Cities Aviv facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Cities Aviv
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Mays performing in 2014.
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Wilbert Gavin Mays |
| Born | 1989 (age 36–37) |
| Origin | Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. |
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| Occupation(s) |
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| Years active | 2008–present |
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| Associated acts | Copwatch |
Wilbert Gavin Mays (born in 1989) is an American rapper and music producer from Memphis, Tennessee. He is better known by his stage name, Cities Aviv. A stage name is a name an artist uses for their performances. He also started his own independent record label called Total Works.
Contents
Early Life and School
Gavin Mays was born and grew up in Memphis, Tennessee. In middle school, he started listening to a wide variety of music. He liked hip hop groups like Non Phixion and rock bands like At the Drive-In.
After high school, he went to the University of Memphis to study journalism, which is the work of writing for newspapers, magazines, or websites. He later left college to focus on his music career.
Music Career
Starting Out in Music
Before he became a rapper, Mays was the lead singer for a hardcore punk band called Copwatch. He also worked as a roadie, helping his friends' bands set up for shows. While he was in the punk scene, he began to experiment with making hip hop music. Soon, he decided to focus completely on hip hop.
In 2011, he released his first mixtape, Digital Lows. A mixtape is a collection of songs, similar to an album. It received good reviews from popular music magazines like Pitchfork and Spin.
Developing His Sound
In 2012, Mays moved to New York. He released his next mixtape, Black ..., with a record label connected to the streetwear company Mishka NYC. Mays said he was trying to make a pop record. He was also inspired by the band My Bloody Valentine. He liked how their album Loveless made the vocals sound buried in the music, and he tried a similar style.
In 2014, he released his first official studio album, Come to Life. A studio album is usually more polished than a mixtape.
Starting His Own Label
After his first album, Mays continued to release new music. In 2018, he released the album Raised for a Better View. This album was the first one released on his own record label, Total Works (also called D.O.T.). Since then, his label has released all of his music and projects from other artists.
Experimental Music Projects
Since 2019, Mays has also released music under the name African-American Sound Recordings. This project is more experimental and mostly instrumental. It uses a lot of different sounds and samples, including field recordings, which are sounds recorded outside of a studio. The style mixes hip-hop with other genres like noise and ambient.
In 2020, Mays released three albums in one year: Accompanied by a Blazing Solo, Gum, and Immortal Flame. He said in an interview that he improvised these albums, meaning he made them up as he was recording.
In 2021, he released The Crashing Sound Of How It Goes. For this album, he focused more on writing his lyrics again. In 2022, he released two more albums, Man Plays The Horn and Working Title For The Album Secret Waters.
Musical Style
Cities Aviv is known for his unique style that mixes many different types of music. This is called having an eclectic style.
His early influences included a mix of artists, from the rock band Boris to the hip hop producer Jay Dee and the funk singer James Brown. He was also influenced by post-punk bands like Joy Division. This mix of tastes helps make his music sound different from other artists.
Discography
Studio Albums
- Come to Life (2014)
- Your Discretion Is Trust (2015)
- Immortal Flame (2020)
- Gum (2020)
- Accompanied by a Blazing Solo (2020)
- The Crashing Sound of How It Goes (2021)
- Man Plays the Horn (2022)
- Working Title for the Album Secret Waters (2022)
- Archive & Practice 001 (2024)
- Cafe Tom Tom (2024)
Mixtapes
- Digital Lows (2011)
- Black ... (2012)
- Raised for a Better View (2018)
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