It's the year of Destin Conrad.At 25 years old, the queer singer-songwriter already has multiple Grammy nominations under his belt for his work with R&B star Kehlani. His debut album, LOVE ON DIGITAL, came out in April 2025, and then he released a follow-up jazz album, wHIMSY, just four months later. Following the critical acclaim of the first album, the second quickly hit No. 1 on the iTunes contemporary jazz albums chart, above legendary artists like Sade and Miles Davis."I was really nervous putting it out," Conrad tells Out of releasing his new album. "I didn't know what people would think of it or what the reception would be. I thought all the jazz heads were going to just shun me and, like, not fuck with me. But people really like it."Conrad, who's been happy with the reaction to wHIMSY, admits he was worried about the timing of his second album, since it's a departure from his usual pop and R&B stylings."I didn't know I would make it so soon after my debut album. A lot of my friends were like, 'Why are you doing this?' It just, kind of, was a shock," Conrad says, explaining that he thinks the people in his orbit were worried that he'd sacrifice quality control by "putting out too much music." "I was just getting a lot of opinions, and it was really just a passion thing and a heart thing. I really wanted to just do it."In the end, the singer-songwriter says, he doesn't regret trusting his instincts and moving forward with the album."I'm so glad it's being received well, and it's No. 1 still on the jazz charts. It's just a testament to listening to your intuition and trusting your gut and not letting outside opinions sway what you and your heart feel," he says. "I could have easily been like, 'I'm not gonna put it out. My best friend told me that it's too soon.' Even if it's opinions that you value, just take everything with a grain of salt, especially when it comes to your intuition." At only 25, Destin Conrad has multiple Grammy nominations under his belt for his work with R&B star Kehlani.@ryderMr. E, Conrad's alter ego who started off as a track on LOVE ON DIGITAL, is at his full power on wHIMSY. The Florida native describes his alter ego as "just a fuck boy" and also "a dick." "He is a jazz head, and he smokes a lot of cigarettes, and he always has a hat on," he says. "He's a very abrupt personality, and he's very abrasive." There's always an edge in Conrad's music a sensual wink and the listener is in on the joke. Applying that sensibility to jazz seems to have come quite naturally to the songwriter, who talks about his new album as if it was something he was compelled to do."I was in jazz choir in high school, and I always had that muscle, but I didn't really exercise it," Conrad recalls, explaining that the road to the album began with him listening to a lot of jazz and "playing around." "I always knew I wanted to make a jazz album. I didn't know I would make it this soon into my career. Like, I thought I would be more established."The majority of the songs on wHIMSY were written in two weeks, with live instrumentation and some incredible collaborations with his favorite jazz musicians, including Vanisha Gould."'Lonely Detective' was a setup with two different mics. I really wish that someone recorded that because it was so cool," Conrad says of recording one of the two tracks featuring Gould. "Like, it was just me and Vanisha, who I'm a huge, huge, huge fan of. She is one of my favorite jazz singers and, honestly, now one of my favorite people to work with."Conrad describes working with Gould, who flew to L.A. for three days to write and record songs for the album, as "such a dream." But making "A Lonely Detective" sticks out in his mind: We "wrote that song together, and then we sang it at the same time. So, like, how we go back and forth, that's us singing it live. We wrote it and then did it all in one take," he says.The experience has inspired Conrad to do an entire tour dedicated to the album, specifically "a jazz club situation, more intimate shows." When it came to LOVE ON DIGITAL, Conrad says he "wanted to make fun music," and only wanted to work with people that he "was super inspired by." The features on that album include Kehlani, Teezo Touchdown, and serpentwithfeet."I've been a fan of Teezo," Conrad says. "Kehlani, obviously, we worked together, but I'm just like, she is a huge part of my career and a huge force in my life in general.... [She's] my family, like my sister."The two met as teenagers, developing a friendship that evolved as Kehlani's career took off. After penning a few songs with Kehlani, Conrad began writing tracks for himself."I didn't know I was making my first EP. I thought I wanted to be a songwriter only. I just made those songs, and I didn't want them to be sung by anybody else. They were just really personal about real situations in my life," Conrad says. "Then, I was just like, OK, I have to put this out cause I played these songs for my friends and they really like them. "That's how COLORWAY came about, and it kind of just snowballed into what it is now," he says, referring to the release of his debut EP. "I didn't know that I wanted to be an artist for a really long time. I was kind of anti; I thought I wanted to be behind the scenes. I was just going through my teenage angst, I guess."Another person who has had a significant impact on Conrad in the last few years is Lil Nas X. Their LOVE ON DIGITAL track, "P.B.S.," is a certified pretty boy anthem. "I was so inspired by him and his career and everything he does and how loud he is," Conrad says. "He's just fun, like everybody on this project I've hung out with."In 2024, Conrad and Lil Nas X whipped fans into a frenzy with a steamy photoshoot that showed them nearly kissing. After the images went viral, rumors about the two musicians dating began to swirl. "We didn't really make out," Conrad says, addressing speculation about what happened on the set and laughing. "The shoot itself was fun. He's like the most fun person ever."While his collaboration with Lil Nas X delivered a moment of internet fame, Conrad's digital footprint didn't start there. As a teenager, he attracted a fair amount of attention on the chaotic video app Vine and evidence of those days lingers. You've maybe even used his face as a meme without realizing it. "I used to be really embarrassed of it. I used to be really scared that nobody would take me seriously as an artist, and it would stop me from making music," Conrad says. After Vine shut down in 2017, Conrad went off the grid and struggled with which direction he wanted his life to go. "There was a period of time where I wasn't doing anything. Like, I wasn't making music, but I wasn't online because that wasn't a thing between 2017 and 2020," he says. "I was going through this phase of just figuring out what I wanted to do for a living."Thankfully, Kehlani lifted his spirits and got him to start spending time in the studio. "She really got me out of that. She was like, 'Nobody cares,'" Conrad says, explaining that, after helping him get over his embarrassment, Kehlani eventually convinced him to step in front of the mic. "She was such a force and would bring me to the studio and just push me. She was like, 'You can really sing; you can make music.' I blame her for a lot of that."Conrad clearly hasn't lost his sense of humor, even if he's come a long way from his Vine days. He's even proud of the mark his younger self made online and still occasionally goes viral with a humorous TikTok. "I think it's tight now that I'm, like, grown," he reflects. "I'm glad I figured it out."We are, too, because Destin Conrad is creating some of the best music of the year.Destin Conrad's new albums wHIMSY and LOVE ON DIGITAL are out now. Catch him on the LOVE ON DIGITAL tour around the U.S. - YouTube www.youtube.com