When Xavier E talks about his music, he doesn’t lean on industry buzzwords or vague artistic statements. “A house experience,” he says, describing what he wants listeners to take away from his work. It’s a simple answer that actually reveals something important about an artist who’s spent over two decades figuring out how to make dance music that moves both your body and something deeper.
Xavier E has been releasing music since 2002, but it’s his recent work that shows an artist who’s finally found the sweet spot between club-ready production and genuine emotional resonance. His latest single “Secrets” leans hard into retro 70s disco house, complete with the kind of infectious groove that makes you understand why people lost their minds in Studio 54. Working with DJs Eddie Baez and Eric Kupper through Sweet Rains Records, he’s created something that doesn’t just reference the past but actually captures that era’s sense of abandon.
The track’s already charting in the top 10 on the American independent channel and climbing into the top 20 with DJs across the country. It’s the latest in a string of wins that started with “Cruel Like That,” which earned him the Akademia Award for Best Innovative Artist during COVID lockdowns and spent more than four weeks at number one on Spinnin’ Records’ talent pool. The music video got rotation on MTV and VH1 in both the US and UK. Then “Pain of Another Day” and “Secrets” both topped Spinnin Records’ number one spot for over three months, while “Pain of Another Day” and “Cruel Like That” each hit the top 100 on the Direct Digital Radio Tracker. It’s solid momentum for an independent artist working outside the major label system.
What makes Xavier’s trajectory interesting is that it hasn’t been linear. He started in Boston, discovered he could sing while studying acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, and eventually caught the attention of Moiko Records with his distinctive sound. He became their top-selling artist and earned a Grammy nomination for “Scam Artist,” but then stepped away from music entirely to care for his father during an illness. That kind of pause can end careers, but when Xavier came back, he came back with clarity about what he wanted to say.
His music sits somewhere between the polished, emotional house that Frankie Knuckles pioneered and the contemporary dance-floor approach of artists like Ultra Naté and Miguel Migs. There’s real vulnerability in his vocals, but it’s never precious or overwrought. He’s singing about devotion, heartbreak, and resilience over beats designed to make you move, which is harder to pull off than it sounds. Too much emotion and it stops being house music. Not enough and you’re just making functional club tracks.
His newest project, “Devotion Of A Lifetime,” pushes that approach even further by bringing in artist Manny Guerr for a Spanish-English hybrid remake of his original song. It’s a smart move that acknowledges how multilingual dance floors actually are, especially in cities where house music has its deepest roots. Xavier’s leaning into that cultural crossover deliberately now, recognizing it’s worked for him before and opens up his sound to audiences who might not have found him otherwise.
The Netflix placements signal that his music is translating beyond club contexts too. “Devotion Of A Lifetime” will appear in “The Whisper Man,” while “Pain of Another Day” is slated for “Apex.” It’s the kind of sync placement success that matters more than chart positions for independent artists, representing both legitimacy and actual revenue in an industry where streaming pays next to nothing.
Xavier’s been picking up recognition that validates what he’s been building. He won the LIT Music Award for Best New Dance Video 2025 for the Eric Kupper remix of “Secrets,” earned a Global Music Award nomination, and took home a Bronze Award for Best Male Vocalist in 2024. He’s working on new material too, including a track called “Being in love but feeling alone” and a cover of Prince’s “When Doves Cry” that he says will honor the original while adding his own interpretation and Sweet Rains’ production touch.
Xavier’s pretty clear about what he wants his music to do. He talks about connection and resilience, about the fact that healing doesn’t always have to be quiet or heavy. Sometimes it’s rhythmic and communal instead. It makes sense coming from someone who stepped away from music to care for his father, then came back with something to say about devotion and moving forward after loss.
After all that, his goals are still remarkably straightforward.There’s something grounding about an artist who’s been at this for 20-plus years and still talks about wanting to give people “a house experience.” Not a brand. Not a movement. Just music that works on the dance floor and in your headphones, made by someone who’s lived enough to understand that the best dance music has always been about feeling something real while your body moves to the beat. You can keep up with Xavier E through his website and Instagram.
