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Bladee and Yung Lean appear to be on a "collaborative roll" as both artists have dropped 13 full-length songs this year, many of which come from their mini-LP, titled Psykos.
On the first listen of Psykos, one can easily identify the duo's distinct production by the deep lyricism and the mellow trap beats. With this, Bladee (Benjamin Reichwald) and Yung Lean (Jonatan Aron Leandoer Håstad) have successfully pushed away from mainstream rap into a more self-reflective trap subgenre.
On April 24, Benjamin dropped his surprise mixtape, titled Cold Visions, which features Lean on four separate tracks on a project that includes 30 different songs and has a total run-time of one hour and three minutes.
The project also includes features from Skrillex, Yung Sherman, Black Kray, and more. Cold Visions was distributed to all major DSPs (Digital Streaming Platforms) via Trash Island Records.
Breaking down Coda, and the other 12 records Bladee and Yung Lean have collaborated on this year
The Swedish duo first collaborated way back in 2017, on the track titled Gotham City, and have since frequently worked together on various projects and singles.
This review will focus on breaking down the 13 songs Benjamin and Jonatan have released this year.
{Disclaimer: This review is rated explicit. Readers' discretion is advised.}
Coda
(Production Credits: Palmistry & Silent Sky)
Coda is one of the most intriguing songs the duo has released over their entire career. The track opens with harmonic melodies played over an emotional vocal performance, which draws similarities to spoken word poetry.
Some of the most poetic lines from this song include:
"Dirty drugs since thirteen, I think it's just the fame / The modern fame, dream about being invincible and walk the streets again / In Heaven everything's fine, just hear my words / Don't read between the lines / Got the world on my shoulders, throw it off."
Ghosts
(Production Credits: Palmistry & Silent Sky)
Ghosts opens as a guitar ballad that slowly morphs into an intense pop/trap production, with Lean and Bladee trading verses on themes revolving around heartbreak, pain, torture, and toxic love. Some of the most notable lines from this track include:
"Less is more, tryna say less / She's in the middle of my painting / Asphalt and rain, that's my fragrance / We wrote a Bible in Sanskrit / Play different roles in the same script."
Golden God
(Production Credits: Palmistry & Silent Sky)
Golden God is an interesting record, as both Benjamin and Jonatan appear to compare their existential crisis and suffering to that of God, referencing Jesus in the song's chorus. Although the production on this track is bouncy, the lyricism is extremely dark, with lines like:
"The stars are the eyes of God / Pools of broken light my dreams that you can't rip off / I'm in the frozen night, black Visa cards, silver stars in a glowing car / I don't want to star in your part, I don't care at all."
Still
(Production Credits: Palmistry & Silent Sky)
Still is an emotional track on which Bladee shines by opening with a verse that finds him contemplating the complexities that come with desires and his issues with the constant dark, borderline suicidal, thoughts that plague his mind. Some of the lyrics on this song that best evidence this description are:
"To make the jump without wings / To take the leap to nothing / Rid my original sin / To feel the rain on your skin."
Sold Out
(Production Credits: Palmistry & Silent Sky)
Sold Out is a classic "sadboy" love song, with both artists expressing their love and longing for a close relationship, while contrasting this with painful, self-harming thoughts. This was best evidenced in the song's refrain, which included lines like:
"High but I'm so down / Get out of my mind / Get out of my mind / I feel like it's time to die, to die / Tell the world it's true / Burned our sacred youth / I'm so fake but true / Won't be gone so soon."
Hanging From The Bridge
(Production Credits: Palmistry & Silent Sky)
Hanging From The Bridge finds both Lean and Bladee explaining the pains that come with addiction and living a life filled with excess. The production perfectly brings out the emotional lyricism on this track, which includes the lines:
"How long, how long can we hold on? / Holding on to a thread / Thoughts spinning in my head / Hanging from a bridge / Floating in the wind / Seconds and we're gone, the storm."
