When you can hear a raw, unbridled passion in someones voice that feels timeless, that could find light within the darkest depths of the night, and weave evocative stories together whilst making it look like second nature, then you know you’ve heard something special. That warm sensation of goosebumps dancing up your body, I got to experience that when hearing Gabriel Jacoby’s single and my admiration for the 24 year old hasn’t stopped since that moment.

Growing up as the oldest of 7 children in Andersen, South Carolina, Jacoby had to grow up fast to work within his family dynamic. Looking after his siblings and helping his parents, he learnt early on how to take matters into his own hands. It’s best said in his own words, “Who I am is not based on any type of ego – I was raised in the ghettos of South Carolina and Florida with kids who grew up to be gangsters, and I am who I am because of those experiences. I’m at the center of everything I do and create, and everything I do is unique to me. To me, art is just art, and I’m not here to cater to the culture, but to glue ideas and people together. I’m here to make a change.” He’s proven time and time again that, more than anything, he’s a fighter. Willing to do whatever it takes to pursue his creative ideology, and his debut is no exception.

Written, produced, mixed, mastered and directed by him all whilst being homeless and sleeping in a studio in Tampa, as you stand next to me is a breathtaking, indefinable expression of art. His honey drizzled voice effortlessly glides over the intimate soundscape, immersing the listener within a story they’re in awe of, enrapturing them in a timeless sound that harkens back to the classics with a firm eye to the future. His authentic emotion cascades onto the melodies, allowing his passion to run deep into the music to the point where the artist and his are indistinguishable from one another.

Gabriel Jacoby has cultivated an idiosyncratic sound that has allowed to him to create a true expression of his life. From the darkness we’re seeing a shining star emerge.