Jviden (pronounced Jaiden) is a rapper from Brampton with a sound that captures the ear right away, even more so in comparison to the predominant musical trend of the Greater Toronto Area.
Jviden blends elegant production with a reverence for lyricism, never forgoing the opportunity to share a message or concept in his projects. His latest release ‘Pure’, an honest expression of fears and insecurities, has cover art depicting the artist falling from the sky.
The imagery is a pictorial representation of the project’s overall sound – an ethereal, often minimalist, dreamlike aesthetic. Jviden’s lyrics are introspective and self-aware; “show bravado but really I’m timid”, he raps in Classic ft. K. Forest. As well as artful and impenetrably clever.
Jviden cites Mick Jenkins as one of his inspirations. On my first listen, I found the production style, especially the jazzier cuts (Hotel ft. McCallaman & Ashton), felt a lot like ‘The Waters’ by Jenkins.
The beats on ‘Pure’ are really something else, however. The transition on Hotel is a phone call from a girl who is angry at her cheating boyfriend. The beat moves from a jazzy, soulful sample in Waltz timing (3/4 time) to a bassier, almost atmospheric trap instrumental in a conventional 4/4 time. Ashton introduces a more aggressive flow on the second half of this song, too.
One of my favourite tracks on this project, and probably one of my favourite new hip hop tracks this year, is ‘Topanga’. This is very a unique track.
The production starts off feeling like the skeleton of a beat, combining a miscellany of sounds from the everyday: the distinctive sound of a disconnected phone line or maybe a fax machine, chopped and screwed vocals, audible squeaks, with sounds of a single shy 808 kick denoting the fluctuation of the beat.
About half way through the track, the beat becomes more elaborate as it introduces more drums kicks. Jviden raps ‘from the 905 to the 519, two-hour drive even on my mind – Topanga.’ The 519 refers to southwestern Ontario, specifically London (where Jviden went to school), and the 905 refers to the suburban GTA, specifically Brampton (where Jviden is from).
The project is a very different direction from his last EP ‘W.A.I.T‘. Jviden is excited about experimenting with new styles and sounds saying ‘don’t be surprised if you hear me on something different because I am an artist.’ He shares the inspiration of ‘Pure’ being a moment of tranquility experienced in the Forks of the Credit Provincial Park in Caledon, just north of Brampton.
Being a producer himself, he wanted to capture what the park would sound like. Similarly, he and his good friend and collaborator dF are currently devising a unique ‘Brampton sound’. Having K. Forest and TOBi, two fellow Bramptonians, on the project was also a deliberate move and point of pride for Jviden.
‘At the end of listening to Pure I want listeners to feel great, open, accept themselves for who they are and mistakes they made. My goal as an artist is to spread positive energy and use my experiences in hope it will help listeners through their situation while giving them bars where they have to rewind and say “jheeeze” or a few years from now listen to ‘Pure‘ and catch a few gems and say “how did I not hear that.”
The chill vibe and the clever wordplay pay homage to the traditions of classic 90s hip hop. Pure is a millennial appreciation of bars, but not at the risk of toting a dated sound. ‘Pure‘ also innovates with a new, refreshing take on the atmospheric style that has become characteristic of the Toronto region. The title of this project is, in a fundamental way, a self-description of the music captured within it: Pure.
Listen below.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/playlists/269866544″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]Update: an earlier version of this article stated Jviden was rapping on the second half of ‘Hotel’ but it was amended to reflect Ashton as the rapper in the second half.