On Aug. 8, Chicago-based singer Jim Verraros—who was a finalist on the very first season of American Idol in 2002, competing against Kelly Clarkson, among others—will release the six-track EP Explicit.
The EP includes previously unreleased tracks “Move/On,” “Good Boy, “Blow” and “Scandal” alongside hit dance-floor songs “Take My Bow” and “Pyramid.” ““Bow” had a top-five debut on the UK Dance Charts.
According to a press release, Explicit shows Verraros expressing freedom. This shows quite a contrast from 20 years ago. After making history as the first Idol contestant to come out as LGBTQ+, he struggled to show what he was capable of in an industry that didn’t know what to do with an out queer musician. However, artists such as Chappell Roan, Lil Nas X, Kim Petras and Troye Sivan “have proven that there has always been space for radically queer expression.”
This year also marks the 20th anniversary of Rollercoaster, Verraros’ first album. The work was released on April 26, 2005 by Koch Records—now MNRK Music Group, which is the home of Snoop Dogg, Kittie and KeKe Palmer, among others. Rollercoaster would go on to spawn the Top 20 dance hit “You Turn It On.”
Talking with Windy City Times in 2023, Verraros said, among other things, that he would tell his 18-year-old self that “success is not a tangible thing; it’s how you feel. … I think success is really a feeling—it’s being in a solid relationship, it’s having a great partner, it’s paying your bills, it’s having good friends. I think success is different for [each person], but don’t negate or compare. I think comparing is the thief of all joy.”