Before he was an elegist brandishing the cognomen, ARTIS JEFE, the Toledo-dreamer was part of a story mirroring many.
Leaving behind his professional career in Ohio and relocating to L.A., he followed his creative intuitions, naturally establishing his talent as a laureate and discovering something worth investing in wholeheartedly: his career as a musical artist. With six singles released so far, and in fastening his career as an idyllist specialist, the latest offering of eccentric compositions—ornamented by his lyricism—renders in the form of a mystifying and ominous joyride titled "Grave Digger."
Opening right away with its captivating topline hook, Artis Jefe sings under a muted blanket of oscillating and hauntingly blended harmonies. There's a detuned ringing strum that sounds like an acoustic guitar played through a vintage tape-machine, as a more magnified variant of Jefe's harmonies centers itself in the mix. The immediate impression you get is reminiscent of being intoxicated, but in the way that makes you feel introspective.
With a two and four accented beat that gives way to this track's magnetizing groove, the new-born L.A. creative dignitary cuts down with a stanza-like flow for the verses. These sections operate in establishing his Emcee cantor, that sounds so bohemian and individualistic, it's hard to compare it to anyone else coming out of the Angel City right now.
"I guess I'm really from the mud, I get why you diggin' dirt, it's cause you don't know my worth, don't paint my body with your words," he versifies with a layering of two distinguishing but synergized performances that enhance by magnifying his profound sentiments with his descriptive lyricism. It's a track that would challenge anyone to look within themselves and find the same confident energy that this poet evokes through his leaden R&B sounding production and his lyrical volubility.
Hello ARTIS, and thank you for sitting don ith us at BuzzMusic. What's been the most challenging part about moving your life from one part of the country to the other in order to follow your creative intuitions?
Finding my TRYBE, and rebuilding HOUSE. It’s difficult to find and decipher the authenticity of a home on a foreign land however with time I am recreating and repositioning who I include as the US, who I consider family. Have there been any sticking lessons learned in life that operate as fuel in your development as a musical artist in Los Angeles?
“Any and everything can be overcome” “grind until you get it” “Just keep going” “Put it all in the art” These are the lessons that are stuck in my head as a navigate space as an artist in LA which boils down to DONT stop creating ART. What were the main sentiments you were aiming to connect to the audience for this track, and why did you feel that you needed to extend these feelings out into the world now?
This song explores the full spectrum of a black man in America, the trauma and triumph. The main sentiment relayed in this song is that you are the problem and the solution. Right now, the world needs a new narrative for the black man. The world needs hope. With six single, six songs, four features, three music videos, and four published poetry books already embellishing your artistic career, when can we expect a full-length album?
Expect an ART project during Scorpio season of this year What has been keeping you inspired throughout 2020?
Really anything and everything has kept me inspired: COVID season, my nephew learning how to play guitar, LA street artists, LA homeless, Paul, etc.