Tag: jev.

jev. – “LONERWRLD 2” review

Ontario, Canada emcee jev. returning 15 months since his full-length debut to release his 4th EP. Introducing himself off The Color Grey. as well as LONERWRLD & The Samurai’s Monologue., he received his biggest breakthrough yet last summer off the studio LP when angels cry. emphasizing the jazzy boom bap portions of his style ditching the underlying trap influences throughout a portion of his early material. Preparing for 2nd album, we’re getting a sequel to LONERWRLD.

“Annie.” featuring Hillari soulfully opens the EP with both of them rapping about a violent kind of love while “I Love You, jev.” spits acid over a boom bap instrumental. “Jamaican Cuisine.” produced by Conductor Williams of the Griselda Records in-house production trio The Heartbreakers is my favorite track here getting automatic with the flow while “Megatron.” goes for an industrial hip hop going at the asses of his competition.

The song “God, My Big Homie.” begins the final leg of LONERWRLD 2 talking about the Lord above being a good friend to him over the course of his entire life while “Runitup.” admits that something in his cups causing his words to slur a little. “Truth.” finishes the extended play with sampling soul music throwing some kicks & snares into the picture going on a mission for the team.

Assuming that we’ll get jev.’s sophomore effort in 2026, the continuation of LONERWRLD slickly takes both sounds that it’s predecessor employed couple years ago this month & substitutes the consciously abstract lyricism for secondary influences of neo-soul & trap in addition to experimenting with newer flows that he successfully tries out.

Score: 4/5

Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

jev. – “when angels cry.” review

jev. is a 24 year old underground MC from Ontario, Canada who initially made his mark at the beginning of 2021 by dropping the debut single “Jays”. Next winter saw the release of the debut EP The Color Grey. & eventually the follow-up LONERWRLD came last fall. He just delivered a couplet of singles a month ago & little did I know they were paired together in preparation for jev.’s full-length debut studio album.

“Alice” begins the LP with a soulful boom bap cut so the Congolese-Canadian up-&-comer can vow to show the weaknesses of anyone that tries to take shots at him whereas “The Art of War.” featuring Darion Harris takes the trap route with multiple switch-ups at one point sampling the iconic bell signifying the greatest WWE superstar ever; Hall of Famer, 7-time world champion, 7-time tag team champion & WWE Hardcore Champion The Undertaker continuing to drop hardcore lyricism. “Villains’ Theme” continues from there in the form of a heinous ode to those in the streets prior to the “FEEL$” interlude.

Meanwhile on “Famous.”, we have jev. heading for a symphonic trap direction instrumentally talking about a woman telling him that she wants the fame just before “Save a Spot for Me.”returns to the boom bap warning everyone to stop playing with him by the time he makes his way around the block again. “Wings in the Sky.” has this profound gospel flip throughout getting more personal topically, but then “Wipe My Tears.” featuring August Charles pushes the 2nd leg further jazzily providing optimism in the midst of heartbreak.

“Call Me Back.” featuring Raemi goes drumless for a hip hop/R&B crossover tackling the relatable theme of one’s partner not hitting you back up while “The Killer Shewolf.” sprinkles the pianos, kicks & snares back into the picture culminating in a homie of his getting popped. After the “Man on Fire” interlude, the penultimate song “Wonderland.” featuring Aero Austaire conjoins a rap rock track inspired by My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy-era Kanye with a prominently melodic 2nd half & “The Samurai’s Monologue.” concludes when angels cry. by cooking up a playful trap joint putting the fear of God in people.

Few have summed jev.’s style up as a modern take on old school hip hop marrying the sample-based ethos of classics like Wu-Tang Clan & Nas with the preternatural proficiency of new-school standouts like Kendrick Lamar as well as SABA or Smino, which I can definitely hear throughout the Ontarian’s debut. He balances east coast boom bap, trap, jazz rap, pop rap & on occasion R&B laying his tectonic flows down further pushing him as an underground artist with mainstream appeal.

Score: 4/5