In Detroit, Jabari was always a performer as he was the lead singer in his elementary school choir. He said that he was inspired by Usher and his incredible performance skills. Jabari recalls that after seeing Usher’s “U Don’t Have To Call Video” that he wanted to not only sing in his school’s choir but also dance. Following his time in elementary school, he moved to a different school where he was, as he says, “The New Kid on the Block.” After becoming well known at his previous school for his amazing vocal abilities, he was placed in a new school where he had to prove himself in a new environment. Being the performer that he is, Jabari decided that he would try to captivate his peers with his dancing skills. After mere weeks at his new school, Jabari became known as the go-to guy for dancing. Little did he know the impact that his performing would have on HBCU culture in the years following.
In 2012 Jabari graduated from Renaissance High School and began wondering where he would attend college.
“At Renaissance, it wasn’t a question of if you were going to college, it was which college you were going to and the two options were always Michigan State or University of Michigan.”
Jabari’s mother was a graduate of Tennessee State University and knew the importance of an HBCU experience. It was his mother who encouraged him to look into attending a Historically Black College. With this goal in mind, Jabari went on an HBCU tour exploring many different HBCU campuses such as Clark Atlanta University, Howard, and Morehouse. He recalled that when he went to Morehouse it was reminiscent of the film, Stomp the Yard and that Morehouse was the place for him to be. He applied to Morehouse and was quickly admitted into the freshman class following his graduation from Renaissance High.
During his time at Morehouse, Jabari looked to join a Greek Fraternity. He was impressed with what Greek life meant to the black community and knew that he wanted to get involved. Jabari stated that it was his RA, Colin Bent, who was a Sigma at Morehouse who inspired him to join the Phi Beta Sigma Chapter.
He says,
“As a young freshman it was the Sigmas at Morehouse that seemed to really represent what a fraternity should be, that’s what made me join.”
In the Fall of 2014, Jabari alongside eight other gentlemen became members of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Incorporated. Jabari was the sixth member of his line inspiring him to start calling himself, “@6_solo”.
“People think that my name is 6_solo because I crossed alone but I didn’t. “6” actually represents the number in my line and “solo” represents a mindset of self-love and self-reliance.”
For the first ten years of his life, Jabari was an only child and knew that if he wanted to do great things in his life that sometimes it would mean that he would stand alone. As a dancer and performer, Jabari hopes to inspire others to follow their dreams and live life unapologetically. His efforts to inspire others through his dances and social media platforms have paid off in big ways. Today, Jabari is a paid performer and travels to different HBCU’s performing, judging contests and inspiring students. He says that he enjoys getting love and deeply appreciates his social media following.
“The love that I receive is amazing, being recognized from social media is a great feeling.”
Jabari’s social media following is impressive as he currently has over 26,000 followers on Instagram and his videos have been viewed over an impressive 200,000 times. Jabari has big plans to move to Los Angeles and continue his career as a professional dancer. To learn more about Jabari and his adventures following him at @6_solo on Instagram.
