The LA-based producer, singer and songwriter Blackbear continues to breathe new life into the music world with his infinite energy and genre-bending talent.
His albums have a stream of familiar energy that flows boldly through multiple genres. In each new release, fans anticipate what genre or style to expect from the worldwide phenomenon.
The artist appears as a young, fully tattooed man, donning vividly-coloured clothes, nails and accessories. He wears luminous greens, yellows and pinks in contrast to his dark tattoos and will sometimes even dye his hair these colours. He brings together different styles in his fashion as well as his music.
Blackbear was set to release his latest album ANONYMOUS earlier this year but has postponed it until April 19 because “it has to be perfect – it’s my best album.” Meanwhile, he has fans on the edge of their seats with biweekly singles being dropped. His first single from the upcoming album was released February 13 and already has 1,475,080 YouTube hits.
In anticipation of this album, the question is: what genres will Blackbear tap into this time?
He has an electronic slow-paced beat that gives sex, drugs and crime a unique spin. Between references to travelling, money, love and opiates, a deeper meaning can be found. He sings of issues such as addiction, long distance love, and self-reflection. He tackles these by breaking the barriers of conventional rap and uses emotion and background to bring a new era of music into light. His songs repeat these common issues in a forever adapting, exclusive style.
He began as a rock protégé in a high school band and left with the dream of fame. He worked with Ne-Yo and his producers and developed an R&B style. He has since incorporated trap into his evolving genre. He now has 10,477,635 monthly Spotify listeners, and covers not only R&B but rap, rock, future bass and pop. He has worked with artists such as Mike Posner, Linkin Park and Billie Eilish. Blackbear cannot be defined by any of the genres, but all collectively.
In today’s charts, with standard sounds of dance and pop, Blackbear does not conform or limit his music to any genres but uses and adapts through them all. He adds hints of new genres to his style as he matures as an artist, and covers all topics in an intimate, brooding and upbeat way.
His 18-plus song album will be released soon, with the artist himself describing all the songs as “pretty damn good.” Blackbear’s one-of-a-kind style is an inspiration for upcoming artists and within the music industry as a whole. By rotating genres and experimenting with new ones, Blackbear creates songs for every vibe. What sound will his newest work create?
