TORONTO, Canada — When people think of Latin music, they think fiery and dripping with emotion.

That’s the vibe the new group The Royaies was shooting for with their first hit single, “Princesa,” a love letter to anyone who’s fallen in love.

“We really wanted to make a song that kind of was a love letter to anybody who has ever felt any kinds of emotions to a significant other or someone you wanted to be a significant other,” said Shyon Royaie, one of two sets of brothers who form the group. “There was no expectation of a group or a band or anything at the beginning because we just wanted to see what we could create as a collective group. So after tinkering here and there trying out a few different songs we came across the feeling or the vibe for ‘Princesa.’”

The Royaies are two sets of brothers who are cousins and share the same last name. Shyon, 23, and his brother, Axel Kain, 19, joined their cousins, Arvin the Poet, 20, and Elijah, 24, to form the group.

Shyon and Axel Kain grew up in Toronto, where they all currently live. Arvin the Poet and Elijah were born and raised in Tehran, the capital city of Iran, and traveled to Toronto to join their cousins. 

The group hasn't looked back as they quickly became best friends. Each member brings their own unique flare to the music they create, this was clearly evident in their debut single “Princesa” which introduced the groups talent and versatility to the world.

“We know, even among ourselves, that there are different ways you can feel different emotions,” Shyon said. “Just because I feel love or lust in a certain way doesn’t mean you would feel it in the same way. And actually to be honest, it’s more likely that you don’t feel it in the same way than it is that you feel it in the exact same way as I do. So, what we wanted to do was create a song that kind of matched that vibe and we realized the latin inspiration in this. When you think of Latin music you think of romance, you think of fiery music because of how intense the language is and the culture. So, infusing some kind of Latin inspiration into what we wanted and our goals for the song was how ‘Princesa’ was originally created and formed. Once we found out there was a good mix to kind of merge the two things together, it didn’t take long to create the song.”

Shyon said “Princesa” took only about a day and a half to come together in its preliminary form.
He said the group knows that’s unusual for four people to come to the same conclusions about something as subjective as a song.

“It was like a flash, to be honest,” Shyon said. “We appreciate that and we know, I can even tell you now, it doesn't always happen like that because we’ve made more music since then. Some of these long, simmering songs maybe take weeks or even longer to get that last adjustment and really make the song click to where you’re proud of it. And sometimes it never does come and the song gets scrapped. But for ‘Princesa,’ it was a flash. It happened all in an apartment overnight and then into the next morning.”

Shyon said each member of the group comes from different places and inspirations. Shyon loves some of the esteemed names in music like Drake, The Weeknd, PARTYNEXTDOOR, and Roy Woods. Axel Kain often allows his flirtatious ways to inspire the bars he creates, which translates into some outgoing music. Arvin the Poet, born and raised in Tehran, developed an affinity for poetry as a child. His favourite poet was the Iranian icon Hafez and loves to deliver his meaningful messages on the mic with inspiration from his favourite artists XXXTentacion, Lil Peep, Juice WRLD, Pop Smoke, Drake and Kanye West. Elijah, also born in Tehran, draws a lot of inspiration from his time living in England. He brings splashes of the UK music scene into the music created by the group.

Shyon said the group will have more new music coming out Jan. 7, 2022 with the release of a three-track EP called “Thus, With a Kiss I Die.”

“It has that Romeo-and-Juliet feel behind it, it’s really quite different from ‘Princesa’ in terms of it’s subject matter,” Shyon said. “But we made sure to incorporate all of the elements that made ‘Princesa’ into a great song into the EP to make sure we bring over the fans we’ve managed to accumulate with ‘Princesa.’ If you were to listen to the bars, the vibe, the subject matter of this EP, there’s a lot more depth to it. And it’s a pack of songs that makes you think about your role in a relationship and how the burdens and responsibilities are not always on the other person. There’s a lot going on and we’re equally proud of that as we are with ‘Princesa.’”

Shyon said the group hopes “Princesa” leaves a soothing, comforting mark on a public struggling with isolation and loneliness because of the pandemic and other reasons.

“We just want everybody to know from us as a group to the world that the goal of our music is always to unify people through our sound, that’s what we want to do,” he said. “We know different people are facing different challenges in their lives. And for a couple of years now we’ve all been dealing with this pandemic and the stress that’s put on everybody. In times like this, we really want to preach unity and a great outlet for unity that has always been there and will always be there is music.”

To listen to The Royaies music, or to follow them on social media, please visit the following links:
“Princesa” – https://soundcloud.com/user-240903097/the-royaies-princesa 
https://open.spotify.com/track/6vcksiY4fYKIl04DRNaYps?si=b7657ac5286a4c57 
https://youtu.be/_eERJJo1uhs
https://www.instagram.com/theroyaies/
https://www.instagram.com/shyonroyaie/
https://www.instagram.com/axelvonkain/
https://www.instagram.com/arvinthepoet
https://www.instagram.com/eliyahuroyaie//
www.tiktok.com/@houseroyaie