“Come as you are, be as you will, and love.”
This is the message that singer, songwriter, spoken word artist, and producer evrYwhr wants his audience to take away from his music. After talking to the emerging talent for nearly an hour and thirty minutes, these values seem to be at the core of both his music and his identity.
evrYwhr, born Michael Jefferson, grew up in Port Huron, a small town in Michigan where he “learned how to love.” Jefferson was surrounded by love throughout his childhood by two older siblings, his community, and his parents who have been married for almost 50 years.
Jefferson proudly tells the story of going on errands with his mother who’d often take many more stops than she promised in order to check up on the elderly and bring people food.
“My people are givers…[they’re] lovers,” he explained.
The multi-talented artist also played ice hockey when he was younger and wanted to be both a hockey player and an artist as a young kid. However, music would soon prevail over hockey. Jefferson and his father would listen to all sorts of music from Donnell Jones to Smashing Pumpkins.
At 14, Jefferson made his introduction to music when he wrote his first song. This would lead him to start a group with his cousin and a close friend called Flawless. This would lead the young talent to spoken word which would become his passion well into college.
evrYwhr went by Mike J. Write at that time and performed in competitions while attending Western Michigan University where he worked towards a Sales & Business Marketing degree. However, his craving for singing still lingered and he decided to perform at a “Showtime at The Apollo” night held by one of the fraternities on campus.
Jefferson took the stage, ready to sing an Usher song from his critically acclaimed album Confessions when catastrophe struck.
“As I’m getting ready to sing the first note, my foot slips on the narrow part of the stage and I fall off the stage,” evrYwhr laughed.
This experience tamped out the fire for singing for over two years. However, Jefferson would get back into singing with the song “Anatomy 101”, which would go on to be played on the radio in Kalamazoo, MI, and at parties throughout the school.
Throughout the next couple years, Jefferson would build his resume with a cover of the Jonas Brothers’ “Give Love a Try” that would get the attention of the Jonas Brothers’ father Kevin as well as a placement on the soundtrack of Honey 3: Dare to Dance. The emerging talent would then move out to LA where his career would start to take off.
evrYwhr would team up with producer DO Speaks as well as producer/A&R at Reach Records Torrence Esmond who would give the artist the opportunity to write songs for gospel rapper Lecrae. evrYwhr would write the album’s ninth track “Confe$$ions”. Shortly after getting the placement, Jefferson remarked to DO, “I think this year we’re gonna get a Grammy” almost as a joke.
However, this prophecy would come true and the album would win a Grammy at the 2013 Grammy’s for the Best Gospel Album.
7 years later, evrYwhr’s track “Letter to the Whitehouse” has gone viral on Youtube with its compassionate tone that emphasizes unity and love in such a divided political climate.
Looking towards 2021, the 35-year-old is ecstatic about the releases of his singles “Positive Vibes”, “Tribe Gang” and “Love Warrior”. He has also begun a “space for eclectics” called Freedom Love Tribe Gang that focuses on uniting people under the pillars of freedom, love, and community.
Make sure to check out “Letter to the Whitehouse” and stay tuned for new music from evrYwhr!
