Meet Jack!

[Just Your Average Kid]

Story by Jon Bennett
Photography provided by M. Schleif Photography

Born and raised in Eagan, Minn., Jack Yakowicz is the middle child of Pete and Susie. His mom is a writer and started Jack and his siblings, Evan and Sallie, writing at a young age to keep their brains sharp on summer vacation from school. Jack remembers from a young age the power that words can have and how they can impact people as his mom encouraged him to keep growing his communication skills. He has spent years tweaking his communication skills and continues to keep an open mind and always improving himself. ​

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The Love Of Music Discovered 

Jack spent his school years playing sports, mostly basketball and running cross country. This is where his love of music began. He often found himself preparing for a game or track meet listening to music. To get in the groove, he would find himself listing to Kanye West, Blue & Exile, Nas and smaller West Coast artists he discovered. He enjoyed writing hip hop and creating his own lyrics after watching instrumentals he found online, helping to create his own music. Jack has fond memories for preforming is work in front of neighborhood friends, at track meets and basketball games or just driving around with friend and “free-styling”. At the age of 17, his passion shifted  from sports to music, when he wrote his first  album. 

​Finding Jack’s Groove

At the start, he was know as  J.Y.A.K. and his first mixed tape was titled “Just Your Average Kid”, a reflection of Jack, your typical down to earth, kind-hearted guy. The great reception of his first mixed tape helped to calm his nerves and built his confidence as a new artist. During his high school years, eight more mixed tapes were released with people loving Jack and the music he created. He recalls having the privilege of preforming shows while attending Concordia College and the excitement of opening for Hoodie Allen at Concordia’s Comstock and opening for the spring Jam Fest at the U of M.

​Post College Life

While sill loving his music and creating his own work, much like most post-college graduates, Jack’s music started to take a backseat to his professional life while he built his career and started his adult life. After graduation in 2015 from Concordia with a degree in Organized Leadership and Communication, he started a career doing marketing for a local downtown Fargo business where he built life long friendships and learned valuable skills to take with him wherever he goes. Jack is a huge advocate of giving back to our community in multiple forms. He started a young alumni group, serves on the advisory board of Big Brother Big Sister, is part of the executive team for the American Advertising Federation and is also part of the Alzheimers Association. Part of what drives him is wanting to help make a change for the better from the unrest of the world along with the world wide pandemic. Pouring his love for our community helps him focus on the good that can be done, by doing his part to help others while also improving himself and always having an open mind to grow personally and professionally. “I am living out Gods plan for me,” says Yackowics. 

​Where Can You Find Jack Yackowics Original Music?

While writing sometimes for himself, to better understand the world, his music has also helped others find their way. Nostalgia is a driving factor while he writes and discovers his sense of lyrics, some would say he’s an “old soul”. Even though is music is public and loved by many, he considers himself shy. He uses his music to help himself thru various situations in life and one of his mantras is "nervous energy means growth is happening. When I view it from that light, it brings me more peace to know that I'm growing as a human by being thrown into situations that take me out of my comfort zone. Still, performing is less meditative and helpful for me than writing and even than recording. If I could do without any part of the music process, though, it would be self-promotion. Horribly awkward to do.”

In 2020, Jack found himself diving back into music and creating more work that can be found on Spotify and Apple Music under the pen name of Jackson with three new albums in the 2020 calendar year. The theme of these albums reflect his current life with his girlfriend Rylee, times he share with his family and friends and current events of the world. Jack is your typical down to earth guy who puts much time into his family and friends while giving back whenever and wherever he can. ​

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