By: Jasmine Cuza

2020 has brought us endless genres of music from countless new artists from around the country. The newest sounds in music are coming from the heart of the Inland Empire by a musician named Regi Leviandra known by his stage name Regi Levi.

Regi Levi was born in Jakarta, Indonesia. His musical influence came from his father who was a drummer for the Indonesian band “Portret.” As a child, Regi’s father introduced him to music and inspired him to be a musician himself. At just six years old Levi and his family packed up and left Indonesia. They moved to the United States where he did not know one word of English. In a new and unusual environment, Levi turned to the one thing he loved the most music. He learned how to play the guitar and listened to different genres of music. Eventually, he started a band with his brothers and sister, but it did not last long. He ended up going solo and working on his own music.

I was honored to be invited to the studio in Los Angeles to interview Levi, where he gave me more insight into his musical career and a behind the scenes look at where the magic of his music is made. Le talked about writing music often and how he got his stage name. He stated:

"While in the 8th grade I wrote music. I used to scribble in my notebook random things and to this day I still have those old notebooks. I got the name Regi Levi out of nowhere, I was in class one day and started to call myself Regi Levi and it stuck with me.”

While in high school, Levi attended rap battles at Redlands High School to reach some exposure. By 2017 he was an opening act for platinum-selling and awarded rapper “The Game.” He explains that opening for “The Game” was a big break in his music career, and not too long after that, his friend brought him into a recording studio. Being in a recording studio was intimidating for him at first, but the microphone became his best friend.

Since 2017 Levi has released music on popular platforms such as Apple Music, Spotify and SoundCloud Music. His music is a mixture of R&B with an Indonesian flare. He has had Indonesian artists make appearances on a few of his songs such as “Sendiri” being one of his popular songs. He takes it back to his Indonesian roots with this song and even gives it an Indonesian title. Sendiri means “alone” in the Indonesian language. The song talks about being in a depressed state and going through struggles in life. Levi expresses in a statement,

“Being sad opens a gateway to different emotions it really inspires me to write more about being sad because when you are happy you are content and you do not feel anything."

Levi’s music consists of love songs and different emotions. The beats he uses are unique and playful. One of today's artists that inspires him musically and fashionably is Kanye West. He explains Kanye has a nice flow and a dope fashion style. He hopes in the future to work with him and other artists such as Blxst, Kehlani and Roddy Rich. When creating music he hopes that people can relate to his lyrics and inspire other young artists. Without his supporters, he says that he would not be in the position he is in today. When playing back music he has recorded, he explains he hates a “yes man” because if people do not tell the truth you cannot grow in your craft.

As of now, the future looks bright for this young artist Regi Levi. We can expect more music coming soon. His biggest priority now is his family and getting more music out by the end of the year.

Levi from the IE