We’ve all felt strong emotions listening to music. Sad songs may bring us to tears, while joyful music can make us feel euphoric. Music may make us better people is by making us happier—and therefore more likely to give of ourselves. Many people dream of making it big in the industry, but the industry is demanding and fast-paced. Only a select few can survive, and fewer still thrive. It takes skill, charm, and an innate gift for music to rise above the others.
Unless you live in Houston it’s no real surprise if you haven’t heard of Jimmy Bolt, yet. The rapper is an up-and-coming star of the Houston music scene, and while his talent is considerable he’s just starting to attract a wider audience. Even though he’s just starting to grow his audience, there’s one thing that’s certain, you want to know this artist.
At just 21, Jimmy Bolt already has an impressive discography consisting of several singles and collaborative releases along with his huge first album. Despite his young age that isn’t really a surprise. Jimmy Bolt has been making music since his junior year in high school. He’d already been working toward a career in music for years by the time he signed a contract and started to get more mainstream attention. His first album ‘Finally Noticed’ dropped in 2018 with an impressive 24 tracks included.
That’s right. The then 19-year-old artist dropped his first album with fully twice the average number of tracks. That’s doubly impressive when you consider the evolution of the tracks on his album, some leaning into a hard hip-hop vibe with some electronica elements that fit right in with mainstream music, others with the more melodic and harmonizing sound that’s a defining feature of his most recent single. Speaking of that most recent single, ‘Shots’ dropped in late 2020 and represents another evolution for Jimmy Bolt. It’s more melodic sound isn’t a real surprise if you’ve listened to some of his earlier tracks like ‘Put You in Place’ and ‘Lick me Up’, both from ‘Finally Noticed’.
The real evolution here is in the presentation of Jimmy Bolt’s unique voice. Instead of using autotune like on many of his previous songs his rapping has a much more natural sound. His natural voice comes across with a kind of raw genuine sound that is much less common and speaks to his raw talent and dedication. After all, the rapper has been putting in an awful lot of recording hours during his recent release hiatus. He might not have been putting out a lot of new songs up until the last few months of 2020, but he’s clearly been practicing and perfecting his own unique sound.
All that extra time in the recording booth has paid off with this new sound. More than his previous songs and album, which all showed the skill and raw talent Jimmy Bolt brings to the table, ‘Shots’ shows where Bolt is coming from. This song really shows the potential for the mix of talent and musical familiarity Jimmy Bolt brings to the table. ‘Shots’ shows the musical elements he draws from other genres and from the love of music he was raised to cherish. His music incorporates elements of electronica, jazz, rock, and even harder genres to create something both class and new. The raw talent behind his voice combined with a breathy realness makes the song hit harder than its soft music and harmonies would suggest.
Jimmy Bolt might mostly be a name in Houston right now, but that isn’t going to last much longer. As Bolt is getting ready to start releasing new music, we’re sure that he’s going to reach new heights of fame and recognition.