A Decatur artist’s chance encounter with a Chicago street DJ set off a decade-long musical evolution. Now, Jake channels heartbreak and hope into music built for anyone still finding their way through. His sound draws from EDM, metalcore, and hip-hop, but his purpose has always stayed the same.
For Jacob aka Jake born in Decatur, music started with a single moment on a Chicago street corner. At just 13 years old, he stumbled upon a DJ blasting Skrillex through a full light show, and something clicked that he couldn’t shake. That spark sent him straight into Ableton Live and a deep EDM phase, an influence still audible in his production today. In the years since, his tastes have widened considerably, pulling in metalcore, alternative, and film scores alongside the electronic foundation that started it all.
But beneath the genre-hopping is something more personal. Jacob aka Jake cites Juice WRLD as a defining inspiration, drawn to the raw heartbreak in his early work and the resilience in his hype tracks alike. That duality shapes his own artistic mission: to turn hard-won memories, good and bad, into music that reminds listeners they’re not alone. Whether he’s leaning on a tight-knit circle of collaborators or spending a hundred takes chasing the right sound, Jacob aka Jake approaches his craft with the same relentless standard, treating emotional honesty as non-negotiable and originality as something worth improvising toward, however long it takes.
What inspired you to do music?
Jacob aka Jake: My inspiration to get involved with music came around 2012, when I was about 13. I was walking through downtown Chicago and, out of nowhere, a DJ at a booth started blasting Skrillex on the speakers with a whole light show and everything. I’d never heard any kind of music like that before, and I wanted to get involved with that from then on. I got myself a copy of Ableton Live and started a big EDM phase. You can hear some of that electronic influence in the music I release today. I’ve expanded my interest in genres since then to just about everything, including metalcore, alternative, and OSTs.
Who is your biggest inspiration?
Jacob aka Jake: I have a lot of inspirations. One of my most notable ones would be Juice WRLD. I relate a lot to his earlier heartbreak music; we’ve both been betrayed by past lovers. And when it comes to the hype music, I’m always there for it. It keeps my head up when things get tough.
How do you feel you can grow in music?
Jacob aka Jake: I think working with friends and learning from them is something I can explore more than I already have. I’m open to it. Having the right people around you when you’re coming up is important, and shoutout to my buddy Chris, who’s been showing off my music for years. Having a really close ride-or-die community, people who believe in you and want to collab and help get you to the top, is something I’m looking forward to building the farther I go. I only see my music going up through that.
What’s your “why” when it comes to music?
Jacob aka Jake: I’ve gone through a lot. I’ve had a lot of memories, a lot of them good, a lot of them bad, and I know there are people out there going through the bad memories in their own lives. I may not know exactly what they’re dealing with, but I’m a guy who’s able to put himself in someone else’s shoes, and I want them to know that they’re not alone when dealing with their emotions. I didn’t know what I wanted in the beginning, but years later I realized that I want to help people who have gone through similar things. I want to be a beacon in people’s lives and let them know that they can get through whatever they’re going through, to brush it off and keep moving forward no matter what.
What makes your music different from artists of the past?
Jacob aka Jake: I think when it comes to my music, the emotion and the way I capture it is what I want to help me stand out in unconventional ways. Even if I don’t always have the right instrument for the job, I improvise things all the time and experiment with what I do have to keep the originality. And for me, if something isn’t hitting right, I’ll redo it a hundred times if I need to, till it sounds the way I need it to. Not too many artists will go to those lengths, and I think that’s what starts to make me stand out as a musician.
OFFICIAL LINKS: TIKTOK – https://www.tiktok.com/@loveruneofficial
VISIT ALL STREAMS FOR “LET IT BURN” – https://sl1nk.com/zpupdfk
VISIT ALL STREAMS FOR “AND EVER” – https://l1nq.com/fb7pjl4
