JVKE, born Jacob Lawson, blew up on TikTok in 2020 thanks to his viral hit “Upside Down.” Now he’s got his biggest hit yet with “Golden Hour,” which is a top-20 hit on Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart. Amazingly, JVKE says he really doesn’t know how he wrote the song.
“Honestly…I started with the piano and the loop and I just kept playing and playing it,” he tells ABC Audio. “And all of a sudden, all the lyrics just kind of started coming to me…yeah, it was just one of those moments I can’t really explain.”
That’s pretty impressive, considering the lyrics have very specific references to Frank Ocean‘s album Blonde and Donald Glover. So, why did this song that basically fell out of the sky resonate with so many people?
“I feel ‘Golden Hour’ was a little bit experimental,” he explains. “When people hear it…they’re like, ‘What is that? I have no idea.’ And then it kind of intrigues them and pulls them in.”
Since for many people, “Golden Hour” is the first song people have heard from him, does JVKE feel like this “experimental” song is a good representation of him as an artist?
“Yeah, absolutely,” he says. “I think that’s the sort of music that I want to make. Y’know, I don’t want to fit into a box and I want to try new things.”
Thanks to his 2022 success, JVKE will definitely have a merry Christmas this year, though he says the best gift he ever received was years ago, when his parents got him some studio equipment.
And the worst?
“Probably at one of those Secret Santas where someone gives me a joke gift,” he laughs. “I can’t remember exactly, but it’s happened, for sure!”
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