Giveon

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INTERVIEWED BY Malc

Photography: Adrian Martin Styling: Adrian Martin

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For anyone not aware of who you are, talk a bit about your childhood. What was it likegrowing up in Long Beach, and how did you initially gravitate to music?

I was born and raised in East Side Long Beach. While it was impoverished and filled with gang activity, it wasalso full of culture and beautiful stories to tell. My first experience with music is when my mom would playmusic around the house when she cleaned. I would sing along and that’s how it all started.

Did you find it difficult to find your own sound or identity in music or did it just comeorganically?

It wasn’t difficult to find my sound, but it was challenging to find my voice due to the fact that I suddenlybecame a baritone singer once I became a teenager.

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Calvin Klien white tank, Our Legacy Pants, Filling Pieces Shoes

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Your debut project, TAKE TIME, arrived in March. Where were you at in life whilerecording that project?

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While recording TAKE TIME I was coming off a long-term relationship and it shows in the body ofwork.

Amongst the eight-track effort, which ones were your most favorite to create andwhy? Which ones were the toughest to put out?

Out of all of the songs on TAKE TIME I have to say I genuinely loved making all of them. My favorite to make was LIKE I WANT YOU. It could be due to the fact that I’ve never written anything so vulnerable. If I had to chose what song was the hardest to release I would have to say FAVORITE MISTAKE. Thats a song about unfaithfulness and I wasn’t sure how the world would receive a song like that.

How do you want people to respond to your music?

I don’t put too much energy into the response because its out of my control. I just want people tolisten and believe the stories that I’m telling.

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What’s your songwriting process like? Where do you go for creativity or inspiration when writing some of those deeper cuts?

I have a simple process. It starts with the sonics, then there’s a conversation to figure out what story is going to be told, melody, and finally the lyrics.

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So the question that everyone’s been meaning to ask is how did your collaboration with Drake on “Chicago Freestyle” come about?

Yeah I get that question a lot. My manager is from Toronto and he’s good friends with Drake and that’s how the connection was made.

What has the critical reception been from people just getting introduced to your music and how has working on that record changed your life?

I’ve only seen positive things about the song. It exposed my music to a lot of new listeners. Now I have a new group of fans to help spread my message.

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Shifting away from the major co-signs, what do you want the first thing to come to mind when someone says the name “Giveon.” The first thing I want people to think of when they hear “Giveon” is quality. That’s the main thing I want. If you could sit at a dinner table with five artists, dead or alive, who would they be? That’s an interesting question. Frank Ocean, Frank Sinatra, Sade, Sampha, Jay Z In terms of charts and streaming positions, do you pay attention to other artists within the music industry or do you tend to stay within your own circle? I don’t let it hold too much weight but I do use it to track my progress. It always cool to see that my fan base is growing

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