Givēon’s first proper album, Give or Take, is here. The 15-track project includes the previously shared “Lie Again” and “For Tonight.”
Give or Take opens with “Let Me Go,” which features a special message from Givēon’s mother. “I’m so proud of you,” she says. “I really feel like this is a dream. And, I’ll tell you ’bout it when I wake up.” On “Let Me Go,” Givēon declares that he is not interested in maintaining a friendship with a former lover. “Slide, just slide through / Decide if I am worth the time I cost you / Let me know or let me go,” he sings.
After going through a breakup, Givēon is left feeling broken. “Scarred,” produced by Boi-1da, hears Givēon being honest to someone who is interested in him romantically. Though he’s not ready for a relationship, he isn’t opposed to getting close in the bedroom. “It’s too bad you want my love / You cry but I don’t budge / You try, it’s not enough / Not your fault, girl, it’s me,” he croons.
All hope isn’t lost, though. On “Make You Mine,” Givēon tells his love interest that he’s ready to make things official: “What would it take here / To make you mine, for real? / I got a taste and now can’t keep off my mind.”
On the album’s latest focus track, “Lost Me,” Givēon finds himself once again down on love. “I’m not lookin’ for the one / Later, but for now I’m havin’ fun / I’m done ’cause I always get hurt.”
Of his new album, Givēon explains to Rated R&B, “My debut album Give or Take is a collection of reminiscences over the last few years of my life. Suddenly having to adapt to a world in which there are so many eyes watching and experiencing a wide spectrum of emotions at once naturally brought these songs to the surface.”
He adds, “All in all, Give or Take reflects the love and the loss I’ve had to face as well as the growth and the healing I’ve come to accept.”
Give or Take is a deeply personal project for Long Beach, California, native, which is why there aren’t any features. “This story is so personal that there can’t be another voice besides me and my mom because that’s the conversation that was had,” Givēon told Zane Lowe of Apple Music.
Givēon will support his debut album on his headlining Give or Take Tour, which kicks off Aug. 16 at The Metropolitan Opera House in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Fana Hues, Saleka, Jenevieve and Rimon will join Givēon as supporting acts.
Before hitting the road, Givēon will perform at the 2022 BET Awards on Sunday, Jun 26.
Stream Givēon’s debut album, Give or Take, below.