Bevlove

Continuing her ascent through the local music scene, Detroit pop singer Bevlove has steadily honed her vocal power over the last few years while carving out her place in the music community scene. The work has paid off for the dedicated, self-described diva.

Bevlove has a hot new single and video out with her BDSM-themed track “Do What I Say” (watch below) from her new EP, titled Talk That Shit, the release of which is being celebrated this Saturday (10-22-16) with a concert at El Club in southwest Detroit.

Listen to Bevlove talk with WDET’s Travis Wright about her career and the process of collaboratinng with producer SYBLYNG at Assemble Sound. - WDET

Beverly Johnson shows up to Assemble Sound looking like a million bucks and carrying a chilled bottle of champagne. She's already won me over with her powerful updated R&B music, but I guess she just wants to ensure our interview is a magical time. She is confident, but not cocky. When I tell her I no longer drink, she's nonplussed, and it means there's more beverage for Garret Koehler, who's opened up the Assemble space in his newly minted musicians' collective/educational space, in this beautiful, 120-year-old church located right across the street from that dog park in Corktown. We're listening to tracks through monitor speakers in a makeshift studio in what's currently the second floor, but will soon be knocked down to restore the space to its former splendor.

Studios are always exciting spaces when you don't spend too much time in them, and I get the pleasure of Johnson singing along to her own music, or showing me what is missing from a track by filling it in live, on the spot. The 25-year-old Johnson records and performs as Bevlove. I contacted her after hearing her distinctive guest on Edward Elecktro's stuttering, strange "Long Live Detroit City," which I posted as a quick blog toward the end of March. When a few trolls critiqued the video, I was impressed at how she sweetly dissed and diffused them, in replying to the post online.

In the 30 years I've written about music, I've spent a lot of time up close with musicians, some of whom became stars in spite of their own wishes, or habits. Johnson tells me some cheesy shit about love and what the music industry most needs today in the course of our conversation, but it only comes off that way looking at it now, on paper. She actually never comes across as cheesy or contrived. And even though she self-promos a lot on Twitter, well, that's what Twitter is for when you're a struggling musician, why fake anything else? "Come to my shows and share my music so I can give up scalps forever," she wrote the other day (she does hair for a living). Bevlove seems to me to simply be direct, and mostly unafraid. And now, here she is explaining how the song "Oxydize" is about a relative who overdosed, and she's telling me of it just matter-of-factly.

This is someone with actual star power and copious talent, whose sound is a compelling blend of the '90s and now. She's making pop music, but it doesn't sound like the pop music on the radio. She's openly disdainful of contemporary radio pop/R&B — one look at her Twitter and you can see this. Her magnetic personality ensures that upward of 100 people regularly show up to her monthly "Bevlove Connection" shows at the Old Miami, where she not only performs but shares the work of the peers she's excited about as well. Her self-released CDs are available at these gigs, and at the salon she works at.

Bevlove puts out her own music, and books her own shows. In two weeks' time, the third iteration of her festival, Americana, takes place in a lovely house space in Woodbridge. Americana is brilliantly named, because Bevlove is African-American, something that "Americana" — which at this point is shorthand for corny-ass folks in matching Deadwood vests and hats making watered-down roots music for other former theater majors (and the bros who love them) — almost never is. - Metro Times

Bevlove is one of the most charismatic and powerful performers you'll find amid the current set of neo-soul and R&B singers. But the performer, otherwise known as Beverly Johnson, isn't confined by any one musical genre and blends hip-hop, electronica and even seminal Motown vibes into her sound. She considers all the artists, singers and producer on her list of influences to be genre-less, too. What rules Johnson’s performances is her personality: She has an uncanny ability to endear herself to audiences and engage with them. Of course, it helps that the born-and-raised Detroiter has a showstopping voice and a solid backing band of versatile musicians.

Johnson, 26, also has something else going for her: determination. She got her foothold in the music scene by booking her own shows, and when it comes to songs, she never settles for anything less than exactly what she wants. Johnson spoke to the Free Press about what has been her busiest year yet. Her career reached a new level after her exceptional performance at last year’s Dally in the Alley. She’ll be releasing singles sporadically throughout the spring and summer and will debut a music video for the song “Do What I Say” soon. - Detroit Free Press

We're talking about Rowe Shot Me's stylish video for Edward Elecktro's futuristic, funky "Long Live Detroit City" off his Sonic Disruption album, which features Bevlove's stunning vocals and such strong words. Damn, this is really, really good. - Metro Times

Everything about Bevlove screams "star" — from her captivating voice to her ability to catch the right angles anytime, anywhere. The R&B singer is no stranger to the spotlight, with a degree in theatre and five years of performing as "Bevlove." In fact, she refuses to let us refer to her as anything other than "Bevlove" — like Madonna, Cher, Beyoncé, or all the other mononymous divas before her. She's even been called "Detroit's Beyoncé." But this year, Bevlove has her sights on stages beyond the city limits.

She landed a spot as the first R&B artist to ever play last weekend's Detroit's Movement Music Festival. And her sophomore release, Letters, is out now. She's not "Detroit's Beyoncé" — she's the world's Bevlove, and by all accounts, she's poised to take it by storm. - Detroit Metro Times