Exclusive Interview: Zhavia Opens Up About Journey To Date, Reveals EP Is Coming & Tells Us Who She'd Love To Collaborate With!
It's a Zhavia kind of day today. First we posted about her amazing new single “Deep Down” this morning and now we get to finally share with you an interview we did with her a couple of weeks ago. We would have posted it earlier but her team preferred to hold it until today to make it coincide with the release of her new single. No biggie, though! But just make sure to have this in mind when reading through our questions.
Zhavia Ward was the true winner of season one of FOX’s singing competition “The Four”, she's now with Columbia Records - who will undoubtedly make of her a huge star, her debut single “Candlelight” gave us goosebumps, her brand new single “Deep Down” is our new obsession, and now it's time to learn a little more about this talented woman though our interview below. We asked her about her journey to date, what she has in store for us in the future, her favorite music of the moment, the artists she would love to collaborate with one day, among other things.
?? DEEP DOWN SONG AND VIDEO ARE OUT NOW ?? Thankyou for all of your support and love !we worked really hard on getting this out to you all so I hope you enjoy it ! ???????????? https://t.co/Os5pwiCEn1 pic.twitter.com/fGHYuSrqDM
— Zhavia (@ZhaviaWard) August 30, 2018
THE INTERVIEW
Direct Lyrics: Hi Zhavia! Where are you answering this Q&A from and how has your day been like so far?
Zhavia: I’m in New York doing some promo for my new single, and it’s been great!
Direct Lyrics: We all got to know you from your time on “The Four” (FOX). What made you want to go to a brand new talent show show like this in the first place (did you audition to others?) – and what advice would you give others wanting to audition for future seasons?
Zhavia: Originally I wasn’t planning to audition for The Four. I was going in my manager’s studio to record a demo and they were doing auditions there. He told me to sing for them and meet them, so I did. I said no to them four times, but eventually I did it because it was different from the other shows. It’s more urban and also the panel is a lot more relevant. My advice for future contestants is to just be yourself and have fun with it because in the end that’s all that really matters. Whatever happens is meant to happen.
Direct Lyrics :After “The Four”, Columbia Records signed you. How exactly was the whole signing process for you? Did it catch you by surprise such a big label wanted you?
Zhavia: Yeah it kind of came out of nowhere. I had met Jenna my A&R at a Bebe Rexha party and she was just asking me about if I was already signed. I told her no and she was really shocked. Then, a couple weeks later I heard from her and Ron Perry that they wanted to sign me, and I’ve been working with Columbia ever since.
Direct Lyrics :You scared us big time when you said you had some health problems that were affecting your voice during your time on “The Four”. Is that entirely a thing of the past? Are you taking precautions so that never happens again? We just love your unique voice so much!
Zhavia: Thanks! Vocal problems is something that comes and goes. You’re always going to deal with them as a singer, but it’s very important to pay attention to your voice and how you feel and cater to that.
Direct Lyrics :With Columbia Records, you participated on the “Deadpool 2” soundtrack getting a feature on the Diplo, Lil Pump song “Welcome to the Party”. Who called you to guest on this song? And, we were kind of sad to see you didn’t get to sing much despite you had a full credit!
Zhavia: Ron thought it would be a good idea for me to get on an urban track to put me out there in that genre because that’s how I want to be seen as an artist. It was really cool getting to do the Deadpool track because coming off of a show, and automatically going to huge soundtrack for a huge movie was an amazing experience. Filming the video was really fun too!
Direct Lyrics :Your debut single is “Candlelight”, which came out just a little ago. We absolutely adore the song. What inspired the lyrics? And, why did you think “Candlelight” was the ideal track to release as your debut single and not others?
Zhavia: “Candelight” was inspired by a time in my life where I felt like I had no hope, and it’s really rare for me to feel like that because I try to be so optimistic and so positive. It really brought me down but I wanted to write about how you can get through it and how you can overcome anything. I felt like “Candlelight” was the ideal track to release because I feel like people would be able to relate to it the most. Everybody goes through hard times in their life and I wanted people to be able to connect with that.
Direct Lyrics :What’s next for Zhavia? EP or full-length album coming this year? What producers are you working with? And is “Candlelight” representative of the sound of your future project? We think maybe you would slay too in something a little more urban!
Zhavia: My next single “Deep Down” is coming out August 30 which I’m really excited for. There’s a video and everything – we shot it in London. My EP is coming out soon. “Candlelight” is definitely more of a ballad-type song and more chill and beautiful. My others songs are more urban, R&B and rhythmic. “Candelight” was a special song that comes not so often.
Direct Lyrics :What are the Top 5 songs you’re currently streaming a lot these days?
Zhavia: Roo Pains - Tiger Striped Sky / Post Malone – Better Now / Drake – Feel No Ways / Ella Mai - Boo’d Up / Jay Rock - WIN
Direct Lyrics:Who is your dream collaboration, why him or her, and how do you imagine your original song to be like?
Zhavia: I have 3: Jessie J, Post Malone and Drake. I definitely want to do a really cool ballad with Jessie J because I feel like we could do some dope harmonies. With Post Malone, I’d probably want to do a feel-good song, really rhythmic and upbeat. And with Drake, something really soulful and more slow tempo.
Zhavia: Thank you for your time, Zhavia! Any last thing you would like to tell our Directlyrics.com readers?
Thank you so much for your support, I appreciate it. Make sure you check out my next single “Deep Down”!