Jeremy Loops is a South African singer, songwriter and record producer, capturing the duality of his life in South Africa. In 2011, Loops released his self-titled EP. His debut album Trading Change was released March 2014 in South Africa. His music genre is modern folk and he is signed to Yebo Music (US) and Loops Music (Rest of the World).
On a regular basis, Jeremy travels to the farthest ends of Africa, battling deforestation through his organisation, Greenpop and then returns to his life of music, entertaining his loyal fans.
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Jeremy’s boundless activism through his environmental work has seen him travel South Africa teaching underprivileged school children how to protect their planet. The connection between planet and inhabitants is one element of the tales Jeremy tells on ‘Trading Change’. The album is a fervent letter on embracing those intimate wounds and taking flight.
Let's take a look at Jeremy Loops unorthodox life in closer detail:
Jeremy Loops Age & Family
Jeremy Thomas Hewitt was born on 4th March 1984 and is 35 years old.
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Famously known as Jeremy Loops to his vast fan base, this singer/songwriter was born in Kimmetjie, South Africa, a small surf town in the greater Cape Town metropolis. He is the eldest of 3 children. His mother is Swiss and his father is South African.
Jeremy Loops Education
He attended the University of Cape Town where he graduated with honours in Finance and Property Development.
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Jeremy Loops Career
Only picking up a guitar in his final year of college, Jeremy Loops entered the music scene late in comparison to most musicians. After graduation at UCT in 2008, he was unsure of his desire for a career in finance and spent 2 years travelling the world and working on a Superyacht. This was when he adopted a loop pedal to substitute other musicians due to his limited access while at sea. When he returned in 2010 he committed to the pursuit of a musical career. He also co-founded a tree planting organisation Greenpop.
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He released his self-titled EP in 2011 and in March 2014 his debut album Trading Change. It was released in South Africa and followed by a release in North America and South America via Yebo Music in August 2015 and in Europe and Australia in February 2016.
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Jeremy released his debut EP in October 2011. Although is is now out of print, many of his songs were reworked and made an appearance on his debut album, Trading Change. He then spent 2011, 2012, and 2013 growing his profile in South Africa on the back of an acclaimed live show that would eventually earn him the Best Live Act Award at the 2014 MK Awards.
In January 2014, he released ‘Down South’ featuring Motheo Moleko, which was the lead single for his album Trading Change. It peaked at number 1 on the South African Top 40 radio stations 5FM, 94.7 and Jacaranda FM. This breakout song’s popularity drew a lot of attention to his album. Upon its release in South Aftica in April 2014, Trading Change debuted at number 1 on iTunes South Africa. Loops spent 2014 touring South Africa in support of the album.
In the buildup to the August 2015 release of Trading Change in North America, Loops toured the United States 3 times. He first secured a place on the Winter Greens Tour, headlined by reggae band Rebelution. This was followed up with two headline US tours of his own, namely the Jeremy Loops US Tour and Trading Change Tour.
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In 2018 Loops released the album Critical as Water. The album tackled the seriousness of water shortages in his home city of Cape Town. Some of his most popular songs include:
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Waves
Sinner
Down South
Skinny Blues
His Studio Albums include:
Trading Change – 2014
Critical as Water – 2018
His Awards Include:
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Best Live Act Award at the MK Awards – 2014
Best Alternative Award at the MTV Africa Music Awards – July 2015
Best Music Video at the South African Music Awards - 2019
Jeremy Loops Activism
Jeremy Loops is the co-founder of the Greenpop Environmental Conservation Organisation. The Organisation focuses on reconnecting people with the environment of planet on which we live.
A few of their projects include:
Urban Greening – These are programmes that focus on planting trees in under-greened urban settings, especially in schools, community centres and edu-cares. To re-instil pride and assist with food security issues, they plant a mixture of fruit and indigenous trees.
Reforestation – They have a small scale of reforestation projects that generally take place in conservation or protected areas that may require indigenous reforestation efforts. The trees are planted in a way that mimics their natural growth, which increases biodiversity and creates carbon sinks.
Agro-Forestry – This is a collaboration between the Greenpop organisation and small-scale farmers. They plant fruit, medicinal and nitrate-fixing trees on farms. Nitrate-fixing trees can be planted within crop lands to assist with fertilisation and nourish soil for better crop production.
The organisation has won several awards, namely:
1. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Western Cape Provincial Government competition for Best Social Enterprise Business Plan in South Africa.
2. LeadSA competition run by Cape Talk in association with Dischem Foundation.
3. Finalist in the Enviropedia awards in two categories:
Biodiversity & Water Conservation
The mission for Greepop reads:
“We believe in getting active (not anxious) for the future of our planet…We plant trees and have fun doing it! We run urban greening and reforestation projects, spread environmental awareness wherever we go, and activate people through green festivals and workshops. Greenpop was founded in 2010 and has since planted over 70 000 indigenous and fruit trees at schools and other urban sites, community farms, as well as forests across South Africa, Zambia and Tanzania. Greenpop is inspired by the exciting projects we have coming up and the bright green future we see for Southern Africa. It’s a Treevolution! Get Involved.”
In Jeremy’s words to Capetown Magazine, “We try to make environmentalism and greening popular.”
Not only is Jeremy known for his music, but he seems to sing whilst doing some good for the community. For that he gets a thumbs up.
