Jace!

Texas SoundCloud rapper Jace! distinguishes himself through a Southern-fried spin on trap rhythms and verses. Listeners encountered his breakthrough diss track “556 (Green Tip)” in 2022 and registered surprise at the contrast between its hard-edged bars and the lighthearted, vintage production beneath them. Jace!’s output consistently defies expectations within the usual boundaries of trap and plugg.

Born Jace Salter in 2003, the Fort Worth native first treated hip-hop chiefly as a listener while earning money as a teenage graphic designer for peers including Almighty Jay, the Houston rapper then affiliated with the YBN collective. Jay urged him onward, prompting Salter to begin recording under the moniker TGE Duwap. Fatherhood prior to completing school prompted a sharper focus on music as a route to providing for his infant daughter.

Releasing material under the name iayze, Salter accelerated his output in 2021 once venues and businesses resumed activity following the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. After placing his Simple Stupid label under Geffen Records, he fused trap, its melodic offshoot plugg, and touches of alternative and emo. Early attention arrived via the underground track “C’mere,” and his profile rose further when the late PnB Rock included him on the 2022 mixtape SoundCloud Daze, created to elevate several underground artists.

An ensuing online clash with Maryland rapper KA$HDAMI yielded the biting “556 (Green Tip),” which drew attention well past either artist’s immediate circles. Subsequent EPs and mixtapes issued through the imprint—Virtuous (2022), Reverence (2023), and Reverence II (2024)—preceded his arrival on Billboard’s TikTok chart with the independently released “20 Min,” which surfaced in early 2024 and caught on during the following summer.