What's Next for Jharrel Jerome? A 2023 Preview

Over the past few years, Jharrel Jerome has established himself as one of the brightest rising stars in Hollywood. The actor and musician has been recognized for his roles in several highly successful projects including When They See Us – a Netflix project for which he won an Emmy. The actor’s lead parts in I’m a Virgo and Moonlight have also worked to propel his career to the next level.

The actor is also passionate about music and declared that he wants to pursue both career paths, stating, “I want it to become a bit of a balancing act and see how much I can handle" in a recent interview.

Continue reading below to find out more about Jerome’s plans for 2023 and beyond.

Having established himself as one of the most respectable young names in Hollywood, the Moonlight star has set his sights on establishing himself in the hip-hop scene in 2023. The actor has been sharing his musical creations on SoundCloud since back in 2016. However, his aspirations of becoming a top rapper only came into the limelight in 2020.

Jharrel’s parents used to listen to a lot of hip-hop music when he was growing up. This worked to inspire him to become a rapper himself. As he grew up, the When They See Us actor developed a love for freestyling, rhyming, and poetry. This prompted him to start creating his own music — drawing inspiration from his hometown or family or whatever else he thought could impress the girls. At the height of this creative phase in his musical development, Jharrel even admits to having put down a Lil Wayne diss track!

Fast forward to 2020 and the Moonlight actor decided to follow up his Emmy win with a music single – “For Real.” While he did entertain the idea of using a stage name for his musical exploits, he decided to go with his real name.

This decision was meant to ensure that he could blend his acting and music careers, seamlessly.

In 2023, Jharrel announced his plans to release “music packs,” where he breaks down his “Someone I’m Not” project’s 16 tracks into four separate EPs.

The plan was to release the first and second parts of the project – “Rap Pack” and “Trip Pack” – in August and September respectively. The other two remaining parts – “Love Pack” and “Trap Pack” – were slated for release later in the year.

The “For Real” rapper’s main goal when it comes to his music is to keep the fire burning in the world of hip-hop. He hopes to keep producing music that is authentic and raw for next foreseeable future. The actor maintains that he wants to develop a voice in the industry – as opposed to jumping on a fad or trend.

“For me, I want to make sure at the end of it all, I’m not just an actor-turned-rapper, but that I’m an artist,” he told Billboard. “And I want people to not only see that I’ve been doing it for a long time, but to believe that I’ve been doing it for a long time.”