Rejoicer

Yuvi Havkin, who goes by the name Rejoicer for his solo work, is one of the primary figures of Tel Aviv’s beat scene. He is the founder of the Raw Tapes label, a collective of beatmakers, rappers, jazz singers, and instrumentalists. Rejoicer’s own work is a hazy, psychedelic blend of instrumental soul, abstract hip-hop, and broken beats, with influences ranging from cosmic jazz to Bollywood soundtracks. After releasing more than 20 albums across various projects and relocating to Berlin, Havkin signed to Stones Throw and released the full-length Energy Dreams in 2018.
Born in London, Havkin moved to Tel Aviv when he was five years old. A vinyl collector since adolescence, he started producing drum’n’bass in 2006, but soon switched to hip-hop, releasing beat tapes under the name Guadaloop. He founded Raw Tapes in 2009 in order to showcase his own work and that of other experimental beatmakers and musicians from around the city. Along with Beno Hendler and KerenDun, Havkin founded Buttering Trio in 2011. An eclectic blend of left-field pop styles, the group’s debut full-length, Toast, appeared in 2013, and the group went on to play shows with the likes of Black Milk and Hudson Mohawke. All three members of Buttering Trio participated in the Live Beat Tapes project, who issued The Singles in 2015. Rejoicer also worked with downtempo/house vocalist Bajka and left-field hip-hop producer Free the Robots.
Having played gigs with Peanut Butter Wolf and collaborated with Dudley Perkins and Georgia Anne Muldrow, as well as sharing a genre-blurring sensibility with roots in jazz and hip-hop, Havkin was a natural fit for Stones Throw. Energy Dreams, Rejoicer’s debut for the venerated Los Angeles-based label, appeared in 2018. This was followed by the six-song Heavy Smoke EP in 2019. Second album Spiritual Sleaze, a mixture of cosmic ambient textures and laid-back, trippy R&B, was released in 2020. ~ Paul Simpson