The female-heavy crowd screamed with delight as 18- year-old Jacob Whitesides, singer/songwriter, took the stage at the Rave Club on June 4.

The mostly teenaged crowd swooned with his smooth voice and constant dancing. He could hardly stay still while singing about love, but he did slow down at one point, which he called his “story time.” He gave advice about love, “Don’t bottle up. Journal, write, talk about it.”

Whitesides reminds you of a younger Justin Bieber. His music is a mixture of pop and storytelling. Many of his songs are about love. He told the audience, “(you) do not need anything else in life, but love.” His music soothed the audience into a blissful happiness of love, oblivious to the rest of the world and the miseries of others.

He is a very accomplished singer; he started his career by covering other singers, but branched out into his own song writing once his social media presence exploded.

His social media presence exploded because Whitesides uploaded his covers online. He started gaining fans this way, and next thing he knew, he had a following. Whitesides also made the smooth transition of covering music to writing music.

He started his own record company, Double U Records, so he could remain independent and keep his rights as an artist. Whitesides was chosen as Radio Disney’s “Next Big Thing” and MTV’s Artist to Watch.