Enemy
(Production Credits: Palmistry & Silent Sky)
From the drum progression to the blending of screeching and soft vocal performances from the Swedish duo, Enemy is filled with classic "Emo Punk" record tropes, which makes this track a very interesting listen. Some of the most notable bars from this song include:
"Everything adds up to this moment like we planned it / I leave the world, leave my body, leave it faster / Your voice echoes in the cave through the casket / Step out the Uber, see the flashes, see the cameras."
Things Happen
(Production Credits: Palmistry & Silent Sky)
The best track on Psykos comes with Things Happen, as both Lean and Bladee end their emotional project on a more upbeat note, citing how the pains of life will forever remain constant. The lyricism finds them highlighting how worrying about the problems will take away from living in the moment, in lines like:
"I lost myself in you / Never had no fear, that's true / So many years I blew / 'm stuck in the wind / I got nothing to prove (x6) / I got nothing to lose (x6). "
ONE SECOND
(Production Credits: F1LTHY, Warren Hunter, and Rok)
ONE SECOND is a strong trap production, filled with rhythmic drum progressions that find both artists diving into themes of luxuries, excess, and living a hyped-up lifestyle. Although the production overshadows the lyricism on this track, some notable bars from this song include:
"Touch the bag, you're oversteppin' / Dirty dreams / It's fashion week, the front row seats, less than a week / You can't record when in the door, we in the spot, so take a seat."
FUN FACT
(Production Credits: F1LTHY and Glasear)
FUN FACT is a song whose flow and rhythm are quite similar to King Von's 2020 smash hit, Took Her To The O. Thematically, however, Lean and Bladee bring forward a track revolving around the rise to fame and making a difference in the rap industry, with lines like:
"I'm with Bladee like I'm blade running with a hundred racks / It's the return of the Batman, and Bane in his mask / Still off the opiates, itching like I got a rash / All these boys, they been stealing swag, put them in the trash."
I DONT LIKE PEOPLE
(Production Credits: F1LTHY, Rok, Mechatok, and RUN(A)WAY)
I DONT LIKE PEOPLE is a hard-hitting trap production which makes this record an extremely visceral listening experience. The lyricism on this track revolves around social isolation, which is best evidenced in the lines:
"I don't like people, what I gotta talk to you for? / I don't leave the house, stay in my crib like a newborn / I don't like people but people seem to like me / Approach me with respect, if you talk, talk to me nicely."
TERRIBLE EXCELLENCE
(Production Credits: Whitearmor, F1LTHY, 100yrd, and Gabriel Schuman)
TERRIBLE EXCELLENCE is another trap record on Bladee's Cold Visions LP, which finds Lean featured toward the back end of the track, with both artists embodying a menacing tone in lyricism revolving around violence and murder. This is best evidenced in lines like:
"Pretty violence in the silence, it's a dark story / Living legends in the flesh, it's all pain and glory / I don't even put the pressure, yeah, they do it for me / Enjoy the moments from the nightmares, another high score."
LUCKY LUKE (Feat. Thaiboy Digital)
(Production Credits: Woesum, Yung Sherman, and Gabriel Schuman)
LUCKY LUKE is a synthy production filled with amped-up vocal performances from Bladee, Yung Lean, and Thaiboy Digital. The song is an exciting listen, with several popular stories and events used as metaphors to describe the difficult rise to fame all three artists faced, with lines like:
"I used to be Luke with the force, that boy don't live here anymore / That boy was never into sports, I carried the Olympic torch / Please don't get too close, you might get scorched / Might have an illness and some."
Yung Lean and Bladee's collaborations this year have taken listeners through a variety of genres, including Sadboy Trap, Pop, Punk, Hip/Hop, Clout Trap, and Poetry.
Their versatility and ability to float off each other's cadences, while simultaneously retaining their individuality is a testament to the growing popularity and reach of rap culture around the world.
