Singer-Songwriter, and Producer Devin Kennedy has steady been putting out new music over the course of quarantine. Devin Kennedy, who has quickly become one of PopWrapped’s favorite artists is always breaking boundaries and outdoing himself – Dev is back with a heartfelt, stunning new track, “HURT U”.
“‘Hurt U’ is one of the most honest and genuine songs I’ve ever been a part of. My co-writers and I set out to create a whole world within this track, including specific lyrical details that are relevant to my life. The story we’re telling here is the experience of falling so in love with someone that you would bend over backward to make sure that they’re comfortable and content. This is about that person who you connect with so deeply that you know there’s nothing that could ever happen to change how you feel about them.”
“I wrote this one with my friends David Hodges and Whakaio Taahi in August of last year {2020}. It’s always a great sign when a song is written quickly. In this case, Hurt U was finished in about 3 hours. I then toyed with the production for a few weeks, trying different structures and sonics. It’s an emotional, visual and story-driven song, so the production had to not only match the emotion, but also enhance and highlight the story as much as possible. With any song, I do what I can to make sure that the track is focused and perfectly complimenting the vocals. Vocals matter the most.”
Devin, a very collaborative involved artist has worked alongside many amazing people such as TWENTYLOVE, Jake Miller, HABITS, and more. “Collabs come about so many different ways, between industry people, social media, friends..etc. What I’ve noticed the last few years is producing/writing for other artists can open a lot of doors for myself to work with new people. So I try to be open and prepared to work with new people all the time. I do have some more collabs planned for this year, I’m super excited to show everyone.” Dev told us.
Continuing to outdo yourself and top each release as an artist isn’t always easy, atleast, we can’t imagine that it is. “or years I’ve been very focused on melody as a writer, but now that I’ve been super focused on my project for the last couple years, I consistently tend to gravitate towards the songs that feel real and relevant to my life. So these days, I’m always writing from personal experience and taking it from there. In terms of topping each release, the only thing I can do to consistently get better is write more songs. The more I write, the better they get.”
“These days I’m almost always writing for my project, and then I end up passing along tunes that don’t fit my project for other artists. I used to do a lot of “pitch writing” to try and get releases, and I’ve learned that it’s way more fun and significantly easier to get releases with other artists when you just take the time to be in a room with them a write a song. Plus it’s a great way to make new friends.” explained when it comes to deciding wether or not to keep a track for himself or pitch it to another artist.
“I think Hurt U is a big step up in quality and emotion for my project. I’m always working to make sure my project continues to sound unique and live in its on world. In this case, I think I’ve found the perfect cross between a great pop song and left-of-center production. Also, I don’t think I’ve ever written a song that is more relevant to my life. I’m excited about it — I have a lot of singles ready to go, and I think they’ll eventually fall into a longer form project this year. I’m focused on wrapping up a lot of new music and collaborations, and when the world allows, I’m ready to be back on the road. “ Devin finished.
Devin Kennedy’s “HURT U” is available on all your favorite Music Streaming platforms, worldwide. You can follow along Dev’s journey on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Tiktok.
