Musically inspired by Yelawolf and Eminem, the 26 year old unsigned and independent rapper/vocalist Systovis, also known as Stovey the Kid, is making waves in the Midwest. The St. Louis native has already had Strange Music’s Stevie Stone feature on his album, entitled “A Mind of Destruction”. There is something that crackles in the air with a palatable energy when you’re first hear a game changing artist.
As you listen to his work, you keep waiting for the missteps and weak points. But then, release after release they don’t come. Soon you realize that with an artist like Systovis, there will never be no missteps, and no weak spots, just a great work of honest art. That’s the case with the single “Life”.
Systovis builds bridges in hip-hop, as he switches his template from track to track. He can spit and flow at breakneck speed, with edgy street rhymes, just as easily as he can approach straight-ahead R&B balladeer territory and win through with glowing sincerity in the style of The Weeknd or Post Malone. Which is what he does on “Life”.
Systovis’ ability to connect through his realness and musicality is not new. A quick run through his back catalog will prove as much. The man is not new to creating worthwhile art. Systovis is part of those artists, striving to do something new and transformative in music, and refuse to be bogged down by singular genres or marketing categories.
But where Systovis stands apart from many of his forward-thinking contemporaries is in his music’s accessibility, cohesiveness, and the effortless elevation of his genre blending through really ear-catching melodies. On “Life”, Systovis, has another chance to showcase his talents, and the result of his work will no doubt breed a hoard of listening ears hungry for more.
“Life” rings with heartrending emotion, and vibrates with Systovis’ resonant voice, which moves from a thoughtful whisper to a full-throated soar. He adds and subtracts elements with subtlety and timing, building the song towards the climax long before traditionally would make sense, before allowing listeners to decompress slowly, catching their breath with each sonic subtraction, and then rebuilding to an apex again, creating an immersive sonic landscape.
On “Life”, Systovis sews together a sonic quilt that is an equal sum of its soulful and tuneful parts. A smooth concoction of Electro, R&B, Hip-Hop, and Soul, the song is as calming as it is jarring, while the vocal performance is sweeter than honey. Lush and warm instrumentation provides a foundation for Systovis poignant lyrics to float over. “Life” sounds so comfortable and familiar, but also strikingly fresh and new.
If there is one thing that is clear by the end of this song, it is that there’s a new up-and-coming star on the R&B/Hip-Hop scene, which is something that any music fan should be excited about. Systovis is making quality music, and setting the bar higher with each release. He has all the inspired hallmarks of the genres’ hierarchy.
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