With a flirty jock facade that makes gym bros nervous, musician Jonah Almost (born Jonah Daniel Rollins) has noticed the lines increasingly blurring between himself and his stage persona. Sitting in the V Magazine conference room, wearing a t-shirt that says “pervert,” he nods naughtily when I tell him that he reminds me of Chuck Palahniuk’s devilish, homoerotic character Tyler Durden from the novel Fight Club. “I like sleazy, criminal aesthetics, [but] I think it gives people a limited perspective of who I am.” Rollins admits that offscreen he’s actually a thoughtful romantic.

In the gay lexicon, there’s a word for men like Rollins: trade. 

Trade “typically refers to a DL guy,” meaning someone who is down-low or discreet about their sexual identity, “or a blue-collar dude who’s maybe not out. Or, if he is out, he’s very masc or straight-acting,” Rollins explains. His chthonic swagger, in other words, functions as a sort of macho Trojan horse for queer narratives. As he puts it: “What we get served in the queer community is often so one-note, we need more bro representation.” 

Rollins’ persona isn’t simply meathead cosplay. The musician grew up in between New York and Texas, and, at the age of 18, found himself spending a memorable 16 hours in the infamous Berlin club, Berghain. It changed his life. 

“That was such a formative experience for me—sonically, aesthetically, and I saw all these sexy tattooed men. I was like, damn, I want to be covered in tattoos.”

One of the many tattoos he’s gotten since represents the dichotomy at the heart of Jonah Almost. “I really wanted a douchey forearm piece that guys would put like, ‘respect’ or ‘loyalty’ on, but I did it with the first big word I ever integrated into my vocabulary: vicissitudes,” he says, showing off the massive cursive piece on his right arm, “Vicissitudes are the ups and downs of life, but the ones that are character-defining.”

When Rollins returned to New York, he was intent on recreating this revelatory rave experience, so he bought a synthesizer. “I was like: I want to find the scene, I want to find the underground, I want to meet people, I want to start making music.” But it wasn’t that easy. “People were so mean to me at the beginning, they thought I was just this basic little twink—which in some ways I was.”

Eventually, though, he made his way, and soon Jonah Almost, musician and DJ, was born

Jonah Almost “is the qualities that I already have as a person, but turned up to 10,” he says. “It’s a bit.” One to which Rollins has committed whole-heartedly. In 2022, Rollins walked for Vetements at Paris Fashion Week. At the end of the runway, in front of the fashion world’s elite, as if to frame his slack-jawed, vacant-eyed, himbo expression, he stuck up his middle fingers. “They didn’t tell me to do it, but I was just like, this is iconic. Sorry.” Peak Jonah Almost faux-douchery.

He mentions the runway moment in his hit single, “World Trade”, which is a play on the concept of “trade” and his love for New York City and its skyline. (“My dick big like the Empire State,” he sings in a hushed, sex operator voice.) Though the song is filled with this kind of not-so-subtle innuendos, at its core it’s a profession of love. “All my music is horny, but romantic,” Rollins says. 

Last summer, Jonah Almost began to supersede Jonah Rollins. This was a problem. “I’m going through my first evolution as an artist,” Rollins reflects. “How do I catch Jonah Almost up with who Jonah Rollins actually is?” In the time Rollins has also beenJonah Almost, he’s tried on a number of different side-personalities like Rave Star, Future DILF, and the Man with the Biggest Dick in NYC.

Now, Rollins has settled on an official new persona:  JD Class. 

“JD is Jonah Daniel. Class is supposed to be representing my classy evolution,” he explains. “Jonah Almost was of the streets and now he’s graduating, he’s becoming a young boss.” On the mood board for JD Class is Christopher Moltisanti from The Sopranos and young Goldie. “Suave, badass, but also still, like, swaggy.” Ultimately, Rollins is having fun and collecting memories. He plans to become a father one day—his Catholic parents are happily married. He wants to give his kids something to look at and say, “Woah. My dad was a total stud back in the day.”  

This story appears in the pages of VMAN 53: now available for purchase!

Photography Anna Henderson

Fashion Liv Vitale

Makeup Kevin Cheah (Kramer + Kramer)

Hair Andrew Chen (Kramer + Kramer)

Digital technician Takashi Soehl

Photo assistants Jarod Polakoff, Lamar Kendrick-Dial

Location 16 Beaver Studio