With these new artists, a lot of the time it seems that most represent themselves with a misleading name. To many and myself included, the names these kids go by don’t lead me to listen to them. It’s generally the opposite, I stay away from “Lil this” or “Young that.” Until I stumbled on Swedish rapper Yung Lean.
I came across a Facebook ad of his the other day and it said that he was coming to perform in Seattle. I thought to myself, “Who is this guy?” I might have heard of him once or twice before, but knew nothing about him. I pondered for a second looking at the ad. He could be decent, and I would hate to miss out on up and coming artist that’s playing in a small venue.
These are the situations I live for. Discovering new artists and seeing them perform live before everyone else does. There’s just something special about it and they’re awesome memories to look back on. In the past, I successfully was able to do it with Travis Scott and Lil Uzi Vert.
My mom had refused to let me see Kid Cudi perform during his first tour Man on the Moon – the best one. Meanwhile, all my friends went and I couldn’t. Kid Cudi even brought the light saber out on stage, so you know it was lit. I’ve told this story so many times because seeing him a few years later at WaMu theatre just wasn’t the same. Now, I try not to miss those moments.
After letting Yung Lean’s album Stranger roll through, I was impressed that it was actually pretty solid. He produced a new sounding alternative hip-hop album that is worth checking out. It seems to be a twist off of Kid Cudi, The Weeknd and Lil Peep. The songs “Silver Arrows,” “Agony,” and “Drop It/Scooter” caught my eye and are worth checking out along with the rest of the album.
Yung Lean – Stranger
Swedish rapper Yung Lean, and the Sad Boys crew perform on January 23, 2018, 8pm at Neumos. Tickets are available now so make sure you grab them off Ticketfly for only $20 before they sell out!
