Social media has completely changed the game when it comes to artists blowing up in the music industry. Puerto Rican rapper Svrite wants to be another one of those success stories.
Three years ago, Jay Rivera was just a young kid sharing a bedroom with his mom and stepdad in the slums of Orlando. Now, through the power of Instagram and streaming, he’s gaining buzz in the Hip Hop community and is ready to make 2020 his breakout year.
“I’m planning to put in as much work as it takes to blow up next year,” he tells HipHopDX. “I want to go on tour, have a bunch of new projects, and drop a couple of albums. I’m ready to make my mark.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQWvaFbcqws
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Svrite’s story begins in a closet. Influenced by Spanish music at an early age and eventually becoming more a fan of rap, the then 15-year-old would wait for his mom to go to sleep and perform freestyles in his closet.
His main influence came from another Florida rapper, the late XXXTENTACION, whose combination of aggressive bangers and tongue-in-cheek lines inspired him to try rapping out.
“I heard him say ‘George W. Bush, right on her pussy,’” Svrite laughs. “I was like ‘damn, I want to do some shit like this’. I wasn’t too sure if people would like some stupid shit like that, but then I heard X and I was like ‘yo, maybe I should try it out.’ And shit just went crazy from there.”
Almost overnight, Svrite blew up.
Just found this freestyle scrolling the TL is he snappin 🤔🤔🤔🤔 pic.twitter.com/5Xn4pdYDjK
— No Jumper (@nojumper) December 3, 2018
His parody freestyles on Instagram and Snapchat went viral, hitting over 50 million views and catching the eye of some of the biggest meme pages on Instagram. He also received some attention in the Hip Hop world when No Jumper came across one of his freestyles on Twitter.
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The success of the parody freestyles inspired him to become more serious about his music, leading to his most streamed song to date, “Jiggy” — a short catchy banger showcasing his flow that has over four million plays on Spotify. He says one reason he thinks his music stands out is his sound.
“My flows are crazy,” he says. “With the beat selection I always go for something different and just the diversity of my sound overall makes me different.”
He shows his affinity for trying different sounds on his latest single “HaHa,” incorporating Latin elements and mariachi band instrumentals with speaker pulsating bass.
Svrite’s last two projects also showcase a desire for versatility.
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Beauty In A Nightmare is filled with light keys, reverb-heavy bass backing the adoring and sometimes love-sick croons sounding like a tribute to XXXTENTACION. His latest project Time To Listen sounds brighter, mixing in DIY SoundCloud bangers with clean singing. He also shows off his ability to flow on multiple styles of beats, coupled with sticky hooks.
The X influence shines through quite a bit on these projects. While some artists may feel pressure being compared to an artist as polarizing as X, Svrite isn’t worried about it.
“I don’t see it as an issue,” he says. “He’s a legend, I’m cool with drawing that comparison if it comes.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc7aVVSeuCg
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A big collaborator on his latest project is Vancouver-based beatmaker NXSTY. The 18-year-old producer has also had quite a big year catching the attention of DJ superstars like Skrillex, The Chainsmokers and Dillon Francis, among others. He worked with Svrite on a few of his tracks including “BANDS” and “Flapjack Freestyle”. Svrite ended up meeting the young producer while out at his manager’s house, instantly wanting to work with him.
“He was passed out on the floor from drinking I guess and I didn’t know the dude but was worried about him,” he says. “So I poured some water on his face to wake him up and we starting talking after. A connection just sparked from there, so we hit the studio that same night and just went crazy.”
Although he’s very picky with what beats he raps on, he says NXSTY just matched his style perfectly.
Already notching over nine million streams on Spotify, Svrite is still adjusting to the pace of the game. But that doesn’t mean he has any intention of slowing down.
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“This is something I’ve dreamed about since being a kid,” he says. “It’s always been the vision and I feel closer and closer to that moment every day, I’m just waiting for that day where my music takes off. I’m ready for whatever comes next.”
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