No One Sounds Like Deijuvhs
Photo: SHOT&STYLED
Nothing is off-limits for East London artist Deijuvhs. The young rapper and artist has been making a name for himself as an underground artist and is unafraid to break the mold, pulling inspiration from drill, afrobeat, and R&B, turning popular UK sounds on their head by incorporating emo, screamo, and punk to create his distinctive sound.
In an i-D article, Deijuvhs shares that he was 13 when he discovered Linkin Park and became lost in the world of Kerrang!, skating, and punk rock music. “I was 15 in a punk band called King Pleasure,” he reveals in an interview with Notion. “None of us could play our instruments, but we’d practice every day after school. It sounds like ass lol. My inspiration during that period was bands like Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Melvins, Germs.”
These experiences and influences led the artist to eventually start releasing music on SoundCloud in 2017. His early work is an assortment of genres ranging from Goth Trap to Sleepwave. This is especially evident in songs like “Home,” “Rainy Day,” and “Cigarette,” all of which feature haunting vocals and gothic sonic undertones, giving a glimpse into the sounds and themes that would become Deiju’s trademark.
In 2019, Deijuvhs dropped his first project on Spotify, Buffting. The double single includes the title track, “Buffting,” which features Deijuvhs evoking Death Grips, yelling about having low self-esteem, being broke, and his Insta-famous girlfriend. Throughout the year, he would continue to release a series of singles, including “Bust,” “Grunge,” and “Flem,” each one gaining more traction than the last and highlighting his skillset as a genre-breaking artist.
After the success of the flurry of singles, Dejiuvhs started 2020 with a bang with the release “Creepin Thru Da Nite.” The single is a hard-hitting nu-metal meets UK rap track with electrifying, distorted, growly beats accompanied by grime MC vocals. The single gives a sneak peek into what listeners could expect from the artist’s debut album Forever Hoodpunk, which dropped later that April.
Forever Hoodpunk is an incredibly bold, beautiful, and unpredictable body of work, brimming with dark drill bangers, bashment floor-fillers, smooth R&B hits, and screamy mosh-inducing tracks. “I get inspired by a lot of genres,” shares Deijuvhs in an interview with Ride Music. “I literally will listen to anything as long as it sounds good, so like it was only natural that I slapped a couple different genres on. Me and my producer Mattu literally wanted to mix bare genres together, like a song called 'Infinity Pipe' is a mix between UK afro-beats + Avenged Sevenfold.”
In 2021, the rising artist continued to experiment and push boundaries with his music while staying true to his underground roots. He started the year by releasing his single “Freakazoid,” a high-energy track full of ominous lyrics. The accompanying music video contains high-octane energy that’s eerie and realistic, showing the artist and his ensuing antics at a wild house party.
Deijuvhs continued to blow apart the idea of genre constraints with the release of “UCK! DXD” and his most popular song to date, “Scumbag Anthem.” “Right now, my main inspirations are Nirvana, Michael Jackson, Playboi Carti, Gorillaz, Trippie Redd, Punk, Tyler the Creator, old UK indie bangers, jungle and drum, and bass...the list could go on forever to be honest, everything inspires me sonically,” he shares with Notion.
This all led to the release of his most recent album Flower Ghoul. The record is an explosion of emotion, energy, and eccentricity from beginning to end. The opening track, “Postman Pack,” uses haunting piano lines to build the sonic space as he establishes that he wears his peculiarity with pride, singing, “You can’t walk like me / You can’t talk like me." On "Scumbag Anthem,” Deijuvhs examines the darker parts of himself, displaying a deep self-awareness, balancing out the project’s more fiery elements. The titular track “Flower Ghoul” is a departure from the heavier soundscapes that define the project, featuring dreamy vocals and swirling instrumentals. “Not Machines” is a passionate commitment to the culture he is building with Lamesfest, the festival he launched in 2016. He sings, “You can’t turn me off / Because we are not machines, we’re going to rave all night.”
Deijuvhs is an artist who continues to resonate with a rapidly increasing number of people drawn in by his tenacity to break the wheel when it comes to strict genre norms and unabashed authenticity. Not only has Deijuvhs refused to be placed into a box, he continues to keep exploring how far his distinctive sound will take him. No one sounds quite like Deijuvhs.
