“Convolk, from in the streets, fuck the industries, Sad boy, I can’t sleep, I can’t fall asleep, You mad, boy, mad at me, why you mad at me? You hate me, ‘least that matters, ’cause nothin’ matters to me” 22 year old Convolk sings over Deject production on his song, a million messages; no response.
Convolk, a Russian-American singer and musician from California, now resides in New York City and attends Bard College. Convok’s full name is James Alexander Kanevsky. He was born December 14, 1996, in Oakland, California, but his father was born in the Soviet Union. In his free time, he likes making music, thrift shopping, and playing competitive Super Smash Brothers on the Nintendo 64. Convolk’s music is exactly as he describes it – independent and depressed. You may know Convolk from his videographer friends: PatrickCC and Honest, who frequently promote him in their content.
Convolk’s life hasn’t been easy. He lost his mother, which he discusses on a number of his songs.
“Rest in peace to my moms, yeah I miss her”
“Stars in the sky shine bright, I know mama looking down on me”
In addition to Convolk’s loss, he has been battling severe heart problems. He says he can’t smoke, use uppers, or be too stressed out or he risks a heart attack. He often jokes in his music he’ll end up in the 27 Club (artists who die before or at the age of 27) due to his heart problems. These somber jabs show Convolk’s great sense of humor, but also highlight the seriousness of his condition. Learn more about Convolk’s personal life in his interview published on Internet Hippy.
Convolk has been making waves for a while. His European audience has grown quickly due to his frequent use of Russian lyrics, such as on his new hit song, I Fucked Up. Since 2017, Convolk has released 2 full length album and a slew of EPs, such as his most recent, LONEWOLF. Convolk’s music is consistently good, almost every song on each project is touching, beautiful, and emotional. Convolk linked with “sad boy” artists 9tails and Guardin for his single whatever it takes, and on a video directed by Honest.
LONEWOLF was great. Convolk’s strongest songs I Fucked Up, Lonewolf, and Tie Me To The Train Tracks are doing fantastic on both SoundCloud and Spotify. In the past 2 months, Convolk’s monthly listeners (on Spotify) have grown from 60,000 to almost 90,000.
Convolk isn’t without flaws. While his music is original, emotional, and touching, he defaults to similar flows and beats on a couple of his songs on LONEWOLF. For instance, I Fucked Up sounds a bit too similar to all black fit and Tie Me To The Train Track sounds like Star Dust. This doesn’t stop the tracks from shining, but Convolk could certainly try to stray from what he’s made in the past. It’s not that the songs aren’t good, but it feels as if Convolk has gotten comfortable. He’s hinted at releasing another full length project soon. We’ll see if his next project lives up to the hype and Convolk breaks out of the comfort zone he was in on LONEWOLF.
Haven’t heard Convolk yet? Start here: