Finding Novyon is Minnesota’s Hip Hop Icon
Cover photo by Max Reyes.
Dominating in music & fashion, Novyon is making waves around the country after just completing his first tour.
Photo by SlowSon.
We had a chance to interview Novyon about his journey and upcoming plans with his music career.
Tell us a little about you.
My name is Novyon, I’m 25 years old. I’m a rising rap artist & producer with dreams and aspirations bigger than I can explain.
Where is home?
Home for me is Minneapolis, Minnesota.
What’s a typical day like for you?
Typically if it’s not a day that I have a show I’m up daily before 10 am checking and answering emails. Then around noon is when I walk into the studio, which is a few blocks from where I live & I work on music. Going to the studio typically 5 out of the 7 days of the week is my priority. I treat music like it’s a full-time job.
Has music always been your career plan?
Yeah, honestly ever since high school I knew I was going to be a rapper. Or something in music. But before that, I wanted to be an illustrator and create my own Manga series. But ironically somehow music became Something I truly believed I could succeed in. and from there became my main priority.
Photo by Derrick Koch.
What was your first tour like?
Spending 2 months on the road, was easily some of the best & most challenging times I’ve ever had in my entire life. Sharing a van with 5 other guys that you don’t really know could go one of two ways. Luckily everyone that came along was awesome, & we all had similar goals and outlooks on life. Which is very rare for a group of men.
It was Prof’s tour, so watching him every night really help strengthen my live set. It put a lot of pressure on me. Because most nights I was direct support & I had to bring the energy to the stage before he went on. It just turned me into a different kind of performer! I’ve been around the U.S a lot in the past two years. But literally being able to drive around the United States & Canada & see things I’ve only seen in magazines or Instagram did a lot for my mind.
The best thing about it all was not only gaining so many fans, and making money every night from it all. It was the wisdom that I learned from Prof, Willie, Meta and our Tour Manager Josh. I really gained a lot of insight on who I want to be as an artist & how to run my own tour when it’s finally time for my first headlining tour!
Photo by Rich Peterson.
The Fox Magazine is all about inspiration, what/who inspires you the most?
It’s crazy. Over the years I’ve been inspired by many things. Mostly life experiences, & celebrities and stuff. You know, like trivial things. Lately though, what inspires me now is my passion for succeeding and making what I do sustainable. I think when I see other ppl succeed it inspires me too! Those kinda things push me.
How much has your style changed since you started doing music?
A lot, I feel like when I was younger Before I could say I had my own original Style, that I’ve been through every phase. From tall tees & Dickes to jerking, and hype beast Culture. I think each phase somehow reflexed its Self in the music I was making at the time. now it’s evolving in a different way. I think now I have my own sense of style, and the way it reflects In my music now shows how original my style has come to be.
The best part about being a musician hands down is the way my music makes the fans feel. Or the fact that fans can interpret their own things from my lyrics. If the fans are listening to the words and the words make the fans feel a certain way you’re doing it right. Opening for really big artists was intimidating at first. I thought a lot and stressed myself out at Big Sean. But getting out on stage and seeing that The fans that came out only give a f*** if you have banging music, did a lot to me and gave me energy. And became a place maker for the energy I had to bring to ever show after that. Now big shows like that don’t even phase me.
Photo by Rich Peterson.
Name a few artists would you love to do a song with and why –
Amy Winehouse & Aaliyah simply because musically their music has done so much for me and my craft. That’ll never happen, but It’s still my dream.
What’s something people would be surprised to learn about you?
Opening for really big artists was intimidating at first. I thought a lot and stressed myself out at Big Sean. But getting out on stage and seeing that the fans that came out only give a fuck if you have banging music, did a lot to me and gave me energy. And became a place maker for the energy I had to bring to ever show after that. Now big shows like that don’t even phase me. I co-headlined a show with Rae Sremmurd & ILoveMakonnenand easily held my own with the crowd of thousands of people.
Photo by Max Reyes.
What’s your best advice for aspiring musicians?
My advice for Aspiring musicians Is to focus on making the best music they can. Tell your story, use your hometown as a catapult. You don’t want to be the artist that’s highly accomplished, but no one in your hometown respects you because you weren’t around. The support or your peers and community mean way more than any blog write-up or mainstream collaboration.
As for 2017, Novyon has continued to impress wherever he goes, starting with his completion of his very first tour. He has big plans for the year, with a new project set to be released this spring.
“Just do you and give people something interesting to talk about.”
Photo by Jamison Cook
For more information about Finding Novyon’s music see below.
Follow his journey!
