“Champions?” Yung Lean & Bladee- Psykos analysis. 

Psykos is the swedish word for psychosis and doesn't have the same meaning as the english word psycho

AAVA at 29:50 you mention wanting them to rap in swedish - yung lean has a swedish language punk band/project called död mark

AVAA. Would highly recommend you check out some more ecco2k from drain gang, you saw a bit of his work on Crest. But a lot of his music is about that voiceless struggle you mention, albums like "e" dive into his experiences growing up a black man in Sweden. Racism dysphoria etc his music explores a lot of interesting themes, could be up your alley

“Drain” is about loss and gain, not being sad, but based review

When I listened to golden god it immediately made me think of the story of the israelites creating the golden bull as a fake god. Bladee often has talked about how his fans believe him too be a sort of angel or holy person. I think the song is Bladee and Yung Lean saying that they feel like being treated as a fake or "golden" god

"Sadboys" is not a serious name, they came up with it as a joke and it just stuck. Their whole thing isn't just being sad, though melancholy is a persistent feeling especially in Yung Lean's music.

AVAA here on RU-vid there is a yung lean feature length documentary called “In My Head” that is a really good primary resource on his life and work. It features interviews from many of his friends, including Bladee.

aava Im very late but i rlly appreciate how deep u went into the cover art. The visuals are a huge part of how i got into DG stuff. Will forever think of that frog as Yung Bladee now ☺️

I love your reviews and really appreciate your work. thank you :)

AVAA might be worth reading some of their interviews, they explain some of the "drain vocabulary" and their thought process, also please review e by ecco

AVAA Prof, this album cover brought me to listen to these 2 artists for the first time and I was not let down. The journey that this project takes you on is fantastic and brings me (as a young man) to a whole new perspective

An amazing album. Cant wait to hear el profesor's thoughts

Loving this video so far! Listening while doing dishes at work, haven’t had this much fun at work in awhile!

Yung Lean has a Swedish rock band called Död Mark, dropped an album late last year.

AVAA. i love these videos. it's so cool to see older people making a genuine effort to connect with and understand music that young people enjoy. you're really setting an example in a way, i hope i can be as open to new stuff a few decades down the line. your analysis is very thoughtful and i always come away feeling like i've gotten something out of these videos. thank you :>

so psyked for this haha

merci prof skye pour l°analyse

Its worth mentioning that you can see a little bit of the frogs reflection. Like there is a glass barrier between the frog and the outside. I dont know what that means but i feel like its a important detail xd. It adds to the vibe imo. Avaa

AVAA uncle skye thank you for putting into words why I feel the way I do about drain gang

Things Happen is the one for sure - the message and its execution really sets it!

AVAA. I would love to hear your take on Bladee's Red Light. My favorite album of his and from before his more recent turn toward more neutral or happy music but it feels like his Psykos frog moment where he hits the bottom and only moves up from there. Cool lyrical references that evoke magic as metaphor for the darkness he's going through at the time, with catchy melodies and cool beats

I’m glad you mentioned palmistry and silent sky. Their production is top notch. They collaborated on the newest Palmistry record “struggle for e” which is great imo. And then palmistry’s “fake hi” is very cure-esque. You said the production is oddly ambitious but if you listen to palmistry’s records you’d understand a bit more.

absolutely love this video. your thoughts on the album expanded my view of it even further which I really appreciate thank u man 🙏

Your Morrissey impression made me spit out my food. Also, you should check out Död Mark - 4Evigt. It’s Yung Lean and Gud doing alt rock and it’s all in Swedish. Plus there’s a killer Justin Timberlake cover (also in Swedish). AVAA!

This video is more than enough while I wait for the fantano review. W

Weyoo this is crazy, some years back it was called "lean effekt"! That yo think it sucks at first but the more yo listen, the better it gets. Love that the music has a universal effect all over! :*)

AVAA - Definitely gonna check it out now! You should review the new Kim Gordon (of Sonic Youth) album! It’s essentially a really cool rage album that transitions beautifully from song to song! Would love to hear your analysis!

Great video! I think you should check out the new album from Massachusetts rapper Lucy with producer IV. It's a wonderfully sincere and nostalgic collection that I think you could dig into and get a lot out of.

Patiently waiting the new Bladee album review/discussion 🙏

Would love to see you review “Trash island”. I think it is one of the best collaborative efforts from drain gang and stands tall in their discography. Each member is able to shine. Loss and gain… is the same.

AVAA .I appreciate tou taking the time to listen and understand but ive listened to them since i was a teen and always enjoyed different styles of music coming from a classic and alt rock /metal background,just wanted to point out that cliques can take away from musics purist form i believe,for instance i personally never had any peers of mine listen to them nor would i ever call myself a "sadboy" or go around saying I'm "drain gang" but maybe that just has to do with me as a person idk just thought id mention that as a facet for a better understanding.and also add that "sad" sounding music make some people feel happy in a way like for insrance the song mad world which i can appreciate from an artistic standpoint but absolutely hate the way the song sounds and makes me feel and i feel bladee and leans music might make people feel kind of how mad world makes me feel.and also want to add sadboy/drain gang music is a hit or miss with me like i usually prefer bladee tracks/verses over the other members

Hey Skye, my question to you is why do you get to decide who is voiceless or not? I understand you mean societally but yung lean has dealt with severe mental illness, psychosis and mental institutionalization. It feels like you’re trivializing that but maybe you just aren’t aware of it. I understand what you’re saying, but here’s another perspective for you to consider AVAA

Lean actually has two albums in swedish! Under the name Död Mark. More rock like this one.

