Evans was born on February 21, 1995, in Los Angeles County (likely in the city of Long Beach, California). One of three brothers raised by a single mother, he realized his passion for music at a young age, often singing at birthday parties. He credits his mother with pushing him to explore this early love for music and protecting him and his brothers from the pressures of gang culture and poverty. He attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School,[citation needed] and took a music education program at the Grammy Museum at age 18, where he fell in love with Frank Sinatra, whose bellowing voice was inspiring to the teenager.
Giveon self-released his debut single "Garden Kisses" in August 2018. Shortly after, he was discovered by Canadian record producer Sevn Thomas, who found him on a random playlist on SoundCloud, and later signed him to his record label Not So Fast and Epic Records. Upon signing, he started to perform his original songs at different live venues, including "Like I Want You", before recording them professionally. In November 2019, he released the single "Like I Want You" shortly before serving as an opening act for Snoh Aalegra on her Ugh, A Mini Tour Again of Europe and North America.
In February 2020, Evans was featured on Drake's single "Chicago Freestyle", which were only uploaded to SoundCloud and YouTube at the time. In March 2020, Evans released his debut EP, Take Time, which was executive produced by Thomas. The EP topped Billboard's Heatseekers Albums chart, earning Giveon his first charting project. Take Time also received acclaim from contemporary music critics who called it "breathtaking" and "polished". In May 2020, "Chicago Freestyle" was released for streaming, along with Drake's mixtape Dark Lane Demo Tapes. The song peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100, earning Giveon his first Billboard-charting single. It additionally became a top 40 single in the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and Switzerland. In September 2020, Giveon announced the release of his four-track second EP When It's All Said and Done, and shortly released its lead single "Stuck on You". After being released on October 2, 2020, the EP debuted at number 93 on the Billboard 200. With a rapid increase of mainstream attention, Giveon's singles "Stuck on You" and "Like I Want You" began entering a number of Billboard R&B charts in late 2020, with the latter later being certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in December 2020. During this time, Giveon earned his first-ever Grammy Award nomination when Take Time was nominated for Best R&B Album at the 2021 Grammy Awards. He also made his debut television performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, performing "Stuck on You".

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