Jahson Paynter Unveils New Single 'boys don't cry!' From EP

Singer-songwriter Jahson Paynter has unveiled his new single 'boys don't cry!,' the latest off his forthcoming EP hold me, don't hold back! out October 29th.

'boys don't cry!' is a quintessential, supreme R&B tune. Catching Jahson mid-spiral, the track finds Jahson breaking down on a friend's front porch, afraid to emote and display the weight of the pain, yet knowing he'll be stronger by allowing himself to feel.

'boys don't cry! is testing the limits of how much someone will be there for you,' Paynter shares. 'A lot of males I find are scared to be looked at as less than, but to me, accepting your emotions and being in acknowledgment of them is what truly makes a man, so if I gotta cry than ima shed a tear or two.'

Over five tracks, Paynter's second EP of 2026, hold me, don't hold back!, offers five wildly different modes of vulnerability, singing these feelings for himself in ways that are his own. With each song offering a different element of his alternative R&B, folk, and bedroom pop-infused sound, the new EP is a shot of pure feeling, with Paynter singing about exactly where he is now and intends to go over absolutely magnetic tunes.

hold me, don't hold back! Tracklist

'no self respect!'

'hold me!'

'don't hold back!'

'boys don't cry!'

'green light!'

Jahson has taken tracks off the new EP on the road this fall, performing them for his hometown crowd in Toronto this past weekend, along with two upcoming, highly anticipated headline performances in New York tonight and Los Angeles at the end of October - buy tickets here. Following a breakout year in 2025, Jahson Paynter is primed for even more success as his star continues to climb.

Fall 2026 Tour Dates

October 14, 2026 - New York, NY // Night Club 101

October 28, 2026 - Los Angeles, CA // The Echo

About Jahson Paynter

Born in Mississauga, Ontario, Jahson Paynter's family was musical: his mom a songwriter, his father a rapper turned reggae singer, and his aunt a spoken-word performer with deep gospel roots. He'd been around studios his entire life, but he began recording, putting his first rap track on YouTube in the ninth grade before beginning to sing harmonies for a local producer. In no time, he got good enough to release his first R&B project by the time he finished high school.

He soon after moved to Los Angeles on a trial basis, taking as many songwriting sessions as he could squeeze into a day's schedule. Several thousand miles away from his family, lonely and working relentlessly, he began to realize who he was as a person and an artist, slowly recognizing that these songs he was passing to other people were in fact the story of his life. Shouldn't he be the one singing them?

In a little more than a year, Jahson Paynter has issued a string of singles and an EP that showcase someone arriving in the world open and clear, to tell us what it's like to live a life. His astounding first EP, is anybody home!?, released this past May, slipped into the lacunae between Dijon and Bon Iver, James Blake and Frank Ocean, through ascendant experimental pop, and the absolute confusion of relationships through brilliantly scrambled ballads. He's started to find success he never had back home, several of his songs having been picked up by superstars as his own records gain traction.