John GRVY’s first tracks date back to the distant 2014. Five years ago. Before we had started talking about urban music. Before the new R&B had landed in our country of Spain. Before even your brother-in-law believed he had the right of not only having an opinion on trap, but also of even explaining it to you as if he were an expert music critic during the usual family dinner.
As said before: John GRVY was here before all of that. And what’s most interesting is that, in those ‘what you see is what you get’ creative times, he decided to take things at his own pace. Slowly. Very slowly. His classic r&b has been cooking on low heat, with sensuality and a warm emotional quality that is filmed on slow motion. That is the formula with which GRVY has managed to reach excellence with his first mixtape, G R I S, with which he has counted on an impactful (and very varied) staff of collaborators between which Yung Beef, Javiera Mena and Brisa Fenoy are found.
On March 20th, John GRVY will present his mixtape on Madrid’s El Sol concert hall, you can buy tickets here, and promises he’ll count with a bunch of special guests. Who will they be exactly? It’s too soon to know. And yet, however, this is the appropriate moment to talk to John about his mixtape, his first and imminent LP and several other matters.
First of all, I’ve had this debate with a bunch of people: how do we pronounce GRVY? Groovy? Garvy? Gurvy? Weren’t you worried that people would end up calling you by different names?
It’s Gray, with an upside down A, that’s why it almost always appears in block letters. But I’m not too worried about being called Groovy, but I’ve never heard of Gurvy… That’s very inventive.
Your mixtape G R I S has just seen the light of day… but for a few years now you’ve been on our radars as the artist that’s going to explode on the scene in three, two, one… Why did you take so much time?
Thank you for thinking of me in that betting pool. It’s true that my first long-form project has been delayed for almost a year and a half for several reasons, but in the meantime I’ve also released two beautiful EPs and several singles. One of them, Crush , is my biggest track to date. My first LP will be released this year, and I hope it will fulfil all of your expectations… But, above all, mine.
In G R I S you mix English and Spanish. Do you think this is a sign of our current time?
It’s a sign of who I am, a mix between both worlds. Even though I was raised between Madrid, Toledo and Salamanca, I’m of Nigerian origin and English was the first language I ever learned to speak. It’s my mother tongue, but nowadays, most times I think and speak in Spanish. Logically, it is also a sign of the times… What’s weird is that, even though Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world, when it comes to the number of inhabitants, we haven’t reclaimed it before with more conviction.
That mix of languages seems to me to be as important as the mixing of genres that you do: you aren’t married to anything or anyone, and that’s where John GRVY’s wonderful basis, sound-wise, lies… Is that right?
To me, that’s what I like most about making music: each song is a project and each project has a world of possibilities. It’s not that I’m not married to anything or anyone, but I practice free love towards everything that I like.
Yung Beef, Javiera Mena, Brisa Fenoy, Sticky M.A., Cruz Cafuné... They’re all on your mixtape. How has it been working with such a diverse staff of collaborators?
It’s been great with every single one of them, to be honest. I’m so grateful and humble because so many colleagues and friends have wanted to participate in this project and they have given a vote of confidence to the idea of G R I S.
You have a very defined style, super elegant and sleek. What’s your favourite clothing item, the one you build your looks around?
Thanks! I can’t really say that I have a favourite clothing item, even though I do have a special weakness for smooth clothes and a mao collar.
