While it seems there’s a new artist on the scene every single day, it’s important to highlight those who are using their platform for the greater good. Insert Evander Griiim, who aims to inspire and motivate the masses with his music, positioning himself to be a voice for people chasing success and all the highs and lows that come with it.
Hailing from El Paso, Texas, but now residing in sunny Los Angeles, Evander Griiim is inspired by the likes of PARTYNEXTDOOR, Rae Sremmurd, and Big Sean. His sound fuses the genres of hip-hop and R&B, with lyrics inspired by real-life experiences. And if there’s one thing you can count on from Evander, it’s his love, passion, and care about his art and artistry.
In describing himself, Evander states he’s “a super energetic person, approachable. Somebody who you could talk to. If you really get to know me, you know I’m a little bit vulnerable. A little bit emotional. On the weekends, I’m the one you call to have a good time. If anything bad or whatever happened, you’re the one to call me to help you get out of it.”
Most recently, Evander Griiim unveiled the official music video for “New Woman,” giving fans a glimpse into the reality of things we all go through in life. He’s also been locked in the studio with producer ChaseTheMoney, working on a forthcoming collab tape.
AllHipHop spoke with Evander Griiim in downtown Los Angeles to discuss his background, new visual “New Woman,” his purpose, best fan encounter, linking with ChaseTheMoney, goals, and more!
AllHipHop: Your nickname is Tio Griiim, is that because you play the uncle figure?
Yeah, the fans started calling me that. They started saying they were all my nephews. I guess you can call me the cool uncle where you get in trouble, you don’t want to call your mom. F### it, let me call my uncle. He’ll help me out.
AllHipHop: Do you have a big family?
Evander Griiim: I do and I don’t. My immediate family is my mom, my sister and I. We’re super, super tight. We all have tattoos together. When my mom first came to this country, she’s from Mexico. We stayed in this little apartment together, so we all got the door of the apartment. It was cool.
AllHipHop: Coming up then, did you think you’d be doing music?
Evander Griiim: My whole life, I’ve always wanted to do music. My mom wanted me to go to school really bad. Because who really believes that this could happen? It’s a one in a million thing, so I get why she didn’t want me to do it. Once she saw the impact I was doing, the fans and the amount of stuff I was able to do, she’s like “go full force.” Now, she’s my #1 fan.
AllHipHop: So you didn’t finish school?
Evander Griiim: I finished high school. My mom used to drop me off at community college. As soon as she dropped me off, I’d wait for her to leave. My homie would pick me up and we’d go to the studio. One of those times was when I made this song called “Right Now” that Gucci Mane had jumped on.
AllHipHop: Talk about that moment! Was that after Rich The Kid…?
Evander Griiim: It wasn’t through him, but Rich The Kid was the first one to remix me. That buzz started circulating, then he hit me up like “nah, let me do it.” I’m like bet.
AllHipHop: How much did that turn you up?
Evander Griiim: It turned me up a lot honestly, that really was a staple in my career. That was a milestone for sure. Looking forward to the future. I’m ready for what’s to come.
AllHipHop: You just dropped “New Woman,” how does it feel to have it out?
Evander Griiim: It’s beautiful. I make all my music from truth. Especially the newer music I have coming out, everything’s from truth. Creating that record was something that was happening in my life currently, in that very moment. That record is very special to me, being able to express myself and people reciprocate to it.
AllHipHop: What was your creative vision with the music video?
Evander Griiim: The video was shot by this company ImYourNeighbor, it was styled by lorealssaint. The way that the video came about, we were creating from truth. Everything that I’ve put out, especially as of recent, I want people to see a little glimpse inside of my life and be able to relate to it. Not everything is going to be glitz, glamour, rooftop vibes. Sometimes it’d be Sunday and you’re alone, you’re thinking like damn, I’m not living right. You have remorse or guilt of certain situations. Creating the video, I really wanted to et that through with the colors, the scenes, and the ambiance of everything.
AllHipHop: Talk about how all your videos connect with each other, I know it stems off your last video, “Tom Ford.”
Evander Griiim: “Tom Ford,” you consider that a Friday. It’s a Friday night, I’ve been grinding all week. I got a vibe at the house. The apartment’s wavy, everything’s super player. I’m having a great time, everything’s cool. Life is good, I got a girl with me. I’d consider “New Woman” to be Sunday or Monday, being like damn, why’d I do that? I’m a degenerate, that was hollow.
AllHipHop: Damn! You don’t have to beat yourself up over it…
Evander Griiim: It’s more so the purpose behind doing s###. I’ve been feeling like people, including myself, be trying to get a quick rush. A quick dopamine rush, try to quick fix type s###. So me thinking that partying and f###### with all these different women will put a bandaid over it. But really, I’m avoiding the main source of things. “New Woman” is me hitting that head on to get over it and address the issue, so I can go do things without it stemming from another thing or trying to prove something to another person.
