Two of a Kind: The Rise of Pop-Rap Duo Jack & Jack To see...

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Two of a Kind: The Rise of Pop-Rap Duo Jack & Jack

To see more from Jack & Jack, check out @jackjackjohnson and @jackgilinsky on Instagram. For more music stories, head to @music.

On the day Jack Johnson met Jack Gilinsky, they wore the exact same T-shirt.

“I remember that day so clearly. It was just one of those freaky coincidental things that kindergarteners become best friends over,” says Johnson, who was 5 years old at the time. (Gilinsky was 4.)

Fifteen years later, they transferred that “freaky coincidence” into the self-titled pop and rap duo, Jack & Jack. To Johnson and Gilinsky, making music together was as inevitable as their friendship. “He was always listening to Eminem and Tupac and Biggie, and making his own original raps. He has this crazy timing and alliteration,” says Gilinsky of Johnson. “The thought of making [original] music was never in my head. Once I saw Jack J, my little buddy, doing it, I thought it was so cool.”

“It was so natural to us,” adds Johnson, “We both had this passion for music, me rapping and Jack singing.”

Less natural was finding an audience in their small hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, to listen to it. “My friends were kind of making fun of us,” says Johnson, “We were like, ‘Everyone has dreams. Let’s just take the college route, live a typical life.’” But that changed once the two students started sharing their talents online.

“It was pretty much just me and Jack and an iPhone. I was the only guy he could share his raps with,” says Gilinsky, “We amassed a tiny following of three or four thousand, just making parodies of Top 40 songs.” Adds Johnson, “We literally would spend hours writing lyrics. That was where we fell in love with being on camera and making music.”

The fans’ overwhelming response to the collaboration was integral to the inception of Jack & Jack, the musical duo. “We went in the comments, and there were people saying ‘Why aren’t you making originals? Make some originals!’” recalls Johnson. “We were just messing around, but this was actually taking on a life of its own.”

When they finally released their own song, recorded in a makeshift studio in Omaha, and which Gilinsky describes as “mediocre-sounding,” it broke the Top 100 chart on iTunes. “It wasn’t the greatest song, I’ll be the first to admit that,” says Johnson, “But the fact that it broke the top 100 while being what it was just kind of showed the power of our fanbase.”

Johnson and Gilinsky take their growing status as musicians seriously. There may not be a distinct “Jack & Jack sound” yet, but it’s something they’re working toward. “We haven’t put out as much music this year, just because we don’t want to rush anything,” says Johnson “We know these next songs we’re putting out, we have eyeballs on us. So we want to make sure they’re exactly what we want.”

Luckily, the challenge is easier when you have a lifelong friend by your side.

“Nobody can make me laugh like Jack makes me laugh,” says Johnson, “He is the best friend I could ask for.”

“He’s just always there,” agrees Gilinsky. “He’s always willing to work, and knowing that is very comforting. We’re best friends. We’ve been together always. And we always will be.”

—Instagram @music

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