Some of the other qualities that make an artist great besides musicianship are their life experience which connects them with people. 360degree has this life experience and he definitely connects with people. He doesn’t just sing the lyrics, he resonate those lyrics to the souls of his audience and if you can just peep into his journey you will understand why.
Jerome Davis better known by his stage name 360degree was born in 1973 in the Cockburn Pen (Kingston 11, Jamaica). According to 360degree Cockburn Pen was rough. “Life was hard,” he said, “Cockburn Pen was the ‘ghetto’. You had to do and prove and let them know you weren’t a fool.” Being the oldest of 5 boys and 1 girl 360degree had to learn fast on being tough and helping to provide for his family. When his mother migrated to the United States to make a better life for the family, 360degree was 12 years old. Soon afterwards, him, his father and his brothers moved to Seaview Garden. There is where he learned those lessons of growing up fast and faces the hardest way of life. 360degree had an arduous road ahead of him. “When I moved to Seaview Garden it was (during) the roughest part of my life, not with stealing or killing but with fighting to survive. In Seaview Garden people were always trying to prove themselves. Murder was a way of life for many people, so I had to fight.”
And up until that point 360degree was doing his best to survive. He always had a passion and a love for music, but at that point he didn’t think becoming a performer was a reality for him. Being the oldest came with a big responsibility of being there for his family, so while graduating from Calabar-All-Age school, he was inspired by an elderly barber and practice barbering at the age of 15. Meanwhile attending Tivoli Comprehensive High School, he had a change a mind about school; whereas he dropped himself out of school. During that time he was working as an apprentice at the age 17, at Caribbean Casting and Engineering for two years. Consequently at the age of 20, working at Kingston Free Zone as a arch welder and maintenance, thought these were the best things, he used that to support his family. He did the barbering up until he got into a police “incident” that changed his whole way of thinking and was the beginning of how 360degree became the performer that he always wanted to be.
"At age 23, one night while coming home from a dance at House of Leo, I, along with my girlfriend and brother, was stopped by a police officer.” We had an illegal firearm and we were charged and released on bail. My mother, who was in the United States at the time, heard what happened and arrived in Jamaica the following day. She was very embarrassed because she worked very hard to ensure her children did not become a product of their environment," he relates. According to 360degree, he still remembers how awful he felt disappointing her.
However, he soon met Papa Biggy who was residing in Portmore at the time and the cultural artist quickly became his mentor. "From then on I started using music as an outlet to channel my frustration," he said. “I didn’t want to be a disappointment. I had to think about my future.”
At that point 360degree was determined to turn his life around. He decided to leave his environment and go to the states and make his dream come true, but there were a few setbacks.
“I came to the (United) States on an Entertainment Visa,” 360degree said. “But I couldn’t go into the music just yet. I had to get my credentials first and I had to still help my help with my family.” And that is what he did. In the next several years, he made a home for himself in Brooklyn; then went back to school and got his GED at age of 33, while working as a barber. “Most people see only two steps ahead of them. I see way beyond in my future.” Eventually, he got back into his music. He reverberates how you can change your life around. In addition, he showed that if you are resilience, you can come from difficult situations, but you don’t have to stay in those difficult situations. Presently, at age of 40, attending Queensborough Community College; majoring: Mechanical Engineering Technology.
360degree definitely changed his world around and resonates his turn around in his music.
In conclusion with 360degree Jamaican-American reggae and dancehall artist, songwriter and producer who based his stage name on his life changing experiences? The name represents a new start and a fresh outlook on life.
360degree appreciates his current fans and you can find him on Face book, Twitter, Instagram, MySpace and YouTube or Google. One Love!