You’ll get to know Hulvey when he rocks crowds across the country. You’ll certainly understand him as he shares his experiences across his five-track debut EP, Prelude. But to really get him, to see what motivates him and know him, is to hear him share the place where the music comes from. Not merely his hometown of Brunswick, Georgia, but back to the job behind the job — finding God, finding himself, and finding the music while scrubbing toilets in a Publix supermarket.
Yes, you read that right. Your favorite bars were born from the bathroom stalls you’d do well to avoid.
“I was wiping toilets for a minute,” said the 20-year-old rapper, singer and producer, which kept him afloat in between working on the music and sending music to Ben Washer only to receive a gracious, but firm “no thanks” from the Reach Records co-founder and CEO. While toiling at the $10 per hour job, Hulvey, who dropped out of college to pursue music, began to wonder if bagging milk and eggs was his fate.
In a conversation laced with divine providence, an older mentor asked him a question that changed everything. So what?
“What if God had you scrubbing toilets? Would you be OK?” Hulvey realized that he was clinging to a notion of fame that could never satisfy. His heart was after the wrong things, broken by things that can’t last, in need of healing from the only Person able to make things right.
“I had to let go.” Releasing his dreams to God gave Hulvey a better plan for his life and from there, new musical inspiration was born.
Hulvey, alongside executive producer Zach Paradis, created his debut EP Prelude. Wielding unapologetic bars and raw honesty juxtaposed with pounding drums, Hulvey forms the sound you might hear in your mind’s ear when you’re alone with your thoughts.
Mad Today, the lead single, brings you an inside look into this internal dialogue (“Aye Hulvey why you mad bro?”). The fresh outta college teen exposes the relatable discomfort with the life he was living and the need to reorient around what matters most:
Hulvey’s priorities have evolved since the dregs of his minimum-wage day job. In between honing his craft as a musician and helping to launch a church in his free time with City of Refuge ATL, a non profit helping families in crisis throughout Atlanta’s westside, there’s not as much time to dwell on temporal success.
One thing is clear, in 2020, you’ll be hearing from Hulvey. Tracks ranging from introspection to pulsing anthems of faith and trust in God are among the slew of songs coming from the newest Reach Records signee.
Plus, there’s still more music to make.
