"Born in Liberia during the West African nation's civil war, Janjay Lowe was adopted by a white American family that moved around the U.S.; eventually, Lowe would come to call Tennessee home. As a teen, he picked up his brothers' taste for Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver, but seeing few Black artists working in that genre, Lowe started making R&B. As he found a TikTok following, he gradually re-introduced those indie-folk influences,"
"But in these songs, that familiar palette of soothing guitar and fiddle clashes with graphic lyrics. Take "Day at the Soccer Fields," where Lowe sings about traumatic childhood memories over a sliding string bed: "I remember it/Like it was yesterday/AK‑40 pointed at my face." The dissonance gets outright uncomfortable on "Running Boy," where a dangerous police encounter intrudes on a singalong chorus as Lowe describes feelings of survivor's guilt."
Mon Rovîa, born Janjay Lowe in Liberia during the civil war, was adopted by a white American family and later settled in Tennessee. He absorbed indie-folk influences from Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver but initially made R&B because of the scarcity of Black artists in that genre. A TikTok following enabled him to reintroduce indie-folk elements, reconnect with the ukulele, and claim a place in Afro-Appalachian musical lineage. Bloodline, his full-length debut, directly reckons with his backstory through songs that mix soothing guitar and fiddle with graphic lyrics. Several tracks juxtapose pastoral soundscapes with traumatic memories and encounters.
Read at Pitchfork
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