Qyor On ‘Be High’ Success With Kranium, Dexta Daps And The Growth Of His Music

Jamaican music is home to a host of different types of artists, from Deejays and lyricists to supreme vocalists, and those who have worked hard to be well-rounded in all areas. We’ve had an amazing culture of crooners from Alton Ellis, to Berris Hammond and even unsung cover artists like Ghost. Nowadays, such artists like Kranium, Dexta Daps, and Qyor have been waving the banner for melody and vocal creativity in Jamaican music. 

Formerly known as Chevaughn, Qyor is a purveyor of smooth sounds and easy-going joyful music from his earlier days performing with legends like Jimmy Cliff, Rita Marley and Tony Rebel. With his recently released single Be High which features Kranium and Dexta Daps, Qyor is demonstrating the kind of innovation with melodies that is uncommon in Jamaican music.

DancehallMag was lucky to catch up with the young artist for a quick reasoning about his musical journey and the story behind his new single.

Tell us about the moment when you made the choice to do music, and moments where you might have reconsidered that choice.

In the journey of music, I often need to step back and take a look at myself, rather than step back from music. I’ve never stepped back from music, never said I’m done.  But certainly, there’s moments where you have to sankofa. Get back to a place where you can create different lanes, and be okay with allowing certain changes to happen.

Change is one of those things we tend to find very difficult.

Yeah, people know. People know that change is inevitable, but not many people are open to it. Because we’ve been trained to study patterns and schedules in school. So every time there’s a change it’s almost like this crazy thing. When there’s so much more — everything in life is about the evolution of it. From one stage to the next.

So did you have a moment in particular with music, where you had the realization that this is the most important thing?

Yeah, six years old, singing in church at church. I started at six but it became a bit more concrete at age 8. I was the only boy in the choir at church. That was it for me. It started from there, feeling the need to be a part of music whether I was singing solo or not. But it’s more unexplainable. Because you can sing, you know you can sing. You grew up in a musical family. But that unexplainable feeling, it’s more of a knowing which happens at that point. It’s hard to put into words but those who have had that feeling know what I’m talking about. 

When you say you had a musical family, what was it like having that kind of support?

My dad is a lover of music. Between country music and like the old R&B elements; got that from him. Mommy was the very church or classical kind of stuff. She was the one that knew the hymns in church. So she knows every single song. Her love for music came through church. So it was more from home to church to school. My mom sings, my dad tried singing, I have aunts and uncles that sing. So between my eldest sister who took it up before me, and my older sister, they just did their best. One was teaching me how to write better, the other was teaching me how to sing, because they realized that I got that calling. 

What kind of music inspires you?

The kind that doesn’t usually hit the charts. They find me quicker and the ones that do hit the charts I allow them to find me over time. There’s an awkwardness that exists in creativity and the art that only artists can get. As a businessman, I’m going to creatively think of ways to translate. When I’m listening I can hear other creatives doing that, and once I hear something like that, it’s going to inspire me. The chart songs that do inspire me, but the ones that don’t often make it also inspire me even more.

Aside from your experience in church, you went on to travel and perform with several iconic artists, what was that experience like?

Between doing CXC music and going to college to study music, I was just doing a lot to kind of hone my talent. Doing tours between Europe and Africa, America and even the Caribbean with a few artists was a good training ground. Before and after college. Not just the popular artists who you can call their name and say I know him, but even my work with father Ho lung and Friends, Ashe, really taught me performance, and understanding of the stage. Those things play a huge role because I never learned those things in college.   

This new single featuring Dexta Daps and Kranium, how did it come about? What’s the story behind its creation?

It happened on its own. Two years ago we had a session here with Kranium, Stacks and Markus Myrie. I had to leave to go home at some point during the session. But when I was gone, Kranium said to Stacks, ‘we need to do something with Chevaughn. Build a riddim, I have to have something with him before I leave Jamaica.’ At the time we already had stuff together, but he wanted Stacks, producer something almost independent. Something different. That’s where it started. About two/three o’clock in the morning stacks linked me saying he found the riddim. He sent me a snippet on IG and I was listening to it, writing and vibing. By the time I got to the studio the following night they had gone to get food and I was alone here waiting, which gave me the opportunity to really think about what I could do on this modern dancehall track.

It’s not a regular dancehall kinda vibe, it’s a bit soulful. When Kranium heard it after he got back, he was ready to go. We had some melodies for the verse, and we refined it. Went into the booth and did the demo and that’s what you hear now. I have not done that chorus or verse over again. The same way it was recorded in 2019, is the same way it sounds now. Kranium redid a part of his verse last year. Then I was working on some arrangements for Dexta Daps album and he asked me to play something for him. I played it, and he gave me a verse. So that’s how you have the song.

What motivated the release of it this year as opposed to some time within the last two years?

The release of it was supposed to be last year and it moved to this year 4/20 but right now was just the perfect timing. Whatever constraints I was putting on it to have it out just wasn’t there anymore. So like it’s been little under two weeks and we’ve had over six hundred thousand views, which I’m very grateful for.