Atlanta-based artist Mercy was raised Mississippi. A month after graduating high school, Mercy’s mother was sent to prison and his father had left when he was two years old. Unbeknownst to the outside world, Mercy began hustling to take care of three siblings in her absence. Surreptitiously, after linking with friends on Instagram, he was offered a photo shoot at Wish ATL (a boutique streetwear store) and he jumped on a bus to Atlanta hoping the break would lead to more opportunity. The trip was bittersweet: on the one hand the shoot landed him with a modeling agency and on the other, Mercy got a call saying that his siblings had been taken into the custody of the Mississippi Department of Human Services. At 18, he had no family to go back to in Mississippi and so he chose to immerse himself in Atlanta’s thriving creative community. Soon thereafter, Mercy started making music and caught the attention of legendary promoter J Wise, who ran the renowned Playlist Party at the Department Store venue in Atlanta. A year or so later, J Wise connected with Babygrande Records, who recently signed the rising star.

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