Addicted to: Blackbear

Lyrics like, “sniffin vicodin in Paris never felt so euphoric, baby,” “get another bottle, maybe get another bag,” and “I heard that you’re addicted to them Xans now, girl,” shouldn’t make you bop your head and swing your hips, but if there’s one thing Blackbear conveys, it’s that the lyrics don’t make the song (although his can be quite witty and modern-day erotic), the music makes the song. He’s a rhythmic rapper who can actually hold a note over a ravishing electropop/hip-hop beat. The contrast between the sweetness in his voice and the brash lyrics makes him standout in his own genre; branching out from what other rappers are doing.

Yanking at the obvious cliches in our society, it’s easy to make fun of the people we’ve become in 2016. In the pop-esque “Wanderlust” Bear sings, “All her friends are verified, wow, man that’s so cool, wow, girl can we hang out? let’s take a thousand pictures…people sayin’ that we’re goals.” Social media and the California lifestyle are common themes in all of Blackbear’s music, but his disgust for our culture is also evident throughout this EP (listen to “sniffing vicodin in paris” – second verse.)

There are times when you worry about Blackbear, as he openly admits to being a drug user and wanting to die as he explicitly mentions on “Sometimes I Want 2 Die.” You almost feel guilty for liking his music for fear of encouraging such damaging behavior. But the charts don’t lie, Cashmere Noose shot up the iTunes Top Albums charts, even crowning it the #1 R&B album the day it was released. Fans have been stalking this set of tracks ever since the rapper released them on his Soundcloud back in the heat of August. It’s no surprise his fame is impressively rising due to his own team of devoted friends. He remains proudly unsigned as he mentioned on Twitter October 19th saying, “blackbear remains unsigned :)” The overwhelming success of Noose sent fans in a frenzy to buy the EP. Bear even tweeted out that if you can’t afford the new music or are struggling, to text him your email and he’ll gift it to you. He understands the importance of having a strong fan base which has kept him relevant in the music scene without needing to be backed by a label. That’s a true artist, all drugs aside.