colin! is an up-and-coming rapper straight out of Alabama. I was lucky to come across him, thanks to Apple Music’s Discover Station, just a month ago. Another artist I’m ecstatic to add to my list of modern jazz rappers. The genre emerged in the early 1980s with groups like A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul. Kendrick Lamar frequently dips into this liminal space between rap and jazz, evident in projects like TPAB and untitled unmastered. I’ve noticed a resurgence in the genre with a handful of jazz rappers bringing more light to the category, think Kaicrewsade and KidTokio. colin! is consistently carving out his path and establishing a unique flair of his own with every release being a step up from the last.

Not only does he contribute to the genre of jazz rap, he also heavily uses samples inspired by 90s and early 2000s hits. Accompanied by his mother, he steps outside the boundaries of a rapper to sing and pay homage to Brandy with his own rendition of Brokenhearted. Most of the time, he urgently (and at times, comically) raps about themes of passion and perseverance. His wordplay and entendres can easily go on for days. He’ll go back and forth between discussing his work ethic and love for music in songs like Quick Groove and MYPURPOSE, and then, he’ll give the listener a peak into his emotions with more vulnerable songs like Heart and AGAIN.

colin! is just getting started and has already displayed a range of talents as a composer, songwriter, beatmaker, producer, rapper, and singer. He rightfully gloats on the first track of his first EP, that “he ain’t even 18,” and his earliest work only goes back to 2023 so we are beyond lucky to catch him in his beginning stages. He exhibits tenacity and ambition, proclaiming and eventually proving that he’s “finna make a whole album in this dorm room” in reference to BY ANY MEANS (accurately titled). Despite his recent entrance into the music world, he already has over 50k monthly listeners on spotify alone. If you have taste you can’t not like his music.