My second draft of my article included the heading and a opening paragraph to establish my artist on a whole. I have also included the artists inspiration to get it much more like a published magazine article

Drop out to Sell Out

Born in Detroit and raised in the slums, college dropout Jack Smite was born in to the darkness being as far away from a shot of fame as any one person can be. This all changed a year ago now owning one of the largest selling records in the US with his album “One Life”. Powered by his past he’s here to show what music is all about. Find out more information on Jack in Music Now with an Exclusive interview.

 

Born in the depths of Detroit at the St. Johns Hospital and Medical Centre, Jack was raised from the slums with no insight as to what his life was going to be like when he grew up and graduated from school. His hopes and ambitions pushed him for a better life after being raised by a single mum who struggled with day to day activities.

From the age of 12 he had discovered his profound love for music getting his first ever guitar for Christmas where he began to adapt his musical ability; self-teaching chords and writing lyrics for his music classes which, unlike his other subjects, he excelled in coming out with top grades and performing in school shows as a solo performance with songs he had written. As the years went on and he graduated from high school, Jack went on to study music at Wayne County Community College where he studied for one year until dropping out, as he grew tired of the course not offering what he wanted out of life with his musical ability. It wasn’t until two years later where he got recognised for his musical talent after starting up a YouTube channel back in 2014. From there on was a turnaround for his life as he released a debut single in summer 2015 which sold over 2.3 million copies to date and in its first week sold 900,000 in its first week on sale. This was a stepping stone for Jack as he is now one of the biggest names in music in the U.S as he is about to release his first album “Alone in the Dark” which features 3 of his top songs “Reach out for the Title”, “Keep going”, “Forgive” with his U.K number 1 “Mamma don’t leave” which tells the heart wrenching story of his mother’s struggle through his upbringing.

With our exclusive interview we managed to get a much more in-depth look into his life and the album he’s releasing.

Coming from such a rough area, getting to grips with his album was important to him as it “hits close to home” he tells to us. The title of the album itself is an important process he went through as a teen, struggling form depression it really opened his eyes on the real world and helped him realise who his true friends were and still are, “Growing up as an only child you don’t really have someone to open yourself up to, there was always my mother but she was going through enough as it was so I would usually turn to being alone until my best friend, Kyle, actually approached me about it one day and guided me into the light if you’d like, That’s basically what the song for the album title is about, it’s a dedicated song to him really”

During the interview, we learned about how jack would “sit at home and just listen to artists” of which would really touch him with lyrical meanings. One of these being Ed Sheeran who was a new artist himself a few years ago, but, despite having a love for Ed’s music, his biggest inspiration for song writing was the script and he particularly related to “If you could see me now” as it spoke about missing a father. Both artists had lyrics that put Jack into a mind-set of wanting to write about personal matters and that’s what sparked the creation of the singer/song writer we know and love.

Jack features a multiple array of dedicated songs throughout his album to “give back” to the people who really helped him and for those who he had lost along the way due to a lot of moving. The one song to really be spoken about though is “Mamma Don’t Leave” which really draws in on the emotional input Jack has to his music writing. Jack really opened up about this song as he had so much to say about it: “It’s one that really hits me, personally, in the heart. There isn’t anyone I care for more in the world than her (Sam) and the fact that I’m able to have something published to the world about her for everyone to see how much of an amazing person she is just really takes my breath away. The things she’s been through is so much for anyone to handle mentally and I honestly think if anyone else were to experience it all they’d lose their sanity”

An overlook of the whole album shows just what the newly formed star is capable of and how far his music will go. His Album goes on sale 10^th February 2017 and is looking up for a high hitter with a fan base larger than previous stars who have had U.K number 1s. The album will be available for Hard Disc copies and Downloadable via the app store and google Play store, or alternatively you can go and get a sneak peek at one of his new songs on our live studio page on our website at www.musicnow.com