Old Soul, New World: The Givēon Story.

Written by Brandon Pulmano

Founder | Sideline Society Media

There is a version of this story where Givēon never makes it.

Where he stays behind the host stand at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company in Long Beach, California, greeting tourists and handing out menus, and nobody ever hears that voice. Givēon was raised in Long Beach by a single mother who worked to keep the lights on and encouraged her son to perform even when he didn't want to.

As a kid he was shy about his talent. Then when his voice finally dropped into the rich baritone that would eventually define him, his first reaction wasn't excitement it was panic. He had to learn to embrace the very thing that made him different, and that process took years. Before music became his full-time reality, he spent five years working at Bubba Gump. He moved from host to server at Bubba Gump, writing songs on the side, trying to turn everything he felt into something worth stopping for.

He dropped "Like I Want You" in 2019, it cracked the Billboard Hot 100 at number 87, and it was enough to keep going.

Then 2020 changed the trajectory of his career. Drake posted "Chicago Freestyle" featuring Givēon and the internet took notice. The chicago freestyle was the first time I ever heard Givēon. His voice sounds old school but in a modern way. There is nobody that sounds like him at all. He has a soothing voice with a calming effect to it.

Givēon dropped his debut EP Take Time that same year, with "Heartbreak Anniversary" as the second single.

This was a song written not from his own heartbreak but from a friend's, a detail that says everything about how he works.

The song didn't blow up overnight. It slowly crept up the charts through 2021, climbed to number 16 on the Hot 100. It earned 4x Platinum certification in the US, and gota Grammy nomination for Best R&B Album.

Then boom Justin Bieber called, "Peaches" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard Global 200.

Just like that, the kid who used to hand out menus in Long Beach had a number one record with one of the biggest artists on the planet. What makes Givēon impressive to me and to the culture is that he never chased the trend. At a time when R&B keeps fracturing into subgenres and production styles, his music sounds like it has no era. He cited Frank Ocean, Frank Sinatra, and Miguel as musical inspirations.

Givēon took a Grammy Museum music education program at 18. He studied his craft before he chased clout.

His sophomore album BELOVED, released in 2026. I think Replica (feat. Sasha Keable) is his next big radio hit. The type of slow burn that will rise up the charts. He sold out Madison Square Garden, he is touring globally, and he has earned seven Grammy nominations across his career.

From Bubba Gump to Billboard, from Long Beach to the world stage…

Givēon’s story is proof that the right voice, at the right time, needs no introduction, only a moment.