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Bladee

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Bladee
Bladee performing in 2016
Bladee performing in 2016
Background information
Birth nameBenjamin Reichwald
Also known asKen Burns (Smög Boys)
Born (1994-04-09) 9 April 1994 (age 30)
Stockholm, Sweden
Genrescloud rap, emo rap, experimental pop
Occupation(s)Rapper, singer, Fashion designer, Graphic designer
Instrument(s)Vocals, Digital Audio Workstation, pitch-correction software
Years active2008; 2011; 2012–present
Labels

Benjamin Reichwald[1] (born 9 April 1994[2]), known professionally as Bladee (pronounced "blade"),[3] is a Swedish rapper, singer, songwriter, record-producer, fashion designer and member of the musical group Drain Gang.[4][5][6]

He released his debut album Eversince in 2016, and his second album Red Light in 2018—both through Stockholm record label YEAR0001.[7][4][8] In addition to his music, Reichwald creates visual art, which frequently appears as cover art for his releases.[9][10] Reichwald also serves as the creative director for Yung Lean's clothing line Sadboys Gear.[11][12]

Early life

Benjamin Reichwald was born 9 April 1994 in Stockholm, Sweden[13] and was raised mainly in the Skanstull area[14], where in 2004, he met fellow Gravity Boys member, Zak Arogundade, also known as Ecco2k and previously Malcolm Sex when he and Reichwald (going by the alias Ken Burns) were part of a collective called Smög Boys. The two were classmates and formed a band titled "Krossad" when Reichwald was 13, which led to Reichwald's interest in music.

After leaving school, Reichwald began to get into making music whilst working at a daycare centre.[15]

Career

Reichwald released a few tracks in 2011 under the name Ken Burns[16][17], but properly began releasing music in 2012, aspiring to be a painter or fine artist when he was younger,[12] Reichwald eventually became friends with fellow 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 Reichwald's 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 Bladee 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".[15] 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 Leans debut mixtape Unknown Death 2002 was able to rocket Bladee into underground hip hop fame.[21]

Musical style

Reichwald's musical style is characterized by a heavy use of autotune and a fusion of elements of trap, alternative R&B, and cloud rap.[5] i-D described his style as "leaning towards emotional rap with obscure lo-fi production" though saying, as of 2018, he had "evolved into some sort of auto-tuned dark angel".[12]

He has received widespread attention for his collaborations and live performances with Yung Lean.[6]

Discography

Studio albums

Mixtapes

  • Gluee (2014)
  • Working on Dying (2017)
  • Icedancer (2018)

Extended plays

  • Rip Bladee (2016)
  • Plastic Surgery (2017)[22]
  • Sunset in Silver City (2018)
  • Exile (2018)
  • Vanilla Sky (2019)

Collaborative mixtapes

  • GTBSG Compilation (2013) (with Thaiboy Digital, Ecco2k, Whitearmor)
  • AvP (2016) (with Thaiboy Digital)
  • D&G (2017) (with Ecco2k, Thaiboy Digital)
  • Trash Island (2019) (with Ecco2k, Thaiboy Digital)

Singles

  • "oxygen" (2012)
  • "Carwash" (2013)
  • "I WILL MAKE YOU BLEED" (2013) (featuring Thaiboy Digital)
  • "my magic is stong" (2013)
  • "Bleach" (2013) (featuring Ecco2k)
  • "Unreal" (2014)
  • "Dragonfly" (2014)
  • "Into Dust" (2014)
  • "Reborn" (2014)
  • "Psycho" (2015) (with Adamn Killa)
  • "Butterfly" (2015) (with Thaiboy Digital)
  • "Who Goes There" (2016)
  • "Who's Going To Find Me Tonight" (2016)
  • "Destroy Me" (2017)
  • "Gotham City" (2017) (with Yung Lean)
  • "I Want It All" (2017) (with Cartier'GOD)
  • "Plastic Surgery" (2017)
  • "Wallet Won't Fold" (2017)
  • "Frosty the Snowman" (2017)
  • "Decay" (2018)
  • "I Chose To Be This Way" (2018)
  • "Red Velvet" (2019) (with Yung Lean)
  • "Trash Star" (2019)
  • "All I Want" (2019) (with Mechatok)
  • "Apple" (2019)
  • "Famous" (2019) (with Yung Lean, Black Kray, and YSB OG)
  • "#LetMeGo" (2019) (with Cartier'GOD)

