Written by: Stephen Smith

Isaac Dunbar is an artist to watch in the upcoming year. At the early age of seventeen, he has made waves in the Soundcloud community, since his first upload. Now signed to RCA Records he has gone on to do the same on all platforms. Isaac is putting his foot in the door of modern pop music and giving it an alternative push.

One of the most appealing things about Isaac’s music is that he is unapologetically honest. His first track to debut on Spotify was entitled freshmen year and dealt with Dunbar’s self-esteem issues. He writes on the track ¨I know I’m not that good looking, but it’s only freshman year¨. He continues to serve raw emotion and honesty with his listeners even more by writing about issues such as body dysmorphia in the song entitled body, and suicide in the song entitled suicide.

“Suicide baby its the worst, think about the people that you’ll hurt” lyrics from Dunbars song suicide

Isaac Dunbar – suicide (Visualizer) 

Dunbar is from Barnstable, Massachusetts. He still attends high school, even on his music release dates. ¨I was in homeroom, and I had all my friends crowd around me and I was like yo! I’m on the radio, I felt cool, I felt really cool¨. Through this, he has found a mass fan base of high school and Gen-Z listeners that can relate to him.

Isaac first blew up on Soundcloud with covers of Billie Eilish songs and personally written tracks. Some of these tracks he has later gone into the studio to re polish and make them into professional songs on his EPs´. It is so fun to watch Isaac grow as an artist, to see him take a demo that has been on the internet for 3 years and make it into a formal song, it’s like watching a dream come to fruition.

Isaac Dunbar is openly gay and is no stranger to his expression in music. His eye-catching message in his song makeup drawer explores the journey of makeup and expression. Isaac explained that he’d been waiting to release this song until he was ¨ready to get honest about his experience with homophobia.” This track attracted the attention of many new viewers and brought up a new sense of confidence in Isaac, now representing the LGBTQIA+ community.

Isaac Dunbar – makeup drawer (Official Video)

Dunbar brings a new style of pop to the table, one of exploration. Isaac does not conform to a single genre, he has a balance of ballads and bangers in his music catalog. He describes his music as alternative, but I believe that it goes without labels. Some common occurrences in his music are synth layered beats, layered vocals, and a groundbreaking bridge.

Dunbar is one to watch for the upcoming year of 2021, as he has gotten recognition from big-name artists such as Sam Smith, Billie Eilish, and Girl in Red. Not only does Isaac captivate his listeners with his beautiful music, but he captures them with his depth in writing. At the age of seventeen, Isaac explores the struggles of emerging adulthood and an emerging career. 

You can find more of Isaac on:

https://www.isaacdunbar.com