Raised in four countries around Africa, and born to French-American parents, Pavy utilizes hip-hop to help explore his many questions of home, self, life, and love. His experiences growing up as an expatriate child in the Third World provide unique stories of adversity, but also tales of what he considers our world's most beautiful continent. Always known as the loudest kid in the room growing up, Pavy is now clearly after the Loudest-Man-On-The-Mic award. The energy and bounce of “The Joker” EP is aggressively contagious. Listen for yourself.
Featured on the “The Joker” EP is the loud testimonial track, “Jungle Juice” Ft. Seungrae. The whole thing offers a certain simplicity that lets each layer of individuality shine through. The melodic xylophone in the backdrop adds a hint of something culturally diverse and the beat holds close to an industrial trip hop vibe. The vocals of both Pavy and Seungrae present a back and forth set-up that works subtly but surely towards keeping you involved and interested right the way through. The more you hear of “Jungle Juice”, the more likeable it becomes. There’s a musical freedom to it, a creative expression at its core that’s been confidently united with the entrancing rhythms of modern hip hop. “Jungle Juice” introduces character and musicianship in equal parts, and it makes sure you walk away with that key line running through your mind.
Check out “Jungle Juice” here and read more below in our exclusive interview.
Welcome to BuzzMusic! In your own words, what does “Jungle Juice” represent for you? What inspired this track?
Jungle Juice is, simply put, an honest response to the wild instrumental producer Bryden Veinot provided me. I remember hearing the beat for the first time: I was in bed just waking up, and the bounce of the track literally had me jump out of the sheets and dance around my room. The vibe of it all led me straight into this inner jungle where I captured the images and poured them onto paper. Considering that I was raised in Africa and that my father was a wildlife-conservationist, animals and "the bush" are a huge part of my upbringing and I tried to put as much of that into JJ as I could.
What do you hope listeners take away from this release?
I really hope that people who hear my EP realize how possible and fulfilling it is to be different. Many times throughout this project I was terrified of the release, of opening myself up and making extreme statements like I do. My sound isn't like anything in hip-hop right now and I can either choose to see that as a positive or a negative; I've always been different (my background, my environment, my story, my character) but I think that's where my sense of confidence comes from. Nobody is exactly like anybody else; find what makes you special and harness that energy.
What are your main aspirations as an artist right now?
I guess I would narrow it down to two main objectives: One is exposure; I have thousands of friends, fans, and family who support my music but because I've moved around my entire life my fanbase is equally spread out, which makes it tough for me to sell out my shows in Vancouver. So right now my biggest goal is to expose myself in the city that I'm in. Two is artistic growth; I've always been very vocal growing up. Very loud, versatile in my tonality, funny accents, you could even say flamboyant. Considering that I'm not much of a musical creator (I have producers and engineers for that), my job is to use my voice as the lead instrument in my music. As of now I think I am capable of much more than I have displayed and I just need to experiment more with my voice. The next project will display that effort and I'm very excited.
Was this your first time collaborating with Seungrae? Can we expect future collaborations?
No it was not. Funny enough, Seungrae and I met in freshman year of college at UBC where we frequently smoked weed and made music together. That is also where we met Sound of Kalima members Salil Verma and Peter James. We knew right away that we all had a passion and innate talent worth chasing, so we did. Previous collaborations between Seungrae and I include: Consequences, Harder, and Hoes. I don't doubt there will be more to come from the two of us.
What’s the overall theme of your EP “The Joker”?
The overall theme is hysterics. The extreme highs and lows. I use music as a source of therapy and self expression, and I don't find it very interesting if the music doesn't discuss pressing issues. Growing up in Africa the way I did, I was surrounded by so many elements that left me wondering "Why Me?" I've had plenty of luxuries as well as obstacles in my life and those are the things I believe art should be made of.
Discover the latest releases and shows from Pavy via his social media: