Clarity Over Noise: Inside The World of Yves!

“You can only reward yourself for being solid.”

Yves! tweeted that before anyone was listening. That line wasn’t a slogan or aimed at an audience - it was a rule he set for himself.

At 19, the Massachusetts-raised artist grew up in the Boston area, where there wasn’t a prominent music scene to lean on. That never stopped Yves!, who quietly began teaching himself how to record music at age 13. It didn’t start as anything serious at the time, but Yves! says “encouragement from those around him” turned music from a hobby into a passion, something he knew he needed to take further.

Culturally, Yves! comes from a Ghanaian household where traditional values were the norm. Twi was spoken at home, respect and discipline were non-negotiable, and expectations around responsibility and outcomes were clear. A path as an artist never aligned with those values, and when music began taking up more space in his life, it was met with resistance at home.

Photo by Ian Acheampong

“When I first started, man, my mom used to fry me,” Yves! said. “She would always say there was never going to be a career in music.”

At one point, his parents took away his recording equipment entirely after sneaking out to meet up with a girl, hoping to redirect his focus. Instead, this moment “lit the fire” in Yves!. Even without a laptop and microphone, he adapted, turning to his iPad and continuing to create no matter the consequence.

Fast forward to a little before the summer of 2025, Yves! had just moved to Houston, where the “bright, 90-degree days” felt worlds away from the environment he grew up in back in Massachusetts. Summer arrived early in Houston, and the music followed. The shift in energy aligned with his momentum, resulting in his biggest song to date, “1 of 1.” Yves! knew it would connect, not because he was chasing a hit, but because he trusted the moment. The song felt special, made at the right place at the right time. As the streams on the song went from thousands to more than 2 million, this achievement reaffirmed everything he believed in from the start.

“You know what’s funny? When the song went crazy, my mom was the one posting the song to all of her socials.”

The success of the track also brought pressure, but not panic. Yves! knew he found something, yet he couldn’t chase the same moment twice.

“In my head, I was just creating my music,” he said. “I felt like the more I stayed in that mindset, it would happen again over time.”

That restraint is something his manager, Seba, noticed the moment he started working with him. He first began working with Yves! in early 2025 after hearing “Guala,” which was released prior to “1 of 1” and had been on repeat for him, ultimately convincing him to reach out. Just like Seba, labels were already paying attention and circling Yves!, but once “1 of 1” dropped, the demand intensified. Yet, Seba noticed it never changed Yves! and his overall direction.

“He doesn’t fall for the gimmicks,” Seba says. “He’s dedicated to representing himself to the fullest - not only as an individual, but as an artist.”

As his career has progressed to the present day, the tools have changed. Yves! came into the scene using BandLab and YouTube type beats. Now, he’s an Internet Money-signed artist with 155,973 monthly listeners on Spotify, working alongside their stacked producer roster, including Taz Taylor, Rio Leyva, Cxdy, and 5kjordn, to build his sound from the ground up. The shift didn’t inflate his confidence - it refined it. Listening back to older records, he hears growth everywhere: lyrics, background vocals, mixes. Everything has become more specific to him. His melodies, especially, feel intentional because Yves! says they’ve been designed to be unmistakable.

Photo by Ian Acheampong

That perception extends beyond his sound. Yves! is often seen wearing his glasses, and while they are a necessity for him to see in his everyday life, his vision - literally and creatively - is the clearest it has ever been. Nothing is accidental anymore: his release schedule is consistent, visuals are planned, and rollouts are coordinated.

BERU, his latest short project consisting of two songs, was discussed months before it hit all streaming platforms. Inspired by the anime “Solo Leveling,” Yves! reinterpreted the character Beru, originally depicted as a large humanoid shadow, into a concept centered around adapting under pressure and becoming stronger. When everything was ready, the project was released when the timing felt right, echoing the approach behind “1 of 1.”

The project represents a turning point for Yves!, displaying two sides of his artistic repertoire. On the lead track, “SCHIZ,” he taps into a more hype, high-energy sound. The song was built for future performances in front of his fans, something Yves! dreams of doing on the biggest stages music has to offer. The other track, “LONG TIME,” is deeply melodic and introspective. Yves! says the song was based on a personal moment in his life, but was crafted to be relatable for his audience. He also notes that this one took him the longest to complete, and ultimately, he wanted the song to feel like he was “reading a book to somebody.”

Despite his work with underground rap, melodic experimentation, and club-influenced sounds, Yves! doesn’t see himself boxed into a specific genre. He wants to stay versatile, seeing the moniker of Yves! as an artist who can exist anywhere while still sounding like himself. He wants to be a hitmaker, not by chasing trends, but by stacking moments that last.

Through Seba’s eyes, the potential reach of Yves!’ craft is limitless. There’s still so much untapped potential in what Yves! can do for music.

“The brand of Yves! is something that will be heralded for years to come,” Seba says. “He’s going to be an artist that’s here to stay as a staple in the culture, not someone that’s gone tomorrow.”

For Yves! himself, the standard of success could be seen as something simpler. Success, to him, is just improvement. Knowing you’re not in the same place you were a month ago. A year ago. Progress that’s measured internally, because while he has evolved as an artist, he has never changed the roots of who he is. That can be defined by one word: solid.

“I don’t plan on being anything else but solid.”