USC spoken word artist wants her listeners to know ‘we all go through bad days’

A poet, singer-songwriter, producer and painter, Ryan Evins’ first experience with the art world came early. 

Evins was in elementary school when she began writing poetry about her life experiences. 

“The workshops in poetry made my writing so much stronger,” Evins said. “In my songs, my lyrics are not necessarily very complex but I definitely feel like they are very meaningful and get [straight to] the point.”

Evins’ writings later tied into her passion for music, serving as the foundation for her songwriting career. She said, music is the best platform to communicate her thoughts and have her writings resonate with others.

Evins said she initially found it difficult to create music due to a lack of financial resources and professional experience. She then realized that she needed to refocus her energy into her art. 

 “I’ve always been into music,” Evins said. “I always sang, but I’ve never actually put any of my work out until this year … I had a hard time finding opportunities to do that because I came to [Los Angeles] expecting things to be a lot easier than they were. But when you don’t have music out there, it’s a lot harder to get people to work with you.” 

Evins didn’t want the lack of money to be an obstacle, so she decided to learn how to use music production tool GarageBand to make her own songs. 

Evins describes her genre as R&B and hip-hop. As a writer, she said she has been influenced by spoken word and tries to integrate that style into her songs. Since USC does not offer a spoken word major, Evins chose to pursue creative writing so that she could find unique ways to resonate with her audience. 

Evins said Robin Coste Lewis, a USC writer-in-residence, helped her reach a deeper understanding of her writing.

“[She] taught us that it’s not all about how much you write, it’s really about saying as much as you can while saying the least [amount of words],” Evins said.

To create a song that speaks to her, Evins said she creates her lyrics first, then she creates a melody to fit the story.

“When I’m making music, I feel like both [the lyrics and the music] have to be on point for me to want to fully engage with it,” Evins said. “My process for making the song [is] that I always start with the words first, and then I’ll build my beat around whatever I have. The important thing is the message.” 

Evins said she hopes her music inspires others to have an optimistic outlook on life, even if they are facing hardships. 

“My intention is to let people know that even though we all go through bad days, it’s inevitable,” Evins said. “We’re all going to be there, we’re all going to go through it [but] that there’s always an upside to it. The bad times never last forever.”

 Evins is using her latest project “Chrysalis,” which was released as an EP this month on Spotify, iTunes and Amazon Music, as a way to give listeners a taste of her music and also to gauge her audience. It consists of four tracks: “Away From You,” “Found,” “Butterfly” and spoken-word track “Genes.” 

Evins describes the EP as a mixture of poetry, hip-hop and contemporary R&B. She said the main message the project conveys is that life is about transformation — maintaining growth even amid downturns. 

 Syann Cromwell, who was Evins’ roommate from freshman to junior year, said Evins’ music is raw, honest and relatable and that she appreciates the fact that her songs are based on her own experiences.  

“It’s a very open and free form of expression,” Cromwell said. “A lot of personal topics, and relatable things, as well, come through in her music.”

 Cromwell said she believes Evins’ music is unique and purposeful, rather than commercialized ear candy.

“Ryan kind of reminds me of Kehlani and Jhene Aiko,” Cromwell said. “Like soft but powerful women who are actually saying things in their music and you can also tell it comes from a place of sincerity and honesty and lived experience.”

 Jackie Childs, a 2019 USC graduate, met Evins during one of her performances at Ground Zero.

Evins has performed at Ground Zero several times through the venue’s monthly First Friday series and looks to continue sharing her music with the USC community.

Childs said he believes that Evins’ integration of poetry and spoken word into her music makes her stand out in the music scene. 

“I really enjoy [her music],” Childs said. “It’s raw, and her being a writer makes it even better in the fact that she produces her own tracks.”

Childs describes Evins as a warrior because she is willing to be frank and open about the dark moments in her life and serve as an example to others as to how to stay positive.

“She’s very courageous,” Childs said. “She goes through a lot. It takes courage to spit your soul through the wire like that. It takes courage to overcome stuff [and] still want to motivate people and uplift other people even when your situation isn’t the best.” 

Evins will perform songs from her EP at Ground Zero Feb. 7.