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Bladee

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Bladee
Bladee performing in 2016
Bladee performing in 2016
Background information
Birth nameBenjamin Reichwald
Born (1994-04-09) 9 April 1994 (age 30)
Stockholm, Sweden
Genres
Occupations
  • Rapper
  • singer
  • songwriter
  • record producer
  • fashion designer
  • graphic designer
Instruments
Years active2008; 2011; 2012–present
Labels

Benjamin Reichwald[1][2] (born 9 April 1994[3]), known professionally as Bladee (pronounced "blade" or "blade-e"),[4] is a Swedish rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, designer, model and member of the artistic collective Drain Gang.[5] His music is characterised by heavily Auto-Tuned vocals, ethereal textures, and experimental qualities.

Reichwald released his debut album Eversince in 2016, and most recently, Crest in 2022—both through Stockholm record label YEAR0001.[6][5][7] In addition to his music, Reichwald creates visual art, which frequently appears as cover art for his releases.[8][9] Reichwald also serves as the creative director for Yung Lean's clothing line Sadboys Gear.[10][11]

Early life

Benjamin Thage Dag Reichwald was born 9 April 1994 in Stockholm, Sweden,[3] and was raised mainly in the Skanstull area.[12] It was here where, in 2004, he met fellow Gravity Boys member Zak Arogundade, also known as Ecco2k. The two were classmates and formed punk band Krossad (Swedish for 'crushed') when Reichwald was 13, which led to Reichwald's interest in music.[12][2][13]

After leaving school, Reichwald began to get into making music whilst working at a daycare centre.[14]

Career

Music

Reichwald released a few tracks in 2011 under the name Ken Burns,[15][16][17] but properly began releasing music in 2012. He eventually became friends with Swedish rapper Yung Lean, who was a friend of Reichwald's brother. Reichwald eventually sent a message to Sad Boys member Yung Sherman on SoundCloud, asking to collaborate, which resulted in a working relationship between his own Gravity Boys collective and Lean's Sad Boys Entertainment. Reichwald and Lean then made "Heal You // Bladerunner" from Lean's Unknown Death 2002 mixtape, which gave him attention from Lean's fanbase.[18]

Reichwald released his debut-mixtape, GLUEE in 2014 on the YEAR0001 label[19] which was described as the "summertime anthem for a suburban generation stuck scrolling through Twitter."[14] The mixtape was successful on the audio distribution platform SoundCloud, racking up over 2 million plays.[20] This mixtape, coupled with several singles going viral and features on Yung Lean's debut mixtape Unknown Death 2002 was able to rocket Bladee into underground hip hop fame.[21]

Reichwald released his debut album, Eversince on May 25, 2016.[22] The album received mixed reviews from mainstream outlets, but was well received by underground and experimental critics.[23][6] In 2017, Reichwald teamed up with production group Working on Dying to release his second mixtape, named after the group. The next year his second album, Red Light, released.[5]

Reichwald's third mixtape, Icedancer, was released December 28, 2018. This album was executively produced by Australian collective Ripsquadd featuring production from Whitearmor and PJ Beats.[24] In April 2020, Reichwald released EXETER, a nine-song album he recorded whilst in Gotland with Gud. It is the first Bladee project produced by Gud on the YEAR0001 label.[25]

In July 2020, Reichwald released his third album and second project of 2020, 333 via YEAR0001. The album was produced primarily by Whitearmor, with additional production coming from close collaborators Gud, Mechatok, and Lusi (Ripsquadd member), as well as Joakim Benon of the Swedish band JJ. Notable is the absence of any vocal features, especially of longtime collaborator and fellow Drain Gang member Ecco2K, who contributed to the previous 3 Bladee albums.[26]

In December 2020, Reichwald released his third and final project of 2020, Good Luck via YEAR0001, entirely produced by Mechatok. Both Reichwald and Mechatok performed all of the tracks on the album as well as an additional set from Mechatok in a livestreamed performance on the 10th December, the same day the album was released.[27]

In May 2021, Reichwald released his fourth studio album,The Fool via YEAR0001.[28]

In January 2022, Reichwald released the single Amygdala in collaboration with Ecco2k and Mechatok.[29] That same year, a collaborative project, Crest, with Ecco2K was released via YEAR0001 in March. The project was recorded in Spring 2020.[30]

Art and fashion

In July 2018, Reichwald and fellow Drain Gang member Ecco2K walked Alyx Studio's S/S 2019 menswear show in Paris, on invitation from Matthew Williams.[31]

During July and August 2021, Reichwald exhibited his first solo collection of paintings Real Sprin9 at the Residence Gallery in London.[32]

In September 2021, Reichwald released a capsule Drain Gang collection in collaboration with the American-Swedish clothing brand GANT.[33]

Musical style

Reichwald has described his style as "pain" though saying, as of 2018, he had "evolved into some sort of auto-tuned dark angel".[11] He often experiments, incorporating various genres. He has stated that he finds the process therapeutic.[12]

In an interview with Reichwald, Jack Angell, a music writer for The Fader, described Reichwald's sound as "frostbitten futurism" and remarked that Reichwald's music evokes "a wide spectrum of emotion".[12] He has received attention for his collaborations and live performances with Yung Lean.[34]

Reichwald has cited Chief Keef, Lil B, The Beach Boys, Basshunter, and James Ferraro as influences on his work.[35]

Discography

Studio albums

Mixtapes

Extended plays

  • Rip Bladee (2016)
  • Sunset in Silver City (2018)
  • Exile (2018)
  • Plastic Surgery (2017)
  • Vanilla Sky (2019)

