From hip hop to gospel, music artist Timothy Lamont draws inpiration from a number of sounds and genres. Photo by Madylin Goins
When Lexington music artist Timothy “iBeli3ve” Lamont is performing, an unmistakable light and energy surrounds him. It’s not just the tone in his voice or the confidence in his stride — it’s the journey and the story behind his name.
But in many ways, Lamont has drawn inspirations from a place of darkness and uncertainty.
“I had to learn to believe in myself,” Lamont said. That belief was hard-won, through loss, struggle and resilience, but it has carried him from the projects of Louisville to stages all across the country, where he’s emerging as a promising new voice in R&B. Along the way, his journey has attracted the attention of audiences and major brands like Coca-Cola, with whom his message of perseverance resonates.
Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1988, Lamont’s musical roots stretch deep into the soil of the American South. His grandmother grew up picking cotton on a Mississippi plantation in the 1950s, singing hymns to survive the heat and hardship. She eventually moved north to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“She’d pick me up for church every week,” Lamont recalled. “That’s where I learned rhythm, gospel and the power of music to move the soul.”
At home, genres clashed and harmonized: his father spun funk and soul records by Earth, Wind & Fire, his brothers blasted hip hop from Tupac and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, and his mother adored R&B like Jaheim. He took it all in, as the broad swath of influences that fleshed out the artist he is today.
Lamont’s journey toward success was anything but linear: After fleeing Milwaukee during a violent period in his youth, his family found themselves homeless in Louisville. “We lived in a shelter,” he said. “Gunfire was a daily thing. My mom did her best, and she never gave up.”
That persistence became his inheritance.
The artistic trajectory of Lamont’s youth was also interrupted by tragedy. In 2003, when he was just 15, his father died by suicide while they were living in Campbellsville, Kentucky. “That city haunted me,” he admits. “I had to go back years later to forgive and heal because I didn’t want to live with anger forever.”
Lamont says his music is grounded in the art of storytelling. Photo by Madylin Goins
Eventually, Lamont was able to find a way to turn the pain into a way to shape his mission as an artist and advocate.
“Losing my dad like that, then my mom to a heart attack in 2011, and my brother in 2018 — it has all fueled me. I have to turn my pain into purpose.”
By his twenties, Lamont was settling in Lexington and launching a music career while weathering storms of the industry at large, including an exploitative record deal that left him downtrodden. “They promised me the world, but it was all lies,” he recalled. “That experience forced me to realize that independence is my only path.”
Lamont found himself, once again, reliant on both the independence and purpose at the heart of his music, performed under the moniker iBeli3ve. The name is stylized with a “3” in place of the “e” to represent the trinity of faith, courage and perseverance that guides him. “Life can be unpredictable and unpleasant, but belief changes everything,” he said. “It’s how you move through chaos that defines you.” His songs often explore resilience and faith against impossible odds, earning him invitations to perform at Boys & Girls Clubs and churches across the country. “There are kids who struggle with reading, who are afraid to speak, who doubt themselves,” he said. “They need someone to show them they’re loved and that they’re special, too.”
After the disappointing experience with the record company, Lamont found himself in serious debt and began rebuilding from the ground up. He appeared on local TV stations WKYT and Fox 56, performed across the United States and Canada, and eventually landed a career-defining partnership with Coca-Cola. A friend connected him to Rob Rettberg, a music executive in Los Angeles. who was spearheading the soft drink manufacturer’s music division through Coke Studios.
“He heard my song ‘Out of This World’ and invited me to record at Crypto Arena, where the L.A. Lakers play.” Coke sponsored a music video and signed a non-exclusive contract to use his track. “It’s surreal, man.”
While the Coke collaboration has boosted his visibility, Lamont’s ambitions extended further. Through the company Ultimate Sync Access, based in the United Kingdom, he began licensing his music for TV and film. His song “I Miss You” was signed exclusively to Imaginary Friends Music Production, whose clients include “The Young and the Restless,” while another song, “Out of This World,” was signed non-exclusively to World Fusion Music in Ohio.
Success was briefly interrupted by three consecutive knee surgeries between 2023 and 2025. “It was devastating,” he says. “My momentum was gone.” He spent months recovering in Baltimore with his sister. During the down time she put him through vocal boot camp and helped him study music licensing. “I learned the business side of this industry,” he says. “That’s what kept me sharp while I was down.”
Photo by Madylin Goins
In early 2025, Lamont joined the Level Up songwriting camp in Toronto, an invite-only international event for up-and-coming writers. “We had to write and record a song every hour for 12 hours,” he laughs. “It was intense.” His performance impressed Level Up’s founder, Brianna Shelko, who invited him to record additional tracks for major sports brands, including the NFL. “I can’t say too much yet,” he hints, “but I did vocals for some big campaigns.”
While Ibeli3ve is performing on stages across the country and cutting corporate partnerships, Lamont remains grounded in the storytelling. “I’m old school,” he says. “I love albums that have a beginning, middle, and end — like J. Cole’s ‘Sideline Story’ or Usher’s ‘Confessions.’ They tell the truth about life, love and struggle. That’s what I aim to do.” His songwriting process reflects that philosophy: raw, honest, and stripped of pretense. “I can write a song without hearing any music,” he says. “The melody is already in my head.” His chief producer and writing partner is the Lexington-based J Mac, who helps bring the songs he hears in his head to life. Together, they’ve built a library rife with tracks that come from his heart and speak to the soul.
When asked, Lamont describes his vision of a “perfect song” as part technical, part spiritual. “It starts with production,” he explains. “Strong 808s, a clean bass line, and cinematic strings that make you feel something. Then comes the story — the words that grab your heart. The hook has to catch you because that’s what the world is going to remember. But in the end, it all has to mean something.” When pushed to name a song that captures that feeling best, he doesn’t hesitate: “‘My Wish’ by Rascal Flatts. That song says it all — become everything you’re meant to be. That’s what I want people to feel when they hear my music.”
Still based in Kentucky, iBeli3ve continues to write, record and mentor others, especially young men battling the grief and self-doubt he struggled with entering the industry. “I used to drink a lot to numb the pain,” he admits. “I quit four years ago. Now, nothing really bothers me. I just want to be that beacon of light for others that my father never had.”
For Lamont, the next chapter is unwritten but blessed with possibility. “I’ve been through homelessness, heartbreak, surgeries and loss,” he says. “I’m still here. Every day I wake up, I remind myself why I started: to inspire. If I can still believe, then so can you.”
Photo by Madylin Goins