Guest appearances

  • Yung Lean - "Nitevision" (2013)
  • Yung Lean - "Heal You // Bladerunner" (2013)
  • Thaiboy Digital - "Gtblessgo" (2014)
  • Thaiboy Digital - "Don't Dance" (2015)
  • Yung Lean - "Highway Patrol" (2016)
  • Yung Lean - "Hocus Pocus" (2016)
  • Yung Lean - "Pearl Fountain" (2016) (featuring Black Kray)
  • Yung Lean - "Hennessy & Sailor Moon" (2016)[23]
  • Yung Lean - "Head 2 Toe" (2016)
  • Yung Lean - "Red Velvet" (2019)
  • D33J - "10K Froze" (2019)
  • Chxpo - "Do You Love Me" (2019)
  • Thaiboy Digital - "Bentley" (2019)
  • Thaiboy Digital - "Legendary Member" (2019)
  • Black Kray - "Blue" (2019)

References

  1. ^ Borelli-Persson, Laird. "Is There Anything He Can't Do? Meet Stockholm's Stylish Multi-Hyphenate Zak Arogundade". Vogue. Condé Nast. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  2. ^ @BladeeCity (9 Apr 2016). "Thanks everyone that wished me happy birthday" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. ^ "Nardwuar vs. Yung Lean", Youtube video, 12:36, posted by "NardwuarServiette", July 23, 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=723ywF5faV4.
  4. ^ a b Darville, Jordan. "Listen to Bladee's new album Red Light". The Fader. Andy Cohn. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Bladee - Red Light ALBUM REVIEW", Youtube video, 5:21, posted by "theneedledrop", June 21, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJwmTnjDkrI.
  6. ^ a b Wang, Steffanee. "Bladee debuts "Decay," our first taste of new album Red Light". The Fader. Andy Cohn. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  7. ^ Jenkins, Craig. "Stream Yung Lean Associate Bladee's Chilly, Gorgeous Debut Album 'Eversince'". Noisey. Vice Media. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  8. ^ YEAR0001. Accessed July 19, 2018. http://www.year0001.com/.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ Bala Club. "Woesum - Sapphire". Soundcloud audio, 5:05, December 23, 2017. https://soundcloud.com/balaclub/woesum-sapphire.
  11. ^ Tesema, Feleg. "5 of Our Favorite New Collections & Where to Buy Them". Highsnobiety. Titel Media. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  12. ^ a b c Dunn, Frankie. "10 things you need to know about bladee". i-D. Vice. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  13. ^ BLADƎE (2016-04-09). "Thanks everyone that wish me happy birthday". @BladeeCity. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  14. ^ "Being Bladee". The Fader. 17 September 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. ^ a b "Bladee, old swedish hardcore punk mix". atractivoquenobello. 2014-07-09. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  16. ^ "Tony Hawk".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. ^ "Tony Hawk".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. ^ ""Taking Arizona Iced Tea and Making It Cry": An Interview with Yung Lean and the Sad Boys". The FADER. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  19. ^ "Bladee - Gluee | YEAR0001". year0001.com. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  20. ^ "Always High".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  21. ^ Osman, Jibril (2017-12-20). "Chronicling How Sad Boys and Shield Gang Became Sweden's Top Rap Groups". Medium. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  22. ^ Plastic Surgery, 2017-02-06, retrieved 2018-10-23
  23. ^ Renshaw, David. "Yung Lean Shares Surprise New Song, "Hennessy & Sailor Moon"". The Fader. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
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