In 2017 Joe loaded up his old 4-Runner with a guitar and some clothes, and backed it out his parents’ Michigan driveway on his way to Los Angeles. He arrived with no place to stay. His only lead was a Craigslist ad for a hostel in South Central—which was the only option in his price range. He was the 30th person to move into the house, and claimed the eighth and final bunk in his room. It wasn't perfect, but it was something.
As luck and destiny would have it, that rundown house full of misfits ended up being a fantastic blessing for Joe and his musical career. With a few of his roommates, he turned the garage into a makeshift studio and spent countless hours working on the craft of songwriting, production, and musical performance. Joe dug in as a guitarist and found many new avenues to expand his creative footprint. With little to no privacy in his bedroom, he spent every possible second writing songs and learning different musical styles from his talented and equally driven roommates. He soon found a personal aesthetic core mixing r&b, funk, and hip-hop with his own dark mix of pop and rock. With a need to acknowledge and put a spotlight on his newfound stylistic signature, he chose his middle name, put it in all caps, and HILTON was born.
HILTON co-produced "Crash" with Tristan 'Tito' Seccuro—who has worked with legends like Juice WRLD, The Kid LAROI, and 24kGoldn. This short but sweet pop jam explores that sense of vulnerability when we feel like we need a little bit of support from the people that are closest to us. "Crash" combines a sparkling and pervasive hook on the acoustic guitar with a sparse, laser-like production vibe that might remind you a bit of Jeremy Zucker—delivering a poignant moment-in-time that is both succinct and universal.
