Timothy Lamont, a Lexington musician who also goes by the name ibeli3ve, has a quiet positivity about him that is so strong, it makes sense that he made “believe” part of his stage name. His life story is full of hard knocks and tragic events, which makes his perspective even more impressive.
Lamont was born in Milwaukee. His father, a Campbellsville native, went north in his youth and met and married Lamont’s mother, who was from Milwaukee. “The years go by, I’m about 12 years old; we decide to move to Kentucky,” Lamont said.
Lamont looks back with humor about the move. The family packed a rental van and headed south, with Lamont and two of his brothers packed in the back along with the furniture and household goods. “Very questionable parenting,” he said. It was dark, no windows, and “I didn’t know if anything would fall off.”
The family made it safely to Louisville. “My parents, my mom, we went down there with no plan,” Lamont recalled. “We ended up staying with family. That didn’t go over too well. We were there for two months, then on the streets and then in a homeless shelter.”
Through all the instability and hard times, Lamont loved creating and being an artist, even as a child: “I was known for my art.”
After living in Louisville for two years, the family moved to Campbellsville, where Lamont completed middle school and high school. It was there that Lamont’s life took a major turn.
It was Nov. 11, 2003, and Lamont was 15. He could feel something was wrong that day. “It felt like a storm was coming over us,” he recalled. His father usually stayed in his room and listened to music, but that night, he went to the garage instead.
Lamont and his brother opened the garage door and discovered their father had taken his own life.
“Losing my father like I did … I was a scared little boy,” he said. “I had a lot to learn. I needed my father. I needed guidance. I wasn’t ready for the real world. I didn’t understand a job application. I needed somebody to be there.”
Lamont struggled to cope with the loss. “I first found solace in a bottle for multiple years because I sheltered what I was feeling,” he said. “After realizing the harm that I was doing to my body, it was my faith and passion that gave me the power to move forward.”
Music was a thread throughout Lamont’s life. “I’d been doing music for a long time. When I was very young, I started writing rhymes,” he said.
Tupac Shakur’s poetry and style inspired him.
Lamont named his godmother, Toya Javonne, as a Kentuckian who influenced his music. “My godmother has a beautiful voice,” he said. “She’s a songbird … A lot of my inspiration comes from the people I’m around.” He also mentioned his godfather as an influence.
Lamont was living in Lexington but went to Milwaukee and fell off a ladder while doing fire-damper inspections on a job. He had surgery and went through physical therapy, but the injury didn’t heal the first time. He went back for surgery, then had a third surgery on the same knee.
“That was a little adversity,” he said. “I’m funding my own music [at the time]. After the third [surgery], I fell into a bit of depression.” He said therapy helped. So did music.
Lamont was staying with his sister, and while he was healing, he decided to learn more about the music business. “About three or four years ago, I started to take it seriously. Just the true way of doing music, I had to learn it. Once I learned that, I decided to really put effort in it. Because I wasn’t truly an artist until I learned everything about it,” he said. He paid careful attention to the business part of the music world and how he could manage his own career.
Lamont’s desire to learn was sparked in part by a bad record deal in early 2023 with a record company run by a famous rapper’s nephew. Lamont lost thousands of dollars. “He got over on me,” Lamont said. “That’s the shady part of the business.”
By day, Lamont is the general manager at Hibbett Sports in Lexington. While music is currently a side gig, he has a focused plan. “My goal is to see several of my songs get placed,” he said. “I recorded three songs with my vocals on it in Canada for Vapor Music. They do a lot of music for Netflix.”
Lamont was invited by Level Up and Ultimate Sync to share some of his songs. He said the owner of Level Up took three of his songs, intended for the NFL and SportsNet, a Canadian sports media brand. He doesn’t know if they will use them soon or at all, but he has hope.
Lamont performed the halftime show at the KHSAA 11th Region Boys and Girls Basketball Tournament in March. During this interview, the Lexington Legends baseball team contacted him to see if he could perform the National Anthem at a game.
Lamont loves football and played in high school, so music and football go together naturally for him. “I want to get a lot of placements for sports,” he said. “I released an EP in March, and they were all sports-related songs. I’m thinking of it as a business. How can I get my music on TV?” He emphasizes bold beats and general lyrics that don’t specify a particular sport.
He recently was signed to the Helen Wells Agency based in Louisville. He was signed as an actor and a lifestyle model for digitals.
“I’m a sneaky talent. I didn’t tell a lot of people that I was into acting and modeling,” Lamont said. “I’m young, and I’m fit, and I want to use it to market myself. That will get people to think about my music. I’m trying to really get myself out there the best way possible.”
Lamont described his music as R&B and hip-hop with occasional rapping. From writing music, doing his own graphic design, editing videos and doing his own PR, Lamont is a one-man operation. He’s even handling his own vocal training.
Lamont’s motivation is clear: “My son is 10 years old, and he looks up to me. I just want to be great. In his eyes, I want to be his hero. I want to show him you make something and end up making it beautiful.”