GIVEON: CINEMATIC CATHARSIS
Giveon Dezmann Evans is a young R&B singer based in Long Island, California. Last year in 2020 Giveon rose to stardom after being featured on Drake’s single “Chicago Freestyle” on which he sings the hook in a sweet and beautiful voice. While his rise to prominence has only been recent, he has been developing his musical skills for many years.
As a child, Giveon’s mother saw much talent in him, for which she made him sing the Happy Birthday song at family events for many years. After years, he honed in his baritone voice. Giveon also told Press-Telegram about how he used to sing along with the songs his mother played while cleaning the house. Artists like Anita Baker, Sade, and Mary J. Blige.
His childhood influences were Frank Ocean and Miguel, among other R&B artists. As a teenager, he was turned on to another musical legend with a prolific baritone voice. At a Grammy music camp in Long Beach, his vocal abilities were taken notice of by an instructor who told him to check out Frank Sinatra, who became a lasting inspiration.
Being only 26 years old today, his music career seems to an outsider to have exploded pretty much overnight. From ages 23 to 24, he self-released two debut singles, named “Garden Kisses” (2018) and “Like I Want You” (2019). Soon after, he received the opportunity of a lifetime by opening for SnohAalegra on her tour of Europe and America that was called “Ugh, A Mini-tour again”
The year 2020 was a big year for Giveon. Not only was he featured on Drake’s hit single, but he released his own debut EP Take Time. The album was released under Epic Records and the record label Not So Fast. While Drake’s single did usher him into the limelight, it was his own EP that kept him there. Music critics were amazed at the creative lyrical approaches over R&B backing, as well as the polished production and vocals. Very soon the album had topped the Billboard’s Heatseekers albums chart.
Since then Giveon has managed to carve out an extremely loyal fan base. His second album “When It’s All Said and Done” peaked at number 93 on Billboard 200, and featured hit single “Stuck On You” which peaked at number 17 on Billboard’s Hot R&B songs.
In all his songs, Giveon’s lyrics are cinematic and according to him are based on true stories. One of his newest songs “The Beach” talks about what the experience of bringing a girl back to the hood would be like. In this way he is able to reflect on larger social themes in personal and satirical ways, lending to a cinematic lyrical voice.
The song is featured on his latest album which is a conceptual compilation of his last two projects. The album is titled “When It’s All Said and done…Take Time”. Giveon told Rolling Stone Magazine that the idea to merge the two albums into one happened naturally, as the two were conceptually connected to each other. The idea was to put all his music in one place, like a playlist, which will then just roll through the story in a cohesive manner.
Giveon is not just a songwriter and incredible baritone singer. He is a storyteller, trying to weave personal and social narratives into his songs in innovative ways. While continuing to produce music, he plans on writing scripts and making films. He’s definitely made a lot of progress already, but it seems Giveon best work in the R&B music scene is yet to come.
