John K - SALT + LIGHT (2025) [Hi-Res]

John K is a smooth and soulful pop crooner with an R&B edge and a penchant for personal, soul-searching lyrics that have earned him a number of streaming hits. He first made a splash in 2017 when his self-released music caught the ear of music industry tastemakers. Within three years, he became a star with hit tunes like "If We Never Met," "6 Months," and "Wasted Summer." Building his songs on a foundation of easygoing but insistent R&B grooves often featuring his acoustic guitar, John K was a romantic on his first album, 2020's Love + Everything Else, while 2021's In Case You Miss Me showed off a wider range of pop production techniques and the 2022 single "Be Alright" was a confident exercise in playfully swaggering funk. His productivity slowed in 2023, but he came back with a pair of strong tracks, 2024's sweetly sad "Lost" and 2025's playful love song "Honey."

John K (real name John Poulson Keyser) was born and raised in Pompano Beach, Florida. His father was an amateur guitarist with a taste for classic rock who filled the house with his voice, while his grandmother Bunny was the daughter of a professional trumpet player. Bunny taught him to play piano and bought him a recorder, and by the time he was in high school, he and his friends would spend hours jamming and working out songs at his house. Singing became John's passion, and in time he and his father moved to Nashville in hopes of going professional. After months of low-profile gigs and songwriting sessions, John found a valuable ally in manager Rob Zarrilli, who introduced him to producer FVCES. In 2017, John K released his first track, "Runnin'," which soon attracted attention at major streaming services, and after influential disc jockey Elvis Duran heard him, he began spinning John's music and presented him as his "Artist of the Month" on the popular morning TV show Today. In 2018, John topped the success of "Runnin'" with "O.T.," which was streamed over 18 million times.

Epic Records signed John K, and in 2019 he released his first EP for the label, If We Never Met. The title track became a smash on streaming services, and in January 2020 John had teamwork and Loote for his next track, "Wasted Summer." The song was another success, and he followed it a month later with the lovelorn ballad "6 Months." "If We Never Met" and "6 Months" were both featured on John K's first full-length album, 2020's Love + Everything Else. A second album, In Case You Miss Me, appeared in 2021, and he released a steady stream of single tracks in 2022, including the lovesick "A Lot," the slightly trippy "Guitars and Drugs," and the groove-laden "Be Alright." He also collaborated with the Los Angeles EDM group Two Friends for the single "Wish You Were Here." John K contributed vocals to Jake Scott's 2023 single "Burn," and after taking a break from recording on his own, he returned in 2024 with the impassioned and lovelorn track "Lost." 2025 brought another fresh track from John K, "Honey," a playful love song with a potent dance groove and hip-hop influences. © Mark Deming