Like many intriguing stories, it started with a pen and a pad of paper.
Fresh from a nightmare relationship, just months out of rehab, and one year removed from his previous musical identity, Jack Bruno picked up that pen in June 2016. However, he didn’t scrawl lyrics first. Rather, he wrote, “I want to work with a top level rap producer,” on the first line of the page. Within a year, he found himself in Hit-Boy’s home studio, on tracks alongside platinum superstar Famous Dex, and touted by tastemakers such as Hypebeast. Cooking up a punked-up and gothed-out hip-hop style of his own, the singer, rapper, multi-instrumentalist, and producer emerged as vibrant and visceral force.
All it took was a lot of hard hustle, tireless grind, uncontainable vision, and a little bit of positive thinking to bring his two-part independent series—Manifesting A Pop Star—to life.
“I took out a piece of paper and literally manifested this shit into existence,” he affirms. “I just decided to write it down, believe it, and do it. Instead of focusing on this bad relationship or trying to get into another band, I focused on what I personally like. I’d gone through so much trial-and-error. I’d been to hell and back with addiction. I still fucking love music though, so I wasn’t going to stop. The title couldn’t describe this journey any better.”
Bruno most definitely put in the work to get here. He spent countless hours cooking up beats and adding guitar and piano to the sonic palette. Simultaneously, he honed his mic skills inspired by influences ranging from Kanye West and Drake to Skepta and JME. Flipping the script, he strained the rock spirit from his formative years into this forward-facing audio barrage.
“For the longest time, I didn’t think I fit the criteria of a rapper,” he admits. “Then, I realized I fit it as much as anyone, because I live for music, and I love it. Rap is such a great way for me to go into details about life. I have a lot of energy. I have a lot of shit to say, and I need those extra bars to get my message across.”
Those bars caught the attention of some of the game’s gatekeepers. Introduced by a mutual friend, he first hit the studio with DJ Camper [Drake, Big Sean]. Camper then introduced him to Hit-Boy [Eminem, JAY-Z], and he assembled what would become Manifesting a Pop Star throughout 2017. Introducing this era, he teamed up with Famous Dex for the breakout “2 Goth Kids,” which quickly generated 300K Spotify streams.
With buzz growing, 2018 saw him pave the way for the first part of the Manifesting a Pop Star project with the Don Cannon-produced “Next Year.” Over airy keys and a kinetic rhythm, he predicts his rise to prominence with an ironclad flow and unshakable cadence before the chantable chorus, “Wait till you see me next year, it’s gonna be my best year.”
Elsewhere, the Part 1 single “Misfit” [feat. Famous Dex] pairs a dreamy production with an empowering and echoing proclamation inserted between clever and catchy verses from these two loud and proud misfits.
“I’ve always felt like an outcast,” he continues. “If you’re who you are, you’ll naturally be different. No matter who I’m around, I’m hyped up as fuck sober. I love being myself. Being a misfit is something we need to start celebrating.”

“This is me,” he leaves off. “like it or not its my truth.”