Get to know up-and-coming soul singer John West

Allow us to be clear: John West is extremely dope, and it's time for everyone to get involved like, five minutes ago. A rapper, singer and songwriter, this triple threat was born in Baton Rouge and found his passion for music while taking classical guitar lessons. Once he completed high school, John decided to put music on the back burner to pursue his other passion: cartooning. (#MultipleTalentAlert) But,West's love for music eventually prevailed. After graduating college, he moved to Los Angeles to concentrate on music full time. A consummate hustler, while living in L.A. West performed on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica and sold more than 35,000 CDs on his own. Needless to say, the industry took note -- West signed a major label deal in 2010.

Read more about John West after the jump. 

Though he's got tons of solo tracks, West favors blazing hot collaborations with hip-hop's elite. We immediately fell hard for West's Christian Rich-produced "Lovely," which features a slick verse courtesy of Pusha T. The collaborations don't stop there -- John's current tune "Already There" features a tight verse by rapper Big Sean. Set to a violin-laden track, "Already There" is a sultry R&B-meets-hip-hop slow jam that speaks to the importance of feeling good even when you're not rolling in the dough: "I ain't got a dollar/ But I'm feeling like a millionaire/ You know that we already there/ Ain't got the answers/ But I guess I never really cared." We don't wanna jinx it or whatever, but judging by the way stuff is going, John's probably gonna be like, Lady Gaga famous starting around tomorrow. But feel free to enjoy singing about being broke while you can, John!

+ Listen to John West.