AllHipHop: Are you in a relationship?
Evander Griiim: Yeah I am. Not going to lie, I’ve been with the same girl relatively for 10 years. We’ve had our ups and downs. I’ve been with her since I was 16, she was 15. I’ve told her many times and everybody in my circle knows this, I’m talking from truth every single time. This is my art and I’m not gonna fabricate anything. If n*ggas come out in a song or I say some s### in a song, everyone’s gonna have to deal with it. Because this is my truth, this is who I am. I’m not gonna be faking anything.
AllHipHop: How do you feel Evander has evolved from 16 to now?
Evander Griiim: Really doing music at 16 was me rebelling. It was pure rebellion music: uncontrollable energy, f###### off the wall rampage. I’m a whole different person. At that time, everybody told me I couldn’t do it. Oh yeah? I was doing it to prove to them that I could do it. When I did it, okay what now? I took some time off to really define who I am as a person, as a man. Find my purpose. I still have the energy of rebellion, but it’s more contained. It’s more packaged. I can express myself without having to go out of character.
AllHipHop: What is your purpose?
Evander Griiim: My purpose is to relay the message that hey, all this s### is possible. Anything is possible. Whether you want to start a landscaping business, whether you want to do music, whether you want to be a nurse, whether you want to XYZ. All it takes is relentless dedication, relentless pressure to achieve that purpose. I want people to see me like oh yeah, you can be a player. You can be cool. You can be all these things and still be a man of morals, a man of purpose.
AllHipHop: 3 things you need in the studio at all times?
Evander Griiim: For sure good lighting. Genuine people around me. I don’t like to be in a studio with 50 people, because then it turns into a show. Okay, now I really have to go in. As opposed to me being vulnerable with people who I trust. Third thing would be either good food, or l good smells. I’m a super sensory person. If it’s too much light or it smells weird, I’ll leave.
AllHipHop: Best encounter with a fan?
Evander Griiim: A fan gave me a blessed rosary from Mexico City. I had a concert. He said he went to Mexico City to go get the rosary and come straight back just to give it to me at my Meet & Greet. I was in shock. I loved it. I was so blessed to have it, it was so genuine. That’s one of my realist day one supporters. I wouldn’t call him a fan, I’ll call him a real supporter. Great guy, his name’s Aaron.
AllHipHop: Have you had any fan out moments?
Evander Griiim: I met a lot of people in my life, a lot of my idols. A time where I super fanned out, it was two different people the same day. The first one was PARTYNEXTDOOR, because he’s my inspiration musically. I’m in love with his process. He was far away and I saw the back of him, I knew it was him. I went up to him, I gave him his flowers. It was more of I met him, he didn’t meet me type of moment. That was incredible.
AllHipHop: Where’d you meet him at?
Evander Griiim: That was at Coachella? You know how in Coachella they have the artist area, and they have the big food communion and everybody’s there? This is when Mac Miller and Ariana Grande were still dating. I swear to God, they had just got their food. They’re walking out of the tent and I’m walking into the tank. I saw them. I saw Mac really, and that s### froze me. I did a 360. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what to do my hands.
I guess he peeped it. I honestly regret that moment, I should have said what’s up. I didn’t say nothing. I get sad sometimes because damn, I wish I had got famous before to meet him.
AllHipHop: You don’t gotta be famous to meet him!
Evander Griiim: No I’m saying I wish we could have done music together. I be feeling like when n*ggas make music, you could f### with somebody. But for somebody to l get to the level that he’s at, it takes a certain type of dedication. That common ground, people can understand like “yo, let’s lock in.” I do get sad I didn’t say wassup or anything.
AllHipHop: Top five artists rotation right now?
Evander Griiim: Oh big time. Always PARTYNEXTDOOR, cool vibe. I’m listening to Jordan Ward, he’s fire. He’s tough, listening to him heavy. I’m listening to a lot of minimal EDM, people call it Eurotrash. Been listening to that heavy, I love that. I’m listening to Veeze, he’s hard. He was on that song with Lil Baby. I’m listening to a lot of me. I’m creating a tape right now with ChaseTheMoney. Him and I are locked in the studio, going in.
AllHipHop: What can we expect from that project?
Evander Griiim: Whatever people think it’s gonna be, it’s not it. We are creating a whole new sound. We’ve been in the studio together every single day for the past two weeks. It’s crazy because
I met him at this Nickelodeon event. It was a Spongebob and Urban Outfitters, here in LA. It was fire, it was cool. They had me model it, and they had him pull up too. We bumped into each other. But I didn’t meet him on some I knew who he was. It was more like “oh s###, my bad bro. Excuse me.” He’s like “oh, what’s your name?” He’s like, “Chase.” “My name’s Evander.” We got each other’s contact.
