Yaves is a hip-hop artist from Columbus, Ohio, has his own record label, Sling Shot Media Group, and recently released an EP, In Winter’s Ear, on February 9.

Yaves is somebody who creates from the inspiration of Scripture but also who creates without trying to sound like other people. Yaves is an artist who has a goal of continuing to be original and making music that at the end of the day, I can be happy that I put out that song.

Growing up was tough for Yaves, but he found an outlet in music.

I had a mother who dealt with a crack cocaine addiction, a father who wasn’t around, so for me personally, I was left to my own devices to do what I wanted and grow up on my own. Music was something that allowed me to take my time and energy and create something.

“I’ve got tapes from when I was like 6 or 7,” said Yaves in a song called “The Art of Favor.” He released his first project around the age of 12 with a group called ROAR on Rescue Records that was home to Christian hip-hop pioneers such as Mark J., P.O.D., and Tunnel Rats, among others.

When he was a teenager, he got involved in some bad groups of people and had become a target for murder, almost being killed. With the understanding that death could be coming, Yaves began to understand about the reality of Jesus Christ, that his life is not his own. In his song “Finally On” from History In Progress, he says, “Someone else’s beef had some killers run up on me, so now they wanna murder me, all cause what they heard of me. Three shots later lil’ Gary up in surgery.” He has a song called “Blood Covered Snow” on his new EP detailing the incident.