With 3.7 million fans on Tik Tok, Jeven Reliford is swiftly blowing up. This Georgia native went from singing around the house to being a signed artist at the budding age of 19 with smash hit single.
Your Tik Tok immediately blew up after only one video. How do you recall that transition?
At the beginning of Tik Tok, it was just my friends simply telling me that I needed to hop on it and post something. So, one day, I just decided to post a video and I believe it was a short cover of Goodbyes by Post Malone. When I posted it, right away it got like 17K likes. I was stoked especially since I knew I could do way better than that. I just remember the next day in class I couldn’t stop staring at my phone all day and thinking of what else I could do to have a better video. Then the next day, my goal was to beat that video and every video after that just continued to gain more attention. Eventually, I started hitting at least a million every time. After all that, I just started getting dedicated to it.
How has it been starting your career just around the time the world seemed to shut down?
Well, I was actually still in New York for a meeting when it all started to happen. I flew back home, and school was canceled, and I just never went back. Luckily, I did get to have graduation later in the summer. But yea, COVID threw us all for a loop. I just used the time to catch up with my friends and enjoy the outdoors since I love nature anyway. It’s held us back from a lot of what we wanted to do but I think it’s also given me a lot of time that I needed from this transition from just graduating and jumping right into the music business as a signed artist. With everything moving so quickly after my Tik Tok videos, I’d like to think COVID slowed life down for me a bit and gave me the extra time I needed.
What were some big changes you made once being inducted into the “Tik Tok” famous category?
It was like night and day; it all seems like a video to me honestly. The flood of people reaching out to me to do business, and at the time I didn’t even know the business side of things. From managers to independent labels, and even major labels trying to get me to sign with them; that was the biggest thing right away. But once things started moving and I had the right team behind me made it less hectic. Like I’m was still in high school. Having a manager wasn’t a part of what I was used to. But now I need a manager for this Tik Tok stuff and then the music side; it’s just crazy. & I won’t forget the first time an independent label flew me and my parents out there to Los Angeles. I had a little photoshoot and covered a few songs and that was my first trip with my manager that was paid for. I just never experienced anything like that before, which made it all the more exciting.
Do you have a specific moment where you knew singing would be your career path?
It was the Tik Tok videos, to be honest. Like I always was singing but that was because I just enjoyed singing and loved music. It really was all the love from the comments on my videos and people reaching out to me telling me I have potential and everything I could do with it. It motivated my passion for singing in a different way I originally imagined. People always say you don’t get many shots to truly do what you love, so I took this as a sign and just went for it.
That’s interesting, people usually have this dream since their childhood days and you just sort of walked into the role?
Yea, I was originally a dedicated athlete so being a singer wasn’t an actual option in my mind. For the majority of my life, being an athlete was all I knew. So, it was pretty cool to present myself in a different light and for people to actually vibe with it.
What sport was your number one pick in your athletic career?
Definitely track, I just love the sport. I started in eighth grade, but it was my sophomore year in high school that it really started to pick up for me. I started training year-round for both indoor and outdoor seasons and even summer track. Then going into my junior year, I trained all year and that lead me to states. After that, for senior year, I trained to the “T”. Like I was planning on winning states and all that, but then COVID happened. But, even before the pandemic, Tik Tok was getting really popular for me, and from a coach’s standpoint, it just became a big distraction for my track career. I was constantly having to fly back and forth to places, so singing played a part in halting my track career.
In what ways were you able to combine your background from track to your musical career?
Oh, there’s so much. But at the core, discipline is what it is. For track, and other sports as well, your everyday movement affects your life as an athlete. What you eat, how you sleep, the ways you choose to train; they all have to be to a “T” if you want to be the best athlete or the best track star. The specific sport doesn’t really matter; you just have to discipline yourself to achieve true success. There was just so much I had to do to stay on top but keeping up with my running has also helped with my singing. It lowers my stress levels and all that good stuff. I’ll always use running to help keep me on target for anything I do in life.
Who are some artists that you’ve been studying for your own growth?
There’s a combination of artists that mold me into who I plan to be. I haven’t completely found my specific sound you know; I just dropped my first song but let’s see. From the start, Bruno Mars has to be like my top pick. From “When I Was Your Man” and “Versace on the Floor”; those are like my go-to songs that I sing routinely. Also, I can’t forget Drake, he’s always been around. But even some country artists like Luke Combs and Chris Stapleton as well help build my niche. Honestly, there’s some female artist that make my lists as well. I grew up with my two older sisters always singing and playing music around the house. So, from them, I get a different side of music that I might not have initially followed but being the youngest, I just started to catch on. Mariah Carey and Alicia Keys are the two I remember always on repeat. From the women in my life and the artists they listened to, I got a different sense of soul than from the others. I’ve noticed females convey a special type of emotion and I use that insight of emotion I got from my sisters to display the feelings needed for the specific tracks.
I can see that displayed in your song, “Butterflies”. What was it like recording your first official single?
So, Butterflies was the initial song that I recorded, and it started off different from the version you can stream now. The first day, I came with an idea and we went in wrote it out first. It took around 2 hours to write it out and then we cut it on the first day. I went back the next day and we tightened up because you see, this was my first legit time in the studio. So, I wasn’t completely used to the whole vibe and everything yet. Like you have to sing a certain way and it’s just different from singing on my phone for Tik Tok. It can be intimating at first especially when all this stuff is just so new to me, but I just went in there and started singing. (My style has already changed since then.) After we perfected it, I played it around the school for the girls and you know they think the song is about them. That was a sign I knew Butterflies was a banger.
Did you share the same experience shooting the video?
That’s what I was most excited about since you know I’m used to performing for the camera. The video didn’t come until sometime after; as I waited around six months to start recording. But the day of, I had so much fun. I was ready. I went in and the vibes were just positive and all there. It was like a full workday; around 9 hours. And the actress, Kennedy, was great as well. Our chemistry was just on point. It was just overall a good day and I believe we just hit 200K yesterday.
Congrats! I see the positive streak is continuing! Can we expect a quick follow up after Butterflies?
I do have an EP in the works that will be announced soon. I don’t know exactly when it going to drop but I’m thinking about maybe dropping another single before then just to gain some more traction. But rest assured, my EP has some bangers on it so when it does drop, it’s going to be dangerous for sure.
Being just 19, you have years ahead of you to keep growing. What are you looking forward to in your future?
Hopefully, I’m a successful businessperson; whether that’s being an artist or anything surrounding that. So, in the next five years, I just hope to continue moving in these positive directions I’ve been following so far. As long as I’m successful and my family is safe, that’s all I can really ask for.
Tiara Cooper
