Open your preferred digital streaming platform, search ‘Jake Doe’ and click on his latest release, “Yours Faithfully” – or any of his other releases, in fact – and a few things will be immediately obvious to you. One is that you’re listening to an artist who has found his sound and is confident in who he is. You’ll find that he’s done with the experimentation stage and is now creating the music on his own terms. Another thing that will be immediately obvious is that he’s an immensely talented individual that’s doing what he was born to do – make music.
Jake Doe’s journey to becoming a professional musician started at seven years old in Lagos, where he was born and bred. He fell in love with poetry and spoken word, which matured into an interest in becoming a rapper by the time he was 15 years. He proceeded to tap into SoundCloud’s audience by uploading singles and covers, quietly building an audience in the process. Jake continued to evolve as an artist and, along the way, expanded the depth of his artistry to involve music of R&B and Soul varieties. It eventually led to his discovery of the sound that best suited his vocals and the message he sought to spread through his music – a fusion of R&B, Soul, and Hip-hop.
“Terms and Conditions” is the first Jake Doe project on which his new blend was manifested. The project is five years old, but it is aging how well the mixtape has aged. With such a thoughtful and mature exploration of love and relationships, it’s only right that “Terms and Conditions” have amassed over two million streams on all platforms. The sequel came three years later and matched its predecessor in a number of tracks and quality. “Terms and Conditions II” even went as far as peaking at number 45 on the Apple Music R&B World Charts. Rightly so, because it was like listening to 6LACK or Bryson Tiller but with a Nigerian accent. The songwriting was a stellar testament to his penmanship, and whether he was rapping or singing, his delivery was right on the money each time. Even his least applauded “Tbdl” EP still oozes quality, and it’s hard to imagine Jake not breaking into the mainstream consciousness in the coming months.
Far from taking his foot off the pedal, Jake Doe already has a couple of big things happening for him this year. The exciting talent will be opening for Mavins star Johnny Drille during his next concert while also hosting his own pop-up event this week. He will have fresh music to perform at those shows since he dropped “Yours Unfaithfully,” the fourth project of his blossoming career, as recently as March 24. The six-track project is performed entirely solo but includes high-quality contributions from producers and sound engineers such as Le Mav, Sigag Lauren, and ALVIN RYZE. The masterful sound quality is met with brilliant storytelling by Jake, and the project makes for an excellent introduction to his artistry as we await his debut studio album.