the obvious answer, Beyoncé because I just love her so much. I would really love a feature with Dijon. He has such beautiful music that touches, and I feel like I would love that song and I would just play it. That’s just a selfish thing for me, I would just be running that sh*t back all the time.
If you could appear in a future season of a current TV show, which one would it be and why?
Severance. I’m so excited for the [Season 2] finale. That one and The Boys. I know it’s done now, but The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is also a great one. That’s my full world.
Which celebrity do you admire or respect for their personality, and why?
I would say Will Smith just because he’s just who I thought he would be growing up and that’s rare, I would say. I’ve met some of my crazy idols out here, and most of them have been great, but even great is not what you thought they would be.
Share your opinion on something no one could ever change your mind about.
Trump isn’t a good person to be in office.
What is the best song you’ve ever heard in your life, and what do you love about it?
There are a handful of songs that change your life for sure, but what I keep coming back to is “Hello” by Erykah Badu. Also, I want her on my future thing. She really changed the way I thought about music, too, but “Hello” with her and André 3000. I feel like it made me think about relationships different and made me feel seen in a way where I was like, “Yeah, you’re right. It is important to me that you’re free,” like f*ck. I was talking to myself and reaffirming my own beliefs, and the way the song just felt and then the use of the sample from the original song, “Hello, It’s Me.” It was just a masterclass in itself. Whats yours? I want to know.
It really depends on the week because I listen to so much music, but right now I’d say “Stan” by 6lack. It reminds me of being in college, figuring out the world with adulthood right in front of you. In comes this song that’s like I’m not the best at showing my feelings, but one thing for sure, I can write them down. Right now, that’s my answer, but if you hit me up in a week, I’ll have something completely different, like it’ll be a Ne-Yo song. Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, it’s probably “How Much A Dollar Cost” by Kendrick Lamar.
That’s also a phenomenal song. I mean, both of them are one of them ones. Those are phenomenal answers.
What’s your favorite city in the world to perform, and what’s a city you’re excited to perform in for the first time?
My only time on tour was with Coco [Jones]. (Thank you so much for the tour, Coco!) That was amazing, it taught me so much. You think you’re excited to play big cities, but they’re snooty. If you go to freaking Minnesota, they’re like, “Whaaaa!!!” Their heart and soul is really in the music, and they know everything. Honestly, Chicago was such a great show to play. I think also Tennessee, because it was Coco’s hometown, and watching her have that much love, and whoever she brought to support had so much love and I feel like… Oh my God wait, what am I talking about? We went to Dallas! The majority of my fans were in Texas, which was crazy, and they were just turning up the whole time and that was the best. Performing is such an exchange of energy and I just thought that was really cool and so fun.
You are throwing a music festival. Give us the dream lineup of five artists that will perform with you and the location where it would be held.
I’m gonna curate an experience that I would want to go to. So we would be in a rain forest by a big-ass waterfall, but somehow the sound is really perfect. There would be views 360 all around. It would be SZA, it would be Solange, it would be Erykah Badu, it would be Jhené Aiko, and it would be Willow because she fits in here, but she would also just have a little punk-rock for us. It would be a little healing retreat, but we would also be singing down and I feel like all those people are on the same page with energy and it would just be like a high frequency event.
What would you be doing now if it weren’t for music?
I really had to dissect my relationship with the arts in general, specifically in 2020 because when nothing was happening or going, I felt like music was my hobby, my career, my way to self soothe, and the thing that frustrated me. So I was like, you need to diversify just for my health. I was thinking, what other things make me happy? It’s being around people, learning, [and] being a good communicator. So I feel like I would work for the United Nations and be a polyglot, and I would translate and be among other cultures and people to create mutual understanding for different scholars. I feel like [that] would make Simone happy.
If you could see five years into the future or go five years into the past, which one would you pick and why?
I just used to be like, “I would never change anything because life happens and it’s supposed to happen,” but there’s this one thing, that one thing… if I could really change it, I would. Because, sometimes no matter which way I flip it for the positivity, I be like, “Damn, that was really f*cked up” [laughs]. Honestly, I would say five years in the past, because the last five years, 1.) I would get to change this one decision that I didn’t like, and then 2.) I could just relive some just incredible years. I wouldn’t change anything, honestly, I would just relive it. I’m gonna get to the five years in the future and I just don’t want to skip anything. I [could be] over here chilling with Erkyah, I’m like, “Girl, how did I get here?” Sitting here over the phone with SZA like, “Girl, how did we get here?” No, yeah I’d miss my girls’ wedding and stuff. I can’t do that.
What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 15-year-old self?
18-year-old me… what was she doing? My sophomore of high school, I’d just move schools again for the fifth or sixth time. I always was really good at growing roots anywhere I was, so it didn’t really bother me. I also liked meeting new people. I would just be like, keep going. You are who you think you are and I feel like I had a good head on my shoulders. I had this one boy I liked, [but] he was like, “My mom just doesn’t like you, it’s not gonna work out.” I don’t know why, [but] I was really torn up about that. [It] really did take me out for something and I was like, “Never will a man play me ever again.” I would just be like, yeah, keep going. I feel like that was the first time [that] I really had mean girls around. Girls were really trying to be like, “You’re not who you think you are,” and I was like, “I am.” So I would just be like, keep growing girl you’re doing great.
It’s 2050. The world hasn’t ended, and people are still listening to your music. How would you like it to be remembered?
I would love it to be remembered as like, “Oh, remember when S!MONE’s song came out and then such and such fell over the bar because he was trying to get to the dance floor?” You know, I would love it to be the way you just sat there and had that memory wash over you with the 6lack song. I would like it to be close and intertwined with people’s favorite memories. That’s how I would like to be remember it.
Magnet is out now via Joy Records. Find more information here.
