Aaron Cole was born and raised in Bristol, VA, a quintessential small town that rests right across the border of Tennessee. For Aaron, hustling was a way of life. He grew up in a home where everyone had to work hard for what they had and music was his outlet to express how he was feeling about the world around him. Some would say he was born into music—his dad had a recording studio in their apartment and his uncle was a Christian rapper. As a child, he would always sit in on the sessions. It wasn’t long before he began to mimic the verses and rap them back to him. It was clear he had a gift and ambition to go after his dream.

When most three-year-olds were learning to form a sentence, Aaron was rapping verses and soon enough a year later he made his first recording. After being signed to different labels and working on fine-tuning his sound, he caught the attention of multi-GRAMMY-award winning and Billboard chart-topper TobyMac when he was just 15. It wasn’t long until Aaron was signed to TobyMac’s label, Gotee Records. He spent the next two years developing as an artist and growing in his relationship with the Lord. Now at 20, his forthcoming debut full-length album on Gotee, Not By Chance.

Aaron has discovered that even when the cameras are flashing and he’s performing in front of thousands, things will continue to be an uphill battle and you have to work even harder to fight for your dreams, even when they are lying in front of you. His new album, Not By Chance outlines some of the things he’s learned along the way and feature the struggles he’s found on his journey to becoming the artist he is today.

I think I’m finally growing into my manhood
I met this thing called life, it’s a handful
But I ain’t scared, I ain’t never ran from a fight
Guess that’s just the difference ‘tween you and I
Parents ain’t been living in the same house
It’s messing with my head now, it’s so many things I doubt
I guess that’s why I ain’t even thinking about a spouse
Guess that’s why this the realest album since College Dropout
Dang it sucks tho
My sister sleeping on an air mattress
My song #1 / #1 tho
That goes to show you when life is good, it’s still cutthroat
It’s messed up
It seems like the worst things happen to the ones tryna bless up
They wanting me to fall off and I’m tryna keep my head up”
— Aaron Cole “Love Don’t Cost A Thing”

“My dude Aaron Cole is about to take it all somewhere special. This is the tip of the iceberg and it just goes deeper and wider from here on out.”
—TobyMac

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