Jenevieve | 5 Minutes With

22-year-old, LA-based artist Jenevieve is currently taking over the music scene with her over 1 million monthly listeners on Spotify and 70k followers on Instagram. Her most recent debut project, called “Division” features a soulful blend of vibrating synths and city pop-like production from Benziboy and is her most listened to music yet.

She uses a deep mixture of soul, pop and experimental R&B that reveal her eloquent ability to push the boundaries of song writing. The artist was born in Florida, raised in Miami and holds Cuban & Bahamian roots. She now resides in the land of Hollywood, LA where she continues to write songs with partner JEAN BENZ.

The body of work “Division” consists of her breakout tracks like “Baby Powder” and “Midnight Charm,” showcasing her vocal abilities and her defiant spirit on the bubbly “No Sympathy,” a pop track filled with affirmations of self-love and freedom.

Jenevieve also opens up on her hit “Blameless,” where she looks within to understand the love she projects in today’s sea of ‘situationship’ romance. Her recent single “Résumé” also makes an appearance with an enhanced groove.

Throughout “Division”, Jenevieve tells her story in a beautiful manner, with passion, integrity and a fire in her soul. Between tantalizing melodies and piercing lyrics, her debut project reminds us of the next class of women in music, ones who still have so much more to say.

We chat with Jenevieve about her childhood, how that impacted her music, her journey, inspirations, and all things “Division”.

Hey Jenevieve, welcome to Noctis! First off if you were to describe yourself in one sentence – what would it be?

Nurturing, loving, silly. I like to stay positive and easy going until somebody gets on my bad side [laughs].

How are you finding being a young musician navigating the busy LA scene now, because originally, you’re from Miami? What’s do you love about California, and what do you miss most when you’re away from home?

I stay in for the most part when I’m not working on music or handling business. When I have free time, I go out occasionally to like events or things like that, but I’m not a party girl, I’m more of a homebody.

What I love about LA is the views, the nature/scenery is so beautiful. I just love stepping outside for a walk or a hike. Florida will never leave me, although I’ve been in LA since I was 7, all my family is in Florida. Whenever I go back, I’m always happy to be reminded of where I came from, it’s like a little recharge.

What kind of music did you listen to around the house when you were growing up, and do you think this has directly impacted your music taste and sound now?

I think it impacted me growing up, my Abuela [grandma] would play classical music, also a lot of artists like Celia Cruz, Tito Puentes, La Lupe etc. My mom would play a lot of R&B, hip-hop and Pop for me, and on my dad side, I just remember listening to a lot of funk and grooviness like the Isley Brothers, the Brothers Johnson.

If you could describe your childhood in three words, what would they be – why?

1. Sunny – because I have so many good memories from my childhood.

2. Royal – because of how I was brought up and how my family carries themselves.

3. Magical – because even though my parents weren’t together, they were still good friends, and they did everything to make sure that I felt loved.

Your debut project ‘Division’ was recently released, congratulations! We loved it here at Noctis! Can you tell us about the process of creation: how long did it take you to make the whole body of work, what do you hope people took away from it, and what did you want it to say about you as an artist?

Thank you so much, Noctis! A lot of these songs were recorded in the summer of 2019; it took about a year before the release. I think it shows my diversity, I don’t want to just categorize myself as just one genre or put myself in a box. I hope people find joy in the music.

What is your favourite track from ‘Division’, if you could only pick one, and why?

That’s not fair I can’t just pick one! but I’ll say it’s between ‘NXWHERE’ and ‘Exit Wounds’, but then I do love ‘Cry Baby’ and then I do loooove ‘Baby Powder’… yeah lol, idk that’s a hard question, haha, does that answer your question?

Where do you usually pull your musical inspiration from – because often time your music is very relatable and raw? Is it ever hard to put your art out there at the risk of being too real?

Nah! I feel like the best way to go is to be real and true to yourself. Benziboy and I always stay true to ourselves, we strive to put music out that touches people on a deep or personal level or feels like they can relate to on a day-to-day basis. We want people to feel inspired and maybe switch a not-so-great day for a better day, or maybe to reflect and think about things from a different perspective.

Watching the music video for the single before ‘Résume’, which came right before your album, we must highlight the aesthetic of this – it was relaxed, colourful and even a little trippy. Were you quite heavily involved in the creative process? Do you feel like artists need to be hands-on in the ideation of visuals as well as the music they make?

I feel like an artist needs to be hands-on with the video-making process. For that video, it was very last minute, the golf course scene we shot it mostly gorilla style. I even decided to style myself because I wanted it to feel a certain aesthetic on Midnight Charm.

What is a significant goal you’ve managed to achieve for yourself, and how did you turn this into your reality?

Having been reached out to by legends I’ve grown up listening to, it’s such a fulfilling goal. I just focused on my passion and everything else manifested from there.

How would you like your sound to develop over the next couple of years? Do you have a clear direction on if and how your sound may change, or will it evolve as you do?

Benziboy and I know exactly what direction we’re going for in this next body of work, and all I can say is “Oh Boy!” I’m sooo excited…and that’s all I’m gonna say on that for now! You’re gonna have to wait to find out 😉

What’s next for Jenevieve for the remainder of the year and beyond? Will you take some time to rest or straight back to the studio? We’re excited about your journey and would love to know what to look out for?

Honestly, I haven’t stopped, there’s no time to rest, why would we rest when we’re just getting started? Next, I have my first festival coming up, Day in Vegas I’m super excited for that; a photoshoot for the cover artwork of a remix with a surprise feature 😉

Also, I’m shooting a music video in the next couple of days and a few other exciting things, then Benziboy and I will lock back in and continue working on the album!