Collaborative mixtapes

  • GTBSG Compilation (2013) (with Thaiboy Digital, Ecco2K, Yung Lean, Whitearmor, Yung Sherman)
  • AvP (2016) (with Thaiboy Digital)
  • D&G (2017) (with Ecco2k, Thaiboy Digital)
  • Trash Island (2019) (with Ecco2k, Thaiboy Digital)
  • Good Luck (2020) (with Mechatok)

Singles

  • Into Dust (2014)
  • Dragonfly (2014)
  • Destroy Me (2017)
  • Sesame Street (2018)
  • I Chose To Be This Way (2018) (with 16YROLD, Skys)
  • Undergone (2020) (with Ssaliva)
  • Amygdala (2022) (with Ecco2k, Mechatok)

References

  1. ^ "Bladee". Genius. Archived from the original on 30 November 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2022. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 6 October 2021 suggested (help)
  2. ^ a b Borelli-Persson, Laird (2 September 2016). "Is There Anything He Can't Do? Meet Stockholm's Stylish Multi-Hyphenate Zak Arogundade". Vogue. Archived from the original on 10 February 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  3. ^ a b @BladeeCity (9 April 2016). "Thanks everyone that wished me happy birthday" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  4. ^ "Nardwuar vs. Yung Lean", Youtube video, 12:36, posted by "NardwuarServiette", July 23, 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=723ywF5faV4 Archived 2021-05-25 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ^ a b c Darville, Jordan (11 May 2018). "Listen to Bladee's new album Red Light". The Fader. Archived from the original on 15 May 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  6. ^ a b Jenkins, Craig (25 May 2016). "Stream Yung Lean Associate Bladee's Chilly, Gorgeous Debut Album 'Eversince'". Noisey. Archived from the original on 8 July 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  7. ^ YEAR0001. Accessed July 19, 2018. http://www.year0001.com/ Archived 2021-03-03 at the Wayback Machine.
  8. ^ Sami Baha. "Bladee - Cover Up (Prod. Sami Baha)". Soundcloud audio, 2:38, June 27, 2018. https://soundcloud.com/samibaha/bladee-cover-up-prod-sami-baha.
  9. ^ Bala Club. "Woesum - Sapphire". Soundcloud audio, 5:05, December 23, 2017. https://soundcloud.com/balaclub/woesum-sapphire Archived 2020-11-09 at the Wayback Machine.
  10. ^ Tesema, Feleg (14 May 2018). "5 of Our Favorite New Collections & Where to Buy Them". Highsnobiety. Titel Media. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  11. ^ a b Dunn, Frankie (15 May 2018). "10 things you need to know about bladee". i-D. Vice. Archived from the original on 24 July 2018. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  12. ^ a b c d Angell, Jack (17 September 2019). "Being Bladee: In a rare interview, the Drain Gang CEO opens up about the distinctive world he's created". The Fader. Archived from the original on 20 September 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  13. ^ "Meet Bladee, the Swedish Musician Who Stars in the New Heaven by Marc Jacobs Lookbook". Vogue. 6 April 2021. Archived from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  14. ^ a b "Bladee, old swedish hardcore punk mix". atractivoquenobello. 9 July 2014. Archived from the original on 12 September 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  15. ^ "Tony Hawk". Genius. Archived from the original on 15 January 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  16. ^ "Tony Hawk". YouTube. Archived from the original on 17 June 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  17. ^ "Always High". YouTube. Archived from the original on 17 June 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  18. ^ ""Taking Arizona Iced Tea and Making It Cry": An Interview with Yung Lean and the Sad Boys". The FADER. Archived from the original on 22 April 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  19. ^ "Bladee - Gluee | YEAR0001". year0001.com. Archived from the original on 14 April 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  20. ^ "BLADEE (GLUEE)". SoundCloud. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  21. ^ Osman, Jibril (20 December 2017). "Chronicling How Sad Boys and Shield Gang Became Sweden's Top Rap Groups". Medium. Archived from the original on 14 April 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  22. ^ Cooper, Duncan (25 May 2016). "Hear Swedish Sing-Rapper Bladee's Debut Album Eversince". The Fader. Archived from the original on 14 September 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  23. ^ Eklund, Jonathan (5 June 2016). "Kliver ur Yung Leans skugga med briljant debut". Gaffa (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 14 September 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  24. ^ "Icedancer" Archived 2020-02-06 at the Wayback Machine, Genius. Retrieved on 6 February 2020.
  25. ^ "EXETER" Archived 2020-04-08 at the Wayback Machine, YEAR0001. Retrieved on 8 April 2020.
  26. ^ "333". YEAR0001. Archived from the original on 16 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  27. ^ "Luck". YEAR0001. Archived from the original on 23 December 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  28. ^ "Fool". YEAR0001. Archived from the original on 28 May 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  29. ^ "Ecco2k and Bladee share new single "Amygdala"". The FADER. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  30. ^ "Crest". YEAR0001. Retrieved 18 March 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  31. ^ "Alyx S/S 19 Menswear" Archived 2020-02-06 at the Wayback Machine, Vogue, Retrieved 6 February 2020
  32. ^ "BENJAMIN REICHWALD, Real Sprin9 02/07/21 - 15/08/21". THE RESIDENCE GALLERY. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  33. ^ "The Tao of Bladee: Wisdom from the Drain Gang's Artist-in-Chief". Highsnobiety. 21 September 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  34. ^ Wang, Steffanee. "Bladee debuts "Decay," our first taste of new album Red Light". The Fader. Andy Cohn. Archived from the original on 19 July 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  35. ^ "Being Bladee, a rare interview with the Drain Gang CEO".
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