By JIMI JAMM, CJ Country Program Director
COREY KENT
Some artists arrive with fireworks. Others build quietly, brick by brick, until one day you look up and realize they’ve been there all along. Corey Kent is firmly in that second category.
He’s been bubbling under the surface since around 2022, earning industry buzz and fan loyalty the old-fashioned way with great songs, relentless touring, and a voice that actually sounds different. In an era where a lot of male country singers blur together on the radio dial, Kent cuts through. There’s grit there. Texture. A lived-in quality that makes you lean in instead of tuning out.
Commercially, the resume already checks the boxes. A number three hit with “Wild as Her,” followed by a number one in 2024 with “This Heart.” On paper, that’s success. In reality, it still feels like he’s somehow underrated.
I first heard Kent thanks to a friend in the business who slipped his music onto a playlist back in 2022. One listen in, I knew it wasn’t just “another guy with a guitar.” It felt like something CJ Country needed to be early on, because that’s what stations like ours are supposed to do – spot the ones who are about to matter.
What excites me most is that it still feels like the best is ahead. It’s just a matter of more people realizing what kind of talent has been hiding in plain sight.
And when they do, they’re going to wonder how they missed him.