Coming from the small state of Delaware, Custo is an artist that stands out from the rest. Born Jacques Evans April 2, 1982 in Wilmington, DE having the same first name as famous explorer Jacques Cousteau, how the neighborhood gave him his nickname “Cousteau”, which he spells C-U-S-T-O. He has been very consistent at creating a wow factor to get people to acknowledge his place in the music scene. He was the first Delaware artist to launch a promotional tactic that included regional T.V. commercials. He had a commercial on television viewed by millions, advertising the release of his first solo LP Real vs. Fake in stores. He was also the only Delaware artist to have a album placed in F.Y.E. music stores in 2009. He was the first DE rapper to have 10 videos on World Star Hip-Hop ever. He’s the only Delaware artists to be featured in XXL magazine not once but 3 times. He also made it in Hip-Hop Weekly “Next To Blow” section in 2011.

Custo states that his experiences in the streets are what influenced his rap style. The rap style of Custo would be more like a mix between Young Jeezy and Nas. The Jeezy side is the trap/hustle talk that he spits on tracks. He also has been involved in the drug trade on a major level at some point in his past. The Nas side is how most of his songs have a concept with lyrical storytelling. He always seems to have a message or knowledge on a street and life level in his rhymes. Custo rhymes about the struggle and oppression that most black, low income families deal with like he did. He doesn’t talk about drug dealing to glorify it but, yet he explains that this is what he was exposed to and shown how to do from the older crowd on the block. “Parents where I’m from struggled”. “So if getting money quick from the block took some load off our moms, thats what we did”. “I’m from a neighborhood called Brookmont, 15 minutes from Wilmington and right outside of Newark. But Custo makes it clear that Brookmont is not Newark. In Delaware your address is whatever city your closest to”. “Newark is a college town made up of 90% white middle-class families”. “Brookmont is %90 black and its residents are below the poverty line”. “That’s why we say; it’s totally different than Newark and we don’t call it Newark, DE but instead Brookmont, DE”. “Even my mom’s house got raided by police for her drug dealing”. “I have been shot at, had guns put to my head while being robbed, been involved in shootings”. “This is the life I have been seeing most of my life so, that’s going to come out in my rhymes”. “If I make a song that sounds like its promoting violence just listen closely, it’s always a real reason for anything I do, and I always explain that in my rhymes”.