IT’S JEV.’S WORLD, AND WE’RE ALL LIVING IN IT

If jev. was a stock, now would be the time to invest.

Since the beginning of the year, jev. has been a name on the lips of most underground rap fanatics . From having one of his songs at the number one spot of the Top 50 US Viral Songs to now having over 700,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, it’s safe to say that Jephté Kweto, A.K.A. jev., has been blowing up over the past few weeks.

Quickspins

This Is WhyParamore

After five long years, Paramore treats fans with a new album

BY ALEXANDRA BLACKIE

Trial track: Thick Skull media accounts, to reaching out to brands, to creating his songs, he does it all by himself. jev. is his own team, so much so that he has started his own brand: LONER inc., a project that allows jev. to have full creative control of what he does, in every sphere. He said:

Score: 7/10

The past few years have been a rollercoaster for all of us, including the rock band Paramore. After five long years, Paramore has dropped the explosive album This Is Why in response to the world’s recent pandemic. After dropping their lead single “This Is Why” in early September of last year, lead singer Hayley Williams has been teasing fans for months about the release of their latest album.

The multi-layered hit “This Is Why” has been a rock anthem for fans since its release. In comparison to the softer tempo at the beginning of the song, Williams kicks off with the jarring lyrics: “If you have an opinion, maybe you should shove it, or maybe you could scream it, might be best to keep it to yourself.”

These bold words can be felt by the listener throughout the entirety of the track.

The second song (and most notable, in my opinion) is the track “The News.” The lyrics “Shut your eyes but it won’t go away, turn off the news,” clearly speak to the band’s experience during the pandemic and their inability to escape reality. This radical piece is yet another example of Paramore’s talent in the rock industry.

Paramore has been an inspiration in the world of punk rock since the early 2000s. Their sound has influenced a lot of today’s pop stars such as Billie EiIlish, Willow, and Olivia Rodrigo’s 2021 hit “Good 4 U.”

Although most of the album is made up of memorable work, the song “C’est Comme Ça” felt like a recycled beat from their 2017 album After Laughter The song simply felt random and was inferior when compared to the other pieces.

This Is Why takes a dramatic turn halfway through with the song “Liar.”

The combination of acoustic guitar, which isn’t often included in Paramore’s music, and Williams’ gentle lyrics truly make for a heartfelt piece outside the band’s usual vibe.

The album concludes with my favourite piece “Thick Skull.” While the beat keeps a slow, melodramatic rhythm at the beginning, it picks up halfway through with the addition of the drums and electric guitar. Paramore seems to be dipping their toes in the indie world with this one and I’m definitely here for it.

I, by no means, think This Is Why is Paramore’s best album, but I do think it satisfied fans for the time being. While Paramore’s music has clearly evolved since their first album in 2005, their songs will forever be infused with their punk attitude.

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The African-born rapper spent the majority of his life in Africa, growing up in the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa before moving to Canada with his family in late 2019. jev. has been making music since 2009, but it’s only in 2015 that the moniker jev. took form.

Despite the colder weather, the move to Canada was actually beneficial for the young rapper

“You find yourself a lot in the house so it gives you time to be creative and come up with ideas, so for me it worked out well especially during the pandemic,” he said.

For those who don’t know jev. (yet) the 22-year-old rapper is an up-and-coming figure in the new generation of young rappers influenced by both old school hip hop and the rap scene from the 2010s. In this era where the boom bap drums and chopped-up soul samples are making a comeback, jev. thrives on this type of instrumental with his varied flows, brilliant wordplay and energetic delivery. You can hear the influence of some of the greats in his music: artists ranging from the likes of Nas to Joey Bada$$ and Kendrick Lamar are only a few inspirations that can be heard on his tracks.

Even before coming to Canada, jev. had already started to work on his last project the color grey. which released in late December 2022. While most of the songs came together over the pandemic, he first started mastering his craft in 2018, recording “aitd - demo,” the final track, on his phone. jev. has been turning a lot of heads recently, which can mostly be attributed to all the love his song “where’s the confetti?” is receiving. As of now, the song has been streamed nearly 2.8 million times on Spotify since its release in July 2022.

“From 0 to 100,000 was probably the hardest, but from the 100,000 to a million was easy as I think it was two weeks[...] But 0 to 100,000 was like three or four months. It’s exponential growth,” he said.

“where’s the confetti?” is a hookless song that sees jev. celebrate. Once he starts rapping, he never stops, laying clever one-liners after another over a simple drum beat and looped sample. In the past couple of weeks, this track has been circulating everywhere. Whether on TikTok, Instagram, or in various Spotify playlists, this massive exposure helped the song claim the number one spot of the Viral 50 - USA playlist on Spotify.

“LONER inc. was gonna be this umbrella of me just being as creative as possible. Movies, music videos, TV, film, fashion, clothing, music, and music is the main thing right now, that’s where it was born from,”

“I didn’t know how to react at the time, I was kind of in shock, but I’m super grateful for everybody that has played it and added it to their playlists and everything. It’s crazy,”

With all the success he’s having, you may think that jev. gets help from other people or works with a team, right? Well, you would be wrong. Aside from working with certain producers on his songs, everything else he does, he does it alone. From promoting his songs on his different social

Despite being fully in charge of his music career, jev. is much more busy than that. Not only is he a fulltime student, currently studying marketing at Carleton University in Ottawa, but he works part-time at Staples. With his combination of skill and a tremendous amount of talent, mixed with a balanced work ethic and a burning passion for music, be on the lookout for jev. as he might be the next big name in rap you wish you had discovered earlier.

I wonder what goes through people’s minds when they say, “Oh I really want to watch the Grammys, it sounds like fun.” No it doesn’t. You proceed to sit on your couch for threeand-a-half hours and watch artists get award after award for their accomplishments. Most of the time the voters from NARAS (the academy responsible for the Grammy Awards) get things wrong (objectively speaking), but this time they were able to get some award/artist pairings right.

So let’s start things off with American singer, rapper and flutist Lizzo. She just became the first Black woman in the 21st century to win Record of the Year. Her predecessor in the 20th century was none other than Whitney Houston for “I Will Always Love You.”

When announced, Adele was the first to give her one of those big “I wrote 4 studio albums that are my age but you go Lizzo sister!” hugs and it was sweet.

Actress Viola Davis, who starred in phenomenal movies such as Hidden Figures and The Help, got the EGOT status. What that means is, she is one of the few artists to have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony award. This is no mean feat, I assure you, as only 17 other people have achieved this status. She won a Grammy for the audiobook of her memoir “Finding Me” (how is that music? Anyways, every day we stray further from the light of God).

Harry Styles beat Beyonce, Kendrick, Adele, and Lizzo, among others, for Album of the Year. This is now the fourth time that an artist has nabbed the “Album of the Year” award from the Renaissance artist. Clearly, Beyonce’s album did not get in formation last year just like how she was late for the award ceremony.

But fret not, for Beyonce achieved a record for the most Grammy wins in history. This totals her collection to 34 awards!

For those of you who don’t know, Questlove is an accomplished musician and producer, most known for being part of the group the Roots (they actually performed at JazzFest MTL last year).

This year for the Grammys, he organized a performance that involved all of the legends from RnB and hip-hop. Artists like Queen Latifah, LL Cool J, Ice T, and many others graced the stage with their presence and MC skills that would make trap artists’ bones quiver. Also, shoutout to Randy Rainbow the comedian, who mispronounced the word “Valhalla” as “Valaha” in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.