While attending a show, there are often two types of groups in the crowd - Those who mosh, and those who don’t mosh. However, when Destroy Ev is on stage, you often don’t have a choice but to jump in the mosh pit. The 16 year old artist from South Florida may be young, but he’s definitely not new to the music scene. Collecting thousands of plays on his songs and continuously performing at local shows and events, he’s proven himself to be an unstoppable force in the South Florida music scene.
This week, Gross Media spoke with the young artist to really get an insight on who he is
-Why did you decide to pursue music?
“I decided to make music because it’s just something i love doing. i started singing in chorus in 4th grade and went to art school for vocal. i started producing on Garage Band in 6th grade and would send beats to artists but nobody would use my beats so i decided to rap on it. it took me about a year to figure out the basics of being an artist and i found it was a great way to spend my time so i kinda just fell in love with it”
It didn’t take him long to quickly find the style of music that would inspire him to this day.
“i was inspired by the Florida music scene of 2016. X, Smokepurpp, Wifisfuneral, Ski Mask, Lil Pump, Members Only, etc. I went to the Revenge Tour in 2017 right before I actually started making music. It was July 2nd, 2017 in Pompano Beach. I was so inspired by how X was able to make the crowd move by going crazy on stage. From that day I told myself I would be that.”
In a music scene where recently, it seems as though anyone over the age of 25 is considered “old”, Ev is at the age we’ve constantly seen new artist blow up at in recent years.
“I'm one of the youngest out here doing music along side my boys 14wrldwd and tino1300, we’ve benefited because we watch all of the older people and their mistakes and we know what to do and what not to do. It’s effected us negatively because some people don’t treat us with the same respect as the older artist but i think we have proved ourselves and that we can do it better than the older artists regardless of our age.”
A few years ago, it seemed as though every new rapper coming up in the mainstream was from South Florida. In recent years, we’ve seen a decrease in South Florida rappers blowing up in the mainstream.
“The south Florida music scene is failing in my opinion. There’s too much street music. I have a lot of love for Melly, Glokknine, Rod Wave and Kodak, but i wish there were more trap artists popping like there was 2016-2018. My goal with my team (Lovelysdeath, 14wrldwd, tino1300 & angelsetter) is to being back trap music to Florida and make it mainstream.”
“My biggest goal for 2020 is to get as much exposure to my music & to get as much attention as possible. I really want to make my mark in what I love doing. I want to show everyone that it’s possible to follow a dream. I wanna show my friends that they can do anything in this world. They saw me evolve and get better with music and I want to be my best self with my music, family, friends and anyone supporting me along this journey.”
Ultimately, we wanted to know what makes him different from every other artist trying to make it.
"What makes me different from other artists is i’m young and i’ve never had a mentor or had any help with the creative process, I did all of this on my own with the support of my friends, I never asked for handouts, I work hard everyday to plot on new things for music. I genuinely love the art of music and it was never about money or fame, my energy is authentic & I want to make music for as long as I can.”
You can find Destroy Ev on Instagram @Destroy_ev
His music is available on all platforms.