INTERVIEW: Meet RiVERSE - Canada's critically acclaimed pop group destined to be your new faves
"We’ve created this wonderful album called Humanity In Volume which speaks on how humans can go through things in life."
Scene HQ is proud to welcome RiVERSE, the viral LGBTQ+ pop group hailing from Toronto in Canada earning critical acclaim worldwide. Composed of four super talented and gorgeous members: Justice (formerly Dizz), Khadija, Zak and Monroe. RiVERSE is poised to become your next favourite pop music group.
As a trailblazing group of queer, BIPOC, and plus-size artists, RiVERSE has garnered international acclaim for their bold artistry and commitment to social change. With close to one MILLION followers across digital platforms, they remain steadfast in their mission to "represent the underrepresented," advocating for self-love, equity, and empowerment on a global scale.
RiVERSE first captured hearts with their viral hit BaeBeeBoo from the acclaimed sophomore album Poison IV. Now, they're stepping boldly into the spotlight with Humanity In Volume - a powerful new EP that tackles HIV stigma, celebrates resilience and redefines what it means to live authentically. In this interview, the group opens up about the importance of queer and BIPOC representation in music and how founder Justice's recent HIV diagnosis shaped and inspired the project. Released worldwide on December 1st in solidarity with World AIDS Day, Humanity In Volume is streaming everywhere now.
Let's dive in head first....
DALEYPOP: Hey guys! How are you all doing?!
JUSTICE: Hi! We are all good good!
MONROE: I'm actually currently under the weather but my spirits are high because our EP is officially out!
DALEYPOP: For readers who are new to RiVERSE, give us the grand intro: can you introduce yourselves and what’s your sound all about?
JUSTICE: Okay! What’s up ladies & gentlemen and genders. We are RiVERSE.
KHADIJA: We are a pop slash R&B group with a mission to represent the underrepresented. We have members of different backgrounds, races, genders, sexual orientations, body types, life experiences…
JUSTICE: And hair colours.
KHADIJA: Yes and hair colours!
Our mission is to show people that you can be your full, authentic self, love yourself unapologetically, and you can live your best life.
DALEYPOP: I love that! So, where did the name RiVERSE come from?
JUSTICE: RiVERSE was my brainchild. The vision was to put together a group that the world hadn’t seen before. Sonically, the goal was to always pull from the iconic, legendary eras of music, especially the 90s and early 2000s since that was what we loved growing up.
DALEYPOP: Justice, your new EP Humanity In Volume just released on December 1st for World AIDS Day. Would you say that your recent HIV diagnosis inspired the music at all?
JUSTICE: My HIV journey was the blueprint for this EP. It was the catalyst that allowed me to lay out the story structure.
However, this EP is about more than just my HIV story, it’s also about any challenge that a human being can face in life. This is simply about humanity.
DALEYPOP: Monroe, your 2022 thyroid cancer diagnosis nearly cost you your voice. How has the group flourished since your recovery and how has that journey shaped your artistry today? I hope you're ok now.
MONROE: First of all, thank you so much for that. I think that’s very sweet. And I am doing so much better now.
Honestly, I think RiVERSE is flourishing now because in some weird universe way we all have gone through some kind of hardships or hills to have climbed over in our years together and it’s like my chess piece was the last one to be placed on the board.
While I was getting treatment and going through my recovery, we all took time to rest and heal through some of our struggles in our own ways. And now we’ve created this wonderful album called Humanity In Volume which speaks on how humans can go through things in life. So, in that sense, I think we are flourishing by being our authentic selves and putting all of that into the music so much more than ever before. On a personal note, I just try to remind myself how strong, resilient and powerful I am and I’ve been placed here on this earth for a reason. I will never let my voice go to waste.
DALEYPOP: Zak, you recently hit seven years sober and I’ve heard you’ve said fitness and bodybuilding played a huge part in that journey. How has looking after your physical health shaped your mental health and influenced your role in RiVERSE? Congrats by the way!
ZAK: Thank you! I would say my focus on fitness and my journey with bodybuilding has been a byproduct of my sobriety.
First things first, I had to get sober and learn to be honest with myself and love the person I am.
Then I could start refining and crafting the external shell that holds that person. Through determination and more healthy choices, I realised I could do things I never thought I could accomplish before.
Fitness has a positive impact on my mental health and it’s a big part of my self care regimen and it also allows me to show up for RiVERSE ready to bring my physical body into the space, feel confident, ready to move or dance or just just be fully present in a way that feels like an outward reflection of that internal self love I have now.
DALEYPOP: Khadija, what can you tell us about the single and official music video for, Lovin’ Me Down?
