Yovanni – ‘Breathe’

Back in 2012, when he was accepting his award for best RnB Dance Artist at the QOOL Music Awards, Yovanni said in his speech, “Never ever, ever give up on your vision.” This is true of him even now, with his latest single, ‘Breathe’ He’s never given up, and is seeking to soar to the heavens with his music.

Yovanni mixes elements of RnB, Funk, and Electronica, and cites Madonna, George Michael, and Adam Lambert as his favourite artists – but his sound is nonetheless uniquely his. He moved from Cuba to Florida at the age of 6, and started his path as a musician when a teacher at New World School Of The Arts heard him singing, and took it upon themselves to give him singing lessons during lunch. He was eventually accepted into the musical theatre programme, and when he finished studying, he went to New York City, where he worked in restaurants, all while writing, recording, and performing. He won a spot at the singing competition, Showtime At The Apollo, by singing the Bill Withers classic, ‘Lean On Me’, and then he recorded backing vocals for many local artists and bands, before concentrating on developing his solo career, and releasing songs which found him an audience in both the US and Europe.

The video for ‘Breathe’ is a haunting film-noir style clip, exploring the daily battles of depression and spiritual affliction: highly relatable. Suicide, homelessness, the church, and the belief that everything will be alright if we just hold to the faith, Yovanni combines electronic rock elements with a melancholy vibe. It’s a beautiful song with a heartfelt message.

You can find out more about Yovanni online on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

About the author

Lisa has been writing for over 20 years, starting as the entertainment editor on her university newspaper. Since then she's written for Popwrapped, Maximum Pop, Celebmix, and ListenOnRepeat.

Lisa loves all good music, with particular fondness for Jedward and David Bowie. She's interviewed Edward Grimes (Jedward), Kevin Godley, Trevor Horn, Paul Young, Peter Cox (Go West), Brendan B Brown (Wheatus), Bruce Foxton (The Jam), among many many more. Lisa is also available for freelance writing - please email lisa@essentiallypop.com