So I was researching summer concert tours for my freelance gig and I was shocked to see a certain name listed on Fitz and the Tantrums’ tour: Ivy Levan.
It’s hard to believe it now, but I’d first stumbled upon Ivy about six years ago when she was still modelling in Payless ads and only had a few demos uploaded to a now-abandoned MySpace page (where she performed under the moniker “IV in Vein”).
She was dating a certain popular rock star, and while the scene kids loved to hate her for that, there was no denying her talent (check out early tracks “Miss Solitary (Pretend)” and “Empty“). Here’s some “vintage” footage of then-20-year-old Ivy showing off her studio space on Buzznet.com and proving that she’s come a long way since her first debut. At the time, she was more creepy rock ‘n’ roller than crooning pin up – but hey, a little re-branding is just what it takes sometimes.
Fast forward to now and Ivy’s reemerged on Cherrytree records as a self-described “swamp-hop,” soul-inspired pop singer with a brand new debut EP and industry endorsement to boot. She’s taken the top of Billboard’s Next Big Sound chart and made the front page of Vevo a couple times with her Introducing the Dame singles “Money” and “Hot Damn” (watch below).
It seems like this girl’s gone from 0 to 60 in a matter of weeks, but with a rare second chance and a voice like that, would you expect any less?
POP JUMPER 