Seven Davis Jr. - Choir Boy (2018)

This album is dedicated to my childhood self. The cover art is a picture of me when I was an innocent boy who had not yet encountered the cruelties of the world. Originally I wanted to release this album after summer due to its subject matter. However the recent rise of suicides in my country and amongst associates has made me realize, the time is now to speak up.

In my early 20’s I committed suicide. The pains I had experienced since childhood finally built up and caused a nervous breakdown, manifesting itself in that way unfortunately.

I died for 2 minutes. The cover photo is one of the only childhood pictures of me that exist before the breakdown/suicide. I had a thing then with destroying photos of myself. Trauma shows in strange ways. But I’m glad this photo made it to the cover.

You see not long after this photo was taken, that happy little boy was thrown deep into years of emotional/verbal and physical abuse secretly at the hands of his family. Specifically by his Stepfather, at first. Which even to this day they all gaslight and deny happening (another form of abuse). “You should see someone about what happened” one moment, “It never happened you’re making it up” the next.

The years of exposure to this unhealthy environment really warped my early judgment of character, which later lead to sexual abuse from outside the family and seeking out equally unhealthy surroundings. Which lead to acting out, turning to drugs, violence, sex addiction etc.

For years during and after, I treated people the horrible ways I was being treated because I thought it was normal. I had almost been programmed or even conditioned to aspire to be a monster. I hurt people I cared about. I consciously did things I am not proud of. Worse, there are endless things I don’t remember doing while blacked out by trauma and literally fighting for my life.

This vicious cycle went on for years until I put my foot down in 2016 and walked away from everything/everyone in my life to face these truths.

But it took a while for me to accept the resurfaced memories I had worked so hard to bury as truth. In fact it wasn’t until 2017 that I finally accepted, I’m an abuse survivor.

It’s not my intent to expose anyone or name names. There’s a saying, “You can’t heal what you don’t reveal”. This album is just that.

Everything for a reason yeah. The past traumas helped shape me into the artist I am today. My “Circa 1999” EP was recorded before my suicide when I was in the depths of my dark teenage years trying to cope with circumstances. The “One” EP was recorded after my suicide when I was determined to find the love I had never known but believe existed. My debut album “Universes” represented my leaving of the world I was forced to be in and my journey to find the place where I belong. My sophomore album “Live From The Other Side” represents my arrival at a safe place and the beginning of my healing process. The “Sev Was Here” two part series represents my recovered new self, free of chains and boundaries. Ready to re-enter the world.

“CHOIR BOY” represents me now. No longer broken, no longer depressed. No longer allowing myself to be a victim. It represents moving on and surviving. Unlearning the bads and replacing them with goods.

The album is titled “CHOIR BOY” because at the time of the photo that’s exactly what I was. I didn’t even know what the music industry was then... I just loved singing and music. This album is a return to that spirit of creating and music appreciation. That’s also why the album is all downtempo. At the time, I wasn’t a producer and only listened to soul, oldies etc. I had no idea what "dance music" was then. So I would find instrumentals or long music breaks in my fav songs and write my own songs to them. I wanted to recreate that vibe and make an album the young boy on the cover would listen to then.

I do hope the songs reach out to those who hear them. Even if this album only helps 1 person realize that suicide isn’t the answer, that’s success.

Please take care,
Sev “