KHADIJA: Lovin’ Me Down is a song about the feeling of fully loving yourself on the other side of a difficult internal struggle. It’s exactly what Zak just described of being able to really love himself and be so joyfully present in his life now, not despite his struggles with substance abuse but BECAUSE of everything he’s learned through that journey.
We’ve all had experiences like that and we want other people to feel that kind of joy when they listen to our music. Even if they haven’t quite reached that place in their own lives yet, when they hear this single, we want them to feel that bright, happy, loving mood and think, YES. This is what I want to feel everyday. I am going to keep going, keep working hard, keep moving forward so I can love myself down like this!
Just like you see us hyping ourselves up at a photoshoot in the video, this song is a love story to yourself.
DALEYPOP: Your k-pop covers have racked up over 6 million views. What first sparked your love for k-pop and has the global reaction surprised you?
KHADIJA: We were introduced to k-pop totally randomly through Leaf Rifkin, who is the producer of our YouTube series, RiVERSE Reacts. She also produced and directed all of the visualisers for this EP. We did an interview for another YouTube series she was producing and she suggested that we check out a k-pop music video, since it was so similar to what we do as a band.
From there, we started creating our own YouTube content and initially we were absolutely blown away by the response to any videos we did featuring k-pop songs. We were seeing millions of views on our videos and thousands of new followers & subscribers everyday. Now with these latest viral covers, though, I don’t know that I’d say we’re surprised. It’s exciting and we’re definitely grateful. No creator is guaranteed views on anything!
But at the same time, we know how much love k-pop fans show to anyone who is giving respect to the idols who work so hard to put out such great music and we also know OUR talent. We know what our vocals and harmonies and general energy give. So to put those two things together, it felt like a combination that would be appreciated online so it’s been really fun to create these covers. And we have a lot more coming, too, not just k-pop! We just released a cover of For Good from WICKED The Musical and that’s one of our favourites so far!
DALEYPOP: Justice, RiVERSE has always mixed vulnerability with power. How do you balance your personal stories (like Monroe’s health journey and Zak’s sobriety) with the band’s collective identity?
JUSTICE: We balance RiVERSE’s individual stories with the group’s identity by holding nothing back and laying it all on the line. Especially the situations we’ve been through-HIV, cancer, substance abuse-there really isn’t any way to compartmentalise those things and still be our authentic selves. There was no balancing to be done. It was just being presented with a situation and saying, “Are we going to alchemise this into something positive, like our art, or not?” And the choice is always to alchemise. That is the group’s collective identity, that’s who we are.
DALEYPOP: Oooh forgive me for making this about me for a moment, I promise I never do this mid-interview but I’m running my first ever half marathon next year to raise money and awareness for The Sussex Beacon here in Brighton which supports people living with HIV. Would any of you be up for sponsoring me?
ZAK: First off, congratulations on taking this journey! I personally have only run a half marathon and I remember when I was finished and I saw all the people who were continuing to do that exact thing twice over, I was like no thanks! So that is a huge accomplishment and we'll definitely support you in this challenge and the incredible work of the organisation you're raising awareness and funds for people living with HIV.
DALEYPOP: Thank you so much Zak! Super important question: who takes the longest to get ready for a show?
JUSTICE: Monroe.
KHADIJA: Monroe.
MONROE: I don’t think so at all! What do you meannnnnnnn?
KHADIJA: Actually, I will add that maybe it’s Justice. Monroe is always the last one to be ready, but she’s also usually rushing straight to a show from her other job. Justice starts getting ready much earlier in the day, but he’s only ready a couple minutes before Monroe, so technically....doesn’t that mean he takes longer?
JUSTICE: Sure, sure. Whatever. Sure. Haha.
DALEYPOP: So erm, who’s everyone’s crush of the day?
MONROE: My husband.
KHADIJA: …Gross. Haha. Uh, I don’t know? Nobody?
MONROE: You should say iced coffee.
KHADIJA: That is true! I do love my iced coffee a lot!
ZAK: I’m about to go decorate a Christmas tree with my husband so, I must say that answer as well.
JUSTICE: Nobody.
MONROE: Yourself!
JUSTICE: Yeah, it’s myself. Me. I’m Lovin’ Me Down.
DALEYPOP: Finally, do you have any UK trips or gigs lined up we need to keep our diaries free for?!
MONROE: Not at this moment, but we are ready to go, bags packed, whenever the King himself gives us a call!
JUSTICE: The funny thing is we’ve been told by so many people throughout our career that RiVERSE would thrive in the UK. I just said recently in our UK group chat called 2026 RiVERSE UK with the flag emoji. So there’s definitely discussion about it. We’ll see!
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