Artist Spotlight: It’s Time to Talk About Zekey
In today’s music scene, with widespread access to laptop DAW technology, affordable equipment, YouTube beats, and TikTok as a free marketing platform, it seems like everyone knows someone trying to make it in music. Because of this, it seems the only aspects left to help differentiate each artist from all the noise and help them break into the mainstream is their look, sound, and personality.
Luckily for him, and for all of us, Zekey has all of these things and more.
Originally from Williamsburg, Virginia, Zekey first started releasing music on Spotify in 2020. Through an album titled “Goodness Me”, Zekey combined a hip hop flow with simple acoustic beats (that often consisted of snaps and guitar riffs) to bring a sound that hadn’t really been seen before. It was like he was seranading the listener, and much more genuinely than the white hip hop artists before him (Ie. G-Eazy, Hoodie Allen). No, Zekey sounded like he had the confident personality and good looks of a 2022 Jack Harlow, but 2 years earlier, and with far less “hit-making” production at his disposal (no offense, Jack!).
He followed up this project with 3 more singles, all of a consistent level of quality and mood, including a cover of Taylor Swift’s “Love Story”, which he appropriately renamed “luv story”, a cover that would find itself on the desks of many A&R and manager’s desks the day it was released. I remember this track, because I was working in music at the time, and I recall people saying, “Wow. Theres definitely something here. Who is this guy?” It was no surprise, therefore, that around this same time Zekey would move to Los Angeles, to put more gas on the pedal, and to really begin seriously pursuing a career in today’s music industry.
When he got to California, his sound evolved with his character. He somehow became even cooler, and so did the music. Through “Wanderlust”, we saw more hints of pop production added to his usual hip hop style; with “Delaney”, we saw his first attempt at Pop-Punk, an attempt that proved to be quite successful. Finally, he branched into the EDM world, releasing “Rainbows and Butterflies”, his largest track to date, with electronic duo Koastle. It was around this time that we finally saw Zekey’s true potential: the Virginia boy sent here to combine three genres, maybe even four, seamlessly. Zekey was here to change the game and to make way for a ton of acts after him. All of his most recent tracks, like “Innerbloom” (a collaboration with Charly Jordan), “Fuck Being Famous”, and “I Been Thinking About You”, continue to suggest this, and that Zekey is on track for major stardom. His hooks are catchy, his lyrics are meaningful, and his flow is miraculous.
The reason I chose to spotlight Zekey today is because of what he is helping opening doors for. His sound can be best described as “Hotboy Summer”; music that makes you picture a 2022 Justin Bieber in a black Dodge Trackhawk with a balaclava on. To say again, it takes what Jack Harlow has been doing in hip hop over the past few years, but then expands on it by bringing it into new spaces. It’s fun, it’s cool, it makes you feel confident, and most importantly: it hasn’t really been done before. I feel like in todays digital music era, its so simple as an artist to fall victim to making TikTok music, making music with the intention of it entering the mainstream, or trying to replicate a sound that has already proven successful. That is not what Zekey is doing. He’s making art, he’s experimenting, he’s genre bending and genre blending. In my opinion, this might be because he’s also not out here trying to be the best rapper, or the best EDM vocalist, or the best Pop-Punk singer; He’s just out here to make really good music. I think that this is his edge in trying to beat out the competition: by not competing with them. Zekey is 100% in a lane of his own, and I think that that this will actually launch him to much larger heights, too. The quality is there, the production is there, he’s in the right place, and to mention once more, he has the look, sound and personality.
For these reasons, I really do ask that you go to his Spotify page, hit the green play button, and see what I’m talking about, before you see him on a billboard before year end.
