Christian upbringing almost kept Jimmy Nevis away from music career
Chart-topping singer revealed as ‘Boombox’
Superstar musician Jimmy Nevis was revealed as the famous face behind “Boombox” in The Masked Singer SA semi-finals at the weekend.
But did you know that the career of the 31-year-old chart-topping singer, born Matthew le Roux in Athlone, Cape Town, almost didn’t happen due to his family’s staunch and devoted Christian beliefs?
“I grew up being known as Matthew. When I got to high school, I knew I had to channel an alter ego that’s completely different from who I am… this is when I came up with Jimmy Nevis. This name helped me to separate Matthew from the music career I wanted,” he said.
“I was a good Christian boy who couldn’t listen to circular music, the same music I wanted to make. But a music career wasn’t part of my family’s plan, particularly my father who is a pastor. I had to do a lot of convincing for them to support it.
“I then pushed my way into the music scene to show him (dad) how badly I wanted it. I had a lot of firsts through my alter ego. I was able to perform in clubs, the same ones I wasn’t allowed to go to and enjoy the world of performance.”
Nevis first took the music scene by storm in 2012 with his hit Elephant Shoes, turning him into a household name.
He then solidified his mark with hits such as Heartboxing, 7764, All About It and Ballin’.
“I’m generally a private person and initially I thought this was not my kind of thing. I soon warmed up to the idea of being on the show [Masked Singer] and realised that this could help me get out of my box and have some fun,” he said.
“Singing with the mask on was quite challenging because of the size of my mask. I was strapped with a built-in fan… I was sweating and out of breath most of the time – at some point I felt like I needed to go to the hospital. I know I’m being dramatic but to be honest, I had fun.”
Singing anonymously gave Nevis a different perspective on letting his hair down and not controlling everything.
“I was reminded to be authentic to my craft and to be myself. I tend to overthink things especially when I’m on stage but performing to a crowd who doesn’t know who you are made me realise that talent is what people actually love the most, more than anything,” he said.
“With this experience, I got to let go of the fear of being a perfectionist, something I couldn’t quite let go of for many years.”
Away from the limelight, Nevis enjoys his personal space and being at home.
“I’m such an unserious person at home. I enjoy unwinding over a glass of wine while cooking mediocre meals. I also love going out for some karaoke with friends… most of them even say my fans would be shocked to learn the kind of person I am when I’m not on stage… that’s how unserious I am,” he said.
Nevis plans to take on amapiano and hopes for collaborations with Zakes Bantwini, Shekhinah and Tyla.
“Three years ago, I worked on an amapiano EP but I chose not to release it due to a few reasons known to me. See, for me, learning and exploring is a big part of the artistry and there’s definitely no limit for me,” he said.
“I’ve got a lot of songs in the pipeline. I just need to make sure they are aligned and I will definitely release them.”