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Hot 97’s Who’s Next has teamed up with TuneCore, to showcase up-and-coming artists across the nation!
We’re constantly scouting new music from your favorite emerging artist and unveiling the story behind their journey. Up next on Who’s Next is The Living Weirdo himself, Devvon Terrell.
Here are 6 fun facts about Devvon Terrell!
1.Devvon Terrell is a Brooklyn, Native! New York is known for birthing many of Hip-Hop’s finest and Devvon is not far behind. He started off mostly in school plays, then later went to Full Sail University in Florida, where he received a degree in Audio Engineering. “Growing up in Brooklyn, I wasn’t into gangs, I wasn’t into drugs, I was really the good kid but I hung out with everybody. I was the smart kid that mom had inside. I love rap, and I could sing.” But at that time rappers were known to have a tough exterior and according to most, Devvon didn’t fit that mold. “I know about that life, I know about college life. I’m a mess, Brooklyn has made me a complete mess, it’s who I am. Brooklyn made me.”
2.Devvon’s favorite album of all time is Kanye West’s Graduation album. “It’s one of my favorite albums ever. It was just an iconic time in my life, it just means so much to me. When I hear those songs, I go right back to my college dorm room. Kanye west is like one of my favorite people ever.”
3.He recently released an album called Weird Nights. The single on the album is “Temperature,” which has been streamed 1.4 million times in just one month. “So, in the beginning I have this song called 6 o’clock. Basically, this whole album is about all of the mistakes and all the things I’ve learned and lessons that I learned after 6 o’clock. That’s kind of how the whole album goes.” Devvon will be going on tour for Weird Nights in January.
4.Devvon’s “wow” moment was on stage, when he performed songs from his album, The Renaissance. Fans gathered around the stage and sung along to his music with him, this came as a surprise to Devvon, because the album was released just two weeks before the performance. “I was just so blown away by how many people were screaming the words back to me, like that was a WOW moment. I cried on stage, but I don’t think anybody peeped. I turned around and I was blown away. That was a huge moment.”
5.Devvon refers to himself as “The Living Weirdo,” because in high school people would poke fun at him for being different, so instead of shying away from it, he embraced The Living Weirdo brand. “The weirdo thing really stands for is me poking fun at the fact that I’m being myself. I was just being me, so I decided to just own that. I feel like a lot of people are weirdo’s in their own way. I feel like it’s a cool thing to be weird and different. I just wanted to own that and make that something that I can empower people with.”
6.Being that Devvon is an independent artist, TuneCore has been extremely beneficial to his career, by giving his music a platform and access to major retailers. “Tunecore is extremely powerful and the reason why I say that is because it gives me the opportunity has an independent artist, to physically take my music and give it to all the major retailers. So, from iTunes Apple Music, and Spotify, it just makes my music really accessible. But I have the ability to do that from on an independent scale on my own. Every dollar that is made from my music is mine and that’s powerful in our day and age. Our generation is so business savvy these days. TuneCore has enabled me to that and it’s amazing. It’s giving me a living, like I make a living off of music, it’s great.”
Keep it locked on Who’s Next, for an in-depth interview with the Devvon Terrell, where he’ll talk more about his album, wildest stories, and YouTube success.
Lookout for the exclusive Who’s Next playlist on emerging artist, to find out what’s buzzing and what artists are listening to today!
Watch the video to his single “Temperature” below.