Blackbear should get more credit for his brand of 2000s R&B

By Hailey

Blackbear, a Contemporary R&B artist, just recently released a new album called cybersex. He has made many other unique albums in the past including digital druglord and deadroses just to name his more popular ones. Although he is somewhat like every other R&B artist, he has his own unique spin on each single song. He talks about his success, as well as his before life, or his “struggle”. But the unique aspect of his songs is he is real. By this I mean he doesn’t care if he shows a lot of emotion. I felt that his newest album did the best at showing this.

His album starts out with 2 songs called “gucci linen” and “bright pink tims” that gives the album a straightforward message that he is a very rich, successful artist and has been since he first signed his contract. As you continue to listen, you will come across a song called “anxiety” that combines a modern beat with emotional lyrics. It is quite a quick transition, but then the album continues with a combination of slow emotional songs as well as upbeat ones, including “thursday/froze over” and “candayapple”. The album is concluded with a song called “Santa Monica & La Brea” which describes him being with a girl and their problems and thinking about if they had never met. I feel this song fits best at the end because it fits with his album name very well and is talking about ending something that 2 people had.

Like I said before, this album is very unique to its kind because it describes every aspect of his life, from his success, to his struggles, and even stretches across his love life. He has a very good balance of emotion and upbeat and modern. Other artists of this genre I feel aren’t as modern and emotional. He is a contemporary R&B artist, and most other artists in this genre, such as Chris Brown and Ciara, who got famous in the early 2000’s, are somewhat outdated to some(don’t get me wrong, I love OG 2000’s music!). Blackbear just has his own twist on his way of combining modern with emotion and that’s something I really enjoy about him, let alone this specific album.

I feel that people who are interested in early 2000’s music would be intrigued in this argument. The first time I ever listened to blackbear, he definitely reminded me of an early 2000’s artist. I feel that in a way, many other people may agree with this statement. He is just like a 2000’s artist, except he has his own way of making his music unique and this is what makes him special.