Aaron Rivera (born July 17, 1996),
who goes by the stage name Asaiah Ziv (pronounced: Uh-sy-uh Zihv). Rivera, formerly known as KIDD, is an American
hip hop musician. His first studio album, ''Murder My Flesh'', was released by
Christian hip hop
Christian hip hop (originally gospel rap, also known as Christian rap, gospel hip hop or holy hip hop) is a subgenre of contemporary Christian music and hip hop music. It emerged from urban contemporary music and Christian media in the United S ...
label Infiltrate Music in 2013, and was a ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' chart breakthrough release.
He subsequently released a free
extended play
An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record. in 2014, ''Hipsavvy: The Introduction'', also with the label Infiltrate Music.
On February 1, 2016,
Rapzilla
Rapzilla is a Christian hip hop online magazine. The website contains many sections such as latest news, album reviews, articles, interviews, music downloads, videos, release dates, and columns. Rapzilla is known for its up-to-date news.
The we ...
, which is run by the owners of Infiltrate, revealed that Rivera no longer identified as a Christian, and that he was released from his contract.
Early life
Asaiah Ziv was born Aaron Michael Rivera on July 17, 1996, in
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
.
He was born to a Puerto Rican father and a Hungarian mother.
Music career
He was inspired by Lupe Fiasco to get involved in the music industry as shown in his song "Black Sheep
ung Lupe
Ung or UNG may refer to:
People
* Woong, a Korean given name also spelled Ung
* Ung (surname), a Cambodian and Norwegian surname
* Ung Thị (full name Nguyễn Phúc Ung Thị; 1913–2001), Vietnamese-born American businessman
* Franz Unger (1 ...
.
His music career started in 2011, yet his first release was ''Murder My Flesh'', with Infiltrate Music that released on September 3, 2013.
This album was his breakthrough release on the ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' charts, at No. 49 on the
Christian Albums
Top Christian Albums is a weekly chart published in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the best-performing Christian albums in the United States. Like the ''Billboard'' 200, the data is compiled by Nielsen Soundscan based on each album's weekly ...
,
and at No. 14 on the
Top Gospel Albums
The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...
charts.
He later released, ''Hipsavvy: The Introduction'', in 2014 which hinted the start of both his musical and personal transition."
The album featured artists such as Angelisa,
JGivens
Jeremiah Timothy Givens (born May 24, 1987), also known by the stage name JGivens, is an American former Christian hip hop musician. He has released four studio albums: ''Run'' in 2011, ''El v. Envy'' in 2013, '' Fly Exam'' in 2015, and ''Domino ...
,
John Givez
John Lawrence Givens (born August 29, 1992), known professionally as John Givez and sometimes Juan Dando, is an American musician, who plays hip hop, R&B, soul, funk and neo soul music. He is cousins with fellow rapper JGivens. John has relea ...
, Derek Luh, DJ Aktual, Kiya Lacey and Ruzel as well as producers Wontel, DVIOUSMINDZ, Ace the Vig and Rxn.
In March 2015, he changed his stage name to Asaiah Ziv, which means "God created brilliance/radiance." Rivera is now working on branding his new collective titled "Hipsavvy." The most recent release which launched his name change was the song "Ziv?".
On February 1, 2016, Infiltrate allowed Rivera to step away from his contract, as Rivera no longer identified with the Christian beliefs promulgated by the label.
On February 1, 2016, he released "Free Your Soul Side A: Life" and announced that "Side B: Love" would be released later in the year. On April 16, 2016, Ziv released the single, "Ether", In which he dissed previous label Infiltrate Music and previous Hipsavvy member Lee Williams. He has since released the singles "Worf" and "Derrick Rose" both which contained a featured from rapper Kenny! In August, Ziv acted as Executive Producer for Las Vegas rapper, Joey Wolfe's Debut EP, ''Long Summer EP''. On October 31, Hipsavvy Artist, ArtyBasqiyah (formerly BraveArt) released a new single called "Tale of The DM" which Ziv produced and featured on. November 10, 2016, Ziv released another new single titled "Yaya", the first to be released from Side B and stated the project would be pushed back due to losing much of his work due to a crashed hard drive and lap top. November 15, he released limited edition pieces from his ''Free Your Soul'' collection as well a collaborative single with Doanman: "Ferr".
On January 24, 2017, Ziv announced his new single would be released on January 31, 2017 titled "Take My Cup". On February 9, 2017, he announced that ''I'm Depressed, but Happy'' would be released sometime in 2017. He released the first single, "Lemonade" on April 25, 2017 and "Face", feature rappers Waldo & Ali-47, on July 28, 2017.
Discography
Studio albums
As featured performer
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ziv, Asaiah
1996 births
Living people
Musicians from Nevada
People from the Las Vegas Valley
Rappers from Nevada
American people of Hungarian descent
American people of Puerto Rican descent
West Coast hip hop musicians
21st-century American rappers