Charlotte born and Orlando raised, J. Levi is a multi-talented artist who features music with a cleverly crafted mélange of Pop, R&B, and Hip-Hop influences.
Writing and performing his own music since 2011, J. Levi won a competition in 2015 to headline at Disney’s Night of Joy with artists such as Lecrae, Andy Mineo, and more with over 80k people in the park.
Now, he hopes to show that early success was just the beginning and after working on his craft in obscurity, he’s ready to show the world that he’s next up as an artist on the rise.
With three singles currently out in 2021, and eight more planned for the rest of the year, we come to J. Levi’s melismatic “Summer Never Lasts.” Allowing listeners to delve into high frequencies of the soul, mind, and spirit, J. Levi exudes a brilliant display of vocal techniques that he pairs with a laidback tempo.
Honing in on the tantalizing hues, we get to embrace a unique arrangement of drum patterns, intentional guitar riffs, and a vibrant bassline perfectly etched into the composition. He has a flair for bringing life to the lyrics he carefully crafts, and we’ve been ready for this. “Summer Never Lasts,” has come at the perfect time to accompany those heat waves with an enthralling soundscape of passion.
Radiantly approaching this artistic canvas in a way that has his audience fixated on the finer details that escort his sultry croons, J. Levi is a force to be reckoned with. A key to any great song is the emotion it evokes within yourself. With J. Levi at the helm of “Summer Never Lasts,” his lyrical motifs practically leap out from the speakers and bury themselves within our thoughts.
As we place this track on loop, we know that summer may not last, but this song certainly holds longevity.
Welcome to BuzzMusic, J. Levi, and congratulations on the release of “Summer Never Lasts.” You clearly allowed this release to line up with the timing of the seasons, and we think that’s brilliant! With this specific track, what does it mean to you as an artist and individual?
Thanks so much for having me! Have been admiring you guys from afar for a while now and have always enjoyed the content y’all put out so definitely grateful to be interviewed by you guys! The timing was definitely intentional! This track has been ready for months now but wanted to release it right before Summer so it’s been collecting dust for a minute now. As far as what this track means to me artistically and personally I’d say there were two things I wanted to convey: that temporality is a fact of life and that truth can be celebrated as well as lamented. Celebrated because the bad seasons don’t last forever. Which, thank God for that. Lamented because the good won’t either. Which, no thanks God, for that. So, the track wrestles with those two things through the eyes of a young lover whose Summer romance didn’t last past the turning of the leaves.
What sparked the inspiration behind “Summer Never Lasts?" How are you hoping your listeners perceive this track?
Like all of my songs, this track was inspired by personal experience. For brevity’s sake, my wife and I first started “talking” at the end of high school and those first three months of “dating” really felt like it was straight from a movie, but we ended up breaking up right before Summer and it straight up felt like my world was ending. I really thought we would go the distance and we hadn’t. So, drawing on those feelings and experiences, I tried to imagine what it would’ve been like had we not gotten back together. This song was the result of that.
As far as how I want people to perceive it, I honestly hope people perceive the song in whatever way they wish to perceive it. That’s one of the best things about music! People listen to the same song and yet experience them very differently. Maybe for someone, it dredges up old memories of love lost and summons some nostalgia or maybe it reminds someone that tomorrow’s not guaranteed so enjoy the season they're in and not take it, or the people in it, for granted. Either way, I’m cool with it!
How does the sound of this record compare to your previously and soon-to-be-released tracks of 2021?
I would say it’s pretty comparable to the other releases. The next song to come out - “Burning Like a Dream” - has a crazy Zedd type EDM drop in the chorus that is just straight fire that is a bit different from Summer Never Lasts. The next one after that - “Ghost” - is more straight-up R&B/Hip-Hop with no Pop influences at all and is a for-real bop! So hyped for both of those!
With every artist being their own biggest critic, how do you know when a song is ready for release?
I mean in one sense you really never know for sure. You just kind of trust your own instincts and then decide to put yourself out there and hope your instincts were right and if not, figure out why and improve. It definitely helps to have honest (not critical) people around you who are involved in music or even make music themselves and can give you feedback, either good or bad.
What would you like new listeners to know about your music? Who I present to be musically is who I am in real life. Not writing or talking about things I haven’t experienced nor am I trying to be someone I’m not. My artist name J. Levi is my first name (Jesse) combined with my middle name, Levi. This is me. Hopefully, y’all vibe with me!
