De’Wayne Jackson – Truth Is [Video]

De’Wayne Jackson spent his formative years in a small suburb outside of Houston, immersed in a city that was fast becoming known for its burgeoning hip-hop and lean culture. “It’s a really good culture, but if you wasn’t doing that- like, even now –  you’re considered a bit of a weirdo if you were doing anything other than that,” remembers Jackson – now 21 years old and living in Los Angeles. The walls of the charismatic artist’s room are a wistful collage of eclectic artists from Kurt Cobain to Morrissey.

“Ever since I was younger, I always knew I was a bit of an outsider, but it never really scared me from making my own type of music,” he proclaims. “I just kind of embraced it,” he adds, reminiscing on his musical tastes at the time, which consisted of listening to “a lot of J. Cole and Kendrick” in between singing in his church gospel choir.