Common Professor Skye W AVAA

You really called me out at 10:02 man damn

Something about this review made me upset and I’m not sure why, maybe it’s something to do with how differently we experience the world and the music, but this review did not resonate with me. I don’t know what to do with this dumb feeling other than post this comment. Appreciate you for taking your time to listen and talk about the album though.

Common professor Skye W

We need a review of that new Moor Mother stat!

AVAA, great vid Skye! just wanted to ask if you have heard of Deki Alem ? There a kids dancy rap group Gothenburg that have a strong postpunk vibe. Check em out!

Their music has basically nothing to do with Sweden, they exist outside of the Swedish cultural context. In an early interview Yung Lean was asked "How does being from Sweden influence your music?", and he answered "I don't think it has any effect on my music".

the hope core edits are gonna go hard 40:43

AVAA you should listen to the album Trash Island by Bladee, Ecco2k and Thaiboy Digital. Lean has an appearance. You might enjoy the themes that it explores and might give you some more insight on drain gang and drain culture as a whole. It’s pretty accessible in terms of listening.

Lets gooo🎉

Liked the video but still think that is a self projection on something unknown, like you just came across it and tried to deliver an essay about it. still some great points tho 👍🏻.

The rap scene is really huge in Sweden. I am a norwegian and swedish rap is very popular here as well. Some of the biggest artists are Yasin, 1. Cuz, VC Barre and Greekazo. The biggest artist might be Einar, but he was recently murdered due to gang violence. If you want to hear Yung Lean rap in swedish you should check out the song "evigheten" with Abidaz

HELL yeah

AVAA! btw one of Yung Lean's most prominent producers, Gud, actually used to call himself Yung Gud, but then he dropped the first part

YEAHHH

AVAA. Day 12 of watching and commenting on a Professor Skye video until he reviews Tetsuo & Youth. Since i'm Swedish I can add that two of the larger swedish rap groups from back in the day is Labyrint and Kartellen. Although they dont release music anymore they where quite successfull around the 2000s and 2010s.

AVAA! I love all your reviews and was already looking forward to this one. Some thoughts on the cover: The cover might be referencing Yung Lean's drug-induced psychosis which he suffered in Miami. He considered it a breaking point in his life, after which his music became a lot more introspective. At the same time, it might be referencing a story about Bladee being on a lot of drugs in Thailand when - as he put it - lightning struck him. He didn't want to call an ambulance because he was off drugs, so he just kind of went to sleep thinking he'd die in his sleep, only to wake up fine. His music also took on a different introspective (and spiritual) turn afterwards. With the glowing cross on the cover, the drugged out frog, and the title being Psykos (swedish for psychosis), it feels like this album might be about these events' uncannily similar effects on Lean and Bladee. Also, Bladee has a decade-old tweet talking about "Ancient Frog Society." I didn't look into it any further, but it's kind of a crazy coincidence.

Funny you mentioned "crazy frog", as crazy frog was made by a Swede too.

AVAA! Day 2 of asking you to talk about Destiny by DJ Sabrina the Teenage DJ.

You should listen to ecco2ks e album he talks a lot about how it was for him growing up as an African American in Sweden.

random question but what does it mean if you support st johnstone in the scottish league lol also love your vids always cool insight and fun

I could never get into Sad Boys, or Drain Gang when I approached it as hip hop-particularly Drain Gang. It’s more like electronic pop music than anything. I like them now.

Imagine music serving an emotional function 😮

38:28 i wouldn’t say that that song is lil yachty inspired : if u listen to bleach by bladee all the songs are sung that way

wow 10:05 honestly you hit the nail on the head imo

Review the new Ultra Q album “Empty Eddy” definitely worth the listen

Avaa listen to the new Estee Nack and Futurwave Stone Temple Pyrex

🙏🏾

inside theres a light that’s abandonnd

Skye you must listen to jonatan leandoer69, the Swedish rock album from yung lean that you wished for is under this alter ego and it’s called sugar world… also död mark the OTHER Swedish alter ego from yung lean that is this 80s synth pop fusion with a whole lot of other stuff, it’s everything you wished for in the video AND MORE AVAA

AVAA i highly recommend leans side project jonatan leandoer96, the vibes from this album are seem more influenced by jl96

I liked the more ambitiously composed songs like stilll and hanging from the bridge. W the others I just wanted a bit more.

i've got nothing to prove

drain boys rise up

To an extent yes, the party is over is somewhat accurate. But they aren’t gonna stop partying and that’s not the message. The message is they’re starting to lose their minds and feel death and destruction closer to them. It’s much darker than you describe it. It’s not hopeful, it’s a plea.

God please listen to Eversince

Well swedish rap is just about murder and bombings nowadays. When ”gangster rap” started in sweden it was about the struggle and it was more political. Just like in america and every other country with rap culture. Half of the rappers nowadays do throw in a bit of the struggle in their lyrics but it’s not even close to how it was before. It sucks cause it paints the picture that the struggle don’t exist in sweden, not only to foