recordJet Passenger of the Month: Mavi Phoenix

“Don’t fit in the biz but I stick to it.” Mavi Phoenix is ​​currently the most important Austrian music export around, and already has the makings of a global superstar. The release of his second EP “Young Prophet” and the hit “Aventura” helped to firmly put momentum behind his undoubted talent. This was then followed by eye-catching appearances at the Reeperbahn Festival, Roskilde, Primavera, as well as features in popular magazines like The Fader, Highsnobiety, Vogue and many more.

Currently in his mid-20s, the Upper Austrian singer, rapper and songwriter uses his personal influences as the inspiration for his wide range of sounds. Mavi Phoenix’s music dances between softboi rap by Drake and Childish Gambino, Charli XCX’s hyperpop and the 90s/00s alternative beats of the Beastie Boys. The ​’​Mavi attitude​’ is always ever-present, however, giving everything a unique Mavi touch which combines all these directions into the distinct Phoenix brand.

Like any interesting musical career, Mavi’s work began with a laptop and Garageband. Mavi was just 11 when he wrote his first songs in his bedroom. In 2014, at the age of 17, his first EP “My Fault” was released, which he produced himself. In the summer of 2019, he spoke for the first time about Gender Dysphoria in the music video for “Bullet in My Heart”. It was at the end of that same year that Mavi officially chose to use the pronoun ​’h​ e​’​.