Kashus Culpepper Says His Debut Album Is a ‘Timestamp in My Life’ (Exclusive)

Kashus Culpepper is ready for the world to know his name.

The critically acclaimed, breakout singer, who first spoke with PEOPLE in 2024 amid the viral frenzy following the release of his hit single “After Me?,” now remarks in conversation about his first full-length project Act I that “it’s not even that long ago” he was posting cover songs on social media, which is why “it’s crazy that I have a debut album.”

“I never thought that having a debut album and everything coming around it [would happen],” Culpepper shares. And when the singer-songwriter, who blossomed into his musical abilities later in life while serving in the U.S. military, looks back at the whirlwind two years he has had, including kudos from Elton John, John Mayer, Samuel L. Jackson and more, he’s still working to process it all.

“For me, this album shows as a timestamp for me where my head was at not only as the artist, but [how] I feel as a man,” Culpepper explains. “I just want to show people what it feels like to be inside my head during this timestamp in my life, and especially from a musical standpoint.”

Throughout the 18 tracks that comprise Act I, fans are treated to the first cohesive glimpse into the mind of Culpepper. An avid film buff, the project’s core ethos — and accompanying linear music videos — are inspired by old-school cinema, twinged with Southern heat in a way that only a “Southern Man,” the title of his collaborative track with Marcus King, could provide.

Bursting at the seams with cool, soulful hooks, Act I, as the legendary “Rocket Man” singer so notably put it, in part, to Culpepper, is like if an old school honky tonk crooner merged with Bill Withers and was dripping in Alabama white sauce. “My music, it is a mixture of a lot of things, but I always just say it’s Southern sound,” Culpepper notes, quick to make it known that he is not one to ever be put in a box creatively.

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With his roots almost necessitating it, Culpepper turned to the studios of the legendary Muscle Shoals, Ala., to craft Act I. In the process, he left a piece of musical lineage behind in its hallowed grounds as the likes of Aretha Franklin and The Rolling Stones had done decades before him.

“Me being a ‘Bama boy, and also the way my music is, it’s just a mix of a lot of things, I just thought it felt right to do it in Muscle Shoals. That energy that I got there, man, it just made me go even harder,” he explains. “I felt like I [had] to succeed and do this right.”

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Though Culpepper’s soulful blend has been informed by a variety of sources over the course of his life, he is fervent in maintaining his individuality. “I’m not trying to sound like nobody,” he states. “This whole record really is not like I’m trying to sound like nobody. It’s just me. I’m just being authentic and just being myself.”

Alongside King, Culpepper tapped Sierra Ferrell for the tender ballad “Broken Wing Bird,” a complete sonic 180 from the fiery riffs present on his collaboration with the aforementioned blues rocker just a few tracks away, but clear evidence of the artist’s ability to throw conventional genre constraints to the wayside.

“I just want to show people that, ‘Hey, you just can’t say I’m just this,’ ” the singer continues. “I love acoustic stuff just as much as I love fully produced stuff. I love all this stuff … In this full record, people will see all the sides of me. I think they’re going to fully understand me.”

While he entrenches himself fully in the music community and continues to rub shoulders with the giants of various genres, Culpepper maintains a childlike sense of wonder that allows him to see everything for its inherent beauty, without becoming jaded by his meteoric rise. “I still feel like that kid [who] just loves music so much,” he explains. “I can’t believe that my passion for music has gotten me here.”

Act I is available on all major streaming platforms now.