AllHipHop: You didn’t even know the other person did music? That’s tight.
Evander Griiim: Nothing. We followed each other. We’d been working, just individually. One day, I texted him like “yo, what are you doing? Are you at the studio?” He’s like “yeah, pull up.” I pull up, we did one song that night. The next day, he calls me like “bro I have a crazy idea,I don’t know if you’re with it. I think we caught a crazy vibe. I see this vision, let’s do a tape together.” I said “I’m on the way right now!” Literally as soon as I hung up, I got in the whip. I haven’t left the studio since.
AllHipHop: How do you feel you guys bounce off each other? To do a project with one producer, it’s synergy. It’s a bond.
Evander Griiim: It’s dope. It’s really cool working with him, he’s really funny. He’s a hard ass too, but good guy. The energy, we’re pushing each other. We’re not settling for anything. We’re both very musically inclined. We’re willing to push the pen forward. A lot of jokes, a lot of chill vibes. Yeah, for sure. Te studio sessions have literally been me, him, and maybe another producer will come in. Somebody who’s also a part of his camp, but it’s been very closed off. We’ll get in at 2 in the afternoon, 3 latest. We’ll get out of there at 4 in the morning, every day.
AllHipHop: Is there a theme or a name to the project?
Evander Griiim: Not yet, we’re just recording heavy. We want to do 8 to 10 songs, but we’re almost there. It’s beautiful. I really feel we’re pushing each other to make the best work, his best beats and then my best flows.
AllHipHop: Would you say you’re more R&B-leaning…?
Evander Griiim: As of right now, yes. My rap is hard, but how people connect to my R&B s###, that’s what I strive for. How can they connect to me? How can they understand me? That’s where I’m at.
AllHipHop: What do you like to do when you’re not working?
Evander Griiim: I play poker. I love kicking it with my friends and family. Having barbecues at the crib, big time on that. Watch a cool movie.
AllHipHop: Do you have any goals for yourself?
Evander Griiim: Big time. I have a lot of health goals. Been in the gym, just working. Trying to get better. Personal goals, I have a tattoo on my thigh right here. It’s a list of everything I want to accomplish in life. I have “touch a million.” I have “buy my mom a house in Kino.” Kino is a beach in Mexico that she used to go to when she was a kid. I have “Platinum plaque,” then I have “biggest artist in the world.” As s### starts going, I’m gonna cross them out little by little.
AllHipHop: What’s it going to take to be the biggest artist in the world?
Evander Griiim: It’s going to take the best version of myself, and dedication. Understand what it takes, but I’m not too big on that because music’s opinionated. Your favorite rapper could be my least favorite rapper. Right now, who would you say the biggest artist in the world?
AllHipHop: I think everyone says Drake.
Evander Griiim: Everyone says Drake, but then somebody down the street would say Bad Bunny or Taylor Swift. It’s opinionated, but I’ll just be the best version of myself.
AllHipHop: Talk about collaborating with Lil Yachty, what did that moment mean for you?
Evander Griiim: That was a beautiful moment. At the time, he was super young. He was fresh in the game, he could’ve got a feature from anybody. It was dope how he asked me to be on it. He had a show in El Paso, my hometown. I had pulled up and he said “let me bring you out.” I said bet.
AllHipHop: Just like that?
Evander Griiim: Just like that. He’s a real genuine guy. Everybody in the industry knows how he is forreal, real good guy. So I sent him the songs. As soon as the first millisecond of the song, the crowd went ballistic. It was 8K people in there, they’re going crazy. Ballistic. I run out there, incredible show. I get off stage, we’re in the run SUV driving back. He’s like, “bro, you’re crazy. Let me play you this s### real quick. I don’t got no hook on it. Let me see what you can do.” He plays it, it has no hook. I said “send it to me, I’ll work it out.” I’m acting cool at the time. But in my head, I’m lit. I was super lit.
AllHipHop: Did you already have an idea for the hook?
Evander Griiim: Nah, I didn’t. I’m like, let me sit on it. Yeah. A week goes by, I was in the studio. I do one take, just one run at it. Let me not overthink you. Let me bounce that and send it to him, see what he says. So I sent it to him. He FaceTimed me like “it’s over. Let’s go.” Then it came out.
AllHipHop: Anything else you want to let the people know?
Evander Griiim: Look out for me for sure, because my work ethic is going to outbeat my talent. It’ll outbeat anybody. I don’t care who it is, I’m working for it. You don’t have to respect me, but you should for sure respect the hustle.