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Zacardi Cortez Almost Quit Music. The Houston, Texas, Gospel Star Closes His IBHAR Trilogy With 'The Chronicle'
The two-time GRAMMY nominee from Acres Homes built Chapter 3 around 'Nobody But You,' a song from the season he nearly stopped singing.
Zacardi Cortez came close to walking away. The Houston, Texas gospel singer says the song at the heart of his new album was born in a season when "I felt like giving up and quitting singing and music altogether."
That song, "Nobody But You," anchors IBHAR: The Chronicle (Chapter 3), released Oct. 16, 2026, and uGospel reports it speaks directly to depression. The song, he told the outlet, "came to me when I was dealing with depression at its highest point."
The final chapter of IBHAR
The Chronicle is a 15-track anthology and the last chapter of a series that began with IBHAR: He That Is Chosen (Chapter 1) and continued with IBHAR: The Journey (Chapter 2). BMI Award-winning producer Morgan Turner produced it, per uGospel.
The guest list is deep: Darrel Walls, Jekalyn Carr, Chrystal Rucker, Myke Grizzly, Jason Nelson, Doobie Powell, and Cardell Booker & The Williams Singers. The Hip Hop Boobly Show also turns up on "I Can Be Anything," and a "Praise Him (Remix)" is part of the set.
A series built on hits
Chapter 1 arrived May 9, 2025, as a seven-song EP on the ZetRoc Ent/BlackSmoke Music imprint, according to Jesus Freak Hideout. Its "Work It Out For Me (Live Radio Edit)" climbed to No. 1 on Billboard's Gospel Airplay chart and earned a 2025 Pandora Medallion. His friend Travis Malloy brought him that song, and Cortez told Jesus Freak Hideout, "I felt like the song was written just for me." Each Medallion marks one million streams, per uGospel.
Chapter 2's "Working On Me" picked up a 2026 Pandora Medallion. Blacksmoke Music Worldwide, led by Kerry Douglas, released the earlier IBHAR chapters and has delivered three Top 10 albums for Cortez, per uGospel.
Raised in Acres Homes, raised in church
Cortez was born in Houston and comes from Acres Homes, the youngest of five children raised by a single mother, Jesus Freak Hideout reports. He started singing in church at age five with his family group, The Cortez Singers.
Pastor John P. Kee mentored him from age eight, and Cortez sang with Kee's V.I.P. Mass Choir. His debut album, The Introduction, came out on Blacksmoke Records in 2012, per Wikipedia.
The résumé since then is stacked. uGospel credits him with two GRAMMY nominations, multiple Stellar Awards, two Dove Award nominations, a BMI Trailblazer Award and multiple Billboard chart-topping singles. As of May 2025, Jesus Freak Hideout counted four No. 1s on Billboard's Gospel Airplay chart, including 2019's "You Don't Know," which he co-wrote with James Fortune.
Where to listen and follow
IBHAR: The Chronicle (Chapter 3) arrived Oct. 16, 2026; look for it under Zacardi Cortez on your streaming service.
Sources
uGospel — "Zacardi Cortez to Release Powerful Anthology Album From Acclaimed IBHAR Series IBHAR: The Chronicle (Chapter 3) October 16"
Jesus Freak Hideout — "Zacardi Cortez Readies the Release of His New Project May 9"
Wikipedia — "Zacardi Cortez"