By Hasan Beyaz
Before j. took shape, JACOB was building his solo debut from songs he and his producer kept returning to while shaping the record's sound. Here, he walks KPOPWORLD through six of them.
HAIM anchors two entries: "All Over Me" became a mixing reference after his producer introduced him to the group's sound, while "Relationships" shaped the tone of the title track "Slow Dancing" after watching its music video together. Pink Sweat$'s "At My Worst" set the laid-back, understated direction for "Promise," and Bazzi's "I Like That" fed into the track "Off the Record," valued for its easy, fun energy.
Then there are the two artists JACOB names as long-term influences rather than track-specific references: keshi, whose music he credits with shaping his sound more broadly, and Ed Sheeran, an artist he's cited for years as central to how he writes and performs.
Below, JACOB personally puts together his own playlist that shaped j., in his own words.
My producer showed me this artist, and I loved the sound – so for mixing references, we used a bit of HAIM's songs.
I am a big fan of this artist, and he was our reference for "Promise". The laid back vibe and simple but addicting sound was something I wanted for our song as well.
While working on "Slow Dancing," we watched the music video and thought the tone and mood was a nice fit, and we used it as a reference.
I really liked the fun and laid back vibe of the song, and it was one of the songs we referenced for "Off the Record".
I am just a big fan of keshi's music, and I feel like listening to his music helped a lot.
All my fans know I have always loved Ed Sheeran, and I feel throughout the years that he has played a big part in my sound as well.