Haven't heard of Jacob Banks yet?
You soon will. For our final show of January, 2018 we wanted to dedicate it to a fresh young talent, and the 26-year-old UK soul singer has been causing a stir of late, with a track on the new Fifty Shades soundtrack, a place on the Longitude 2018 line-up, and a recently inked deal with Interscope, the label that's home to Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga. Jacob is set to release his debut album in June, but in the meantime his singles, including Unknown (to you) and Chainsmoking, have been grabbing serious attention, and no wonder; he's got a voice like velvet.
When Jacob arrived in to do the show, he had a brilliant playlist lined up, including tracks from artists including Al Green, Frank Ocean and James Blake.
"I was in university when the James Blake album came out," he said. "From finding James Blake, I found people like Bon Iver, Imogen Heap. My friend sent me Limit to Your Love on Facebook. It blew my mind."
Born in Nigeria, Jacob moved to Birmingham at 13, but now lives in London. Most of the time, though, he's on tour -- so he has to send his two cats to stay with his brothers. He makes sure he catches up with them on his downtime, though. "I Facetime my cats. We stay in touch," he said, with a smile. We like a man who has his priorities straight. . .
Jacob's playlist 

Jacob Banks 'Unknown (to you)'
Al Green 'Let's Stay Together' 
James Blake 'Limit to Your Love' 
Amy Winehouse 'Just Friends' 
Arctic Monkeys 'Do I Wanna Know' 
Jacob Banks 'Chainsmoking' 
Frank Ocean 'Godspeed' 
Louis Armstrong 'La Vie en Rose' 
D'Angelo 'Send it On' 
John Mayer 'Slow Dancing in Burning Room' 
Coldplay 'Fix You' 
Alabama Shakes 'This Feeling'