PerSwayZiv

April Howard, better known as PerSwayZiv in the music world, was born in Mobile, Alabama. Growing up, she moved between Alabama and one of the toughest parts of San Antonio, Texas - Sunrise. Due to the constant violence in the area- it was nicknamed "Gunrise". In cities like these, her options were very limited as far as succeeding legally and making her way out.

To escape, she focused her energy on education and music. Despite moving almost every year, she used that adversity to her advantage lyrically. At a very young age, she developed a passion for language arts. She began entering into essay, poetry, and spelling bee contests to display her talent of word play and phrase formation. Most of her word play tactics came simply from reading the dictionary. In the same breath she was able to find her new passion- freestyle rap.

PerSwayZiv admires and still does to this day artist who take on this genre of music. Artists such as Cassidy, Eightball and MJG, No Limit, Trina Mia X and Eve Fabolous- just to name a few were some heavy influences for her. She was especially influenced by lil Boosie. He gave her the assurance that being young, ambitious AND coming from the hood was not an obstacles as long as you continue grinding to let the people hear your voice. She always stayed positive about her music, even if she was the only one to hear it.

She couldn't go out much in her neighborhood being a young female but when she did, she would tag along with her cousin and his crew to practice her skills. Her cousin, another one of her biggest influences, taught her about the fundamentals of the freestyle rap game. She started writing her own music when she tragically lost a family member in 2001. One of the few people who pushed her to follow her dreams was gone in an instant and from that pain she recorded her first song, "Tina's Song". Later that year, her music began to touch other people so much, that she began writing for underground artists across much of the south.

PerSwayZiv did have speedbumps in her musical career, but never gave up her passion of writing music even when people in her life never supported it. After years of negativity being used towards her efforts of becoming a female rapper, she began using it as leverage. She wrote music that painted vivid pictures and told stories of her struggles. Music was always her gift; her safe haven even when life wasn't in her favor. If all else failed, she was determined to leave behind a legacy of her passion and dedication towards music.

Now, more than ever, PerSwayZiv is much more versatile in her songs. She has the opportunity to travel the world and see different cultures. Through experiencing life, she is able to pull experiences and situations from the many people she meets. She writes most of her music while on planes coming back to her home in Charlotte, North Carolina. She has found her happiness again and has been more productive than ever. She challenges herself to always be different and always open to new things, including new genres of music even - if it's out of her comfort zone. This year alone, she has made her way into Reggae, Pop and RnB in addition to Rap and Hip Hop. She has vowed to never stay the same lyrically and surround herself with like minded individuals.

Her single, " I got the Juice", has been out on iTunes since june 2016 and has been doing great numbers ever since. PerSwayZiv is a talent to be reckoned with and this is only the beginning. Stay tuned in to what she's up to by following her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Soundcloud Snapchat, etc all under @PerSwayZiv.