“Give me a chance.”
Jon and Jules met Joey around Islands Brygge. He recognised them and asked for a chance to show that he could sing. They listened to his demo and decided to sign and develop him as a Nexus artist.
Unlike Alex, this wasn't an assignment from a record label. Joey was developed within the Nexus community, with Jon and Jules writing and composing music for him alongside Niclas and Jannik.
MoeTown: the entire Nexus setup around one artist
Work on the debut album began in 2005. MoeTown became an 11-track English-language R&B/pop album. Jon & Jules produced the entire record, and Nik & Jay helped write most of the material.
The album was a clear example of the Nexus model: songwriting, production, artist development and the business framework all closely connected around the artist.
The difficult in-between years
The English-language project attracted attention, but didn't achieve the scale or clear identity the team hoped for. The question became what kind of artist Joey should really be.
The shift came when Joey began singing in Danish.
A house beat changed everything
Young Nexus producer Puma had made a more house-oriented beat, which became the foundation of Yo-Yo. Together with Joey's switch to Danish, it gave the project an entirely new energy.
Yo-Yo became Denmark's biggest club hit and spent 48 weeks on the dance chart. It has since been certified double platinum.
From breakthrough to a lasting catalogue
The Danish-language direction continued through releases including Grib Natten, Fuldmåne, Fuldmåne 2.0 and Midnat. Several were later certified gold or platinum.
For Jules, Joey's project demonstrated that artist development isn't only about discovering someone early. It's also about staying with a project long enough to find the right version of it.