By: Maria Williams
YngSolomon, the genre-bending artist born Jesse Schwartz, wasn’t always a confident performer—but you wouldn’t know it when you saw him rap, sing, or play guitar on stage.
YngSolomon started in his bedroom with a borrowed guitar, and his music career quickly accelerated. He began dreaming up beats on nature walks and putting words to them. He then started writing music and recording with friends and, shortly after that, found himself playing impromptu pop-up shows.
Each milestone came sooner than expected, becoming a motif in YngSolomon’s career. “My whole musical journey has been like, ‘Just do it, even if you’re not fully ready. Just keep moving forward,’” he says.
He recalls one particular event that epitomized this theme and helped shape him into the self-assured performer he is today. “We had a show,” he says, “and there was a song we were working on, but my verse wasn’t done yet. And it was just like a moment — an internal moment — that I really just switched. I was practicing my verse backstage right up until they called us on stage, and even then, I was still messing up half the time.”
Plenty of artists would have opted to wait, but YngSolomon was determined. “I just remember deciding that even if I mess up, I’m still going to perform this, and I’m gonna do my best,” he says. “I nailed it. And it was the most gratifying feeling to face that fear.”
It was more than just a momentary triumph. “The ripple effect of that decision was it put me on a different timeline, a fast track towards my goals,” YngSolomon says, “because if I would have said ‘No, I’m not ready,’ I know I would have made that excuse in a lot of other areas.”
After that pivotal moment, his confidence only grew, eventually leading him to promote and perform in what was, at the time, his largest show yet. “It was at Ocean Beach in San Francisco,” he says. “It was the same weekend as Burning Man, but Burning Man was canceled that year, so a lot of people showed up there instead.”
Hosting the show was a bold move. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, San Francisco city orders prohibited public gatherings of more than twelve people. YngSolomon says he brought around 100 people, but they were far from the only ones looking to find community in an isolating time. More than 1,000 attendees showed up.
YngSolomon didn’t disappoint. “I curated a ten-hour lineup,” he says. It was a memorable experience, and the effect extended far beyond his immediate circle.
The show was big enough to catch the attention of the mayor and San Francisco City Supervisor Catherine Stefani, who called for an investigation into the “unlawful gathering.” But YngSolomon was undeterred.
“Even bad press is good press,” he says. “And a lot of people actually agreed with what we were doing. People were really grateful.”
Published By: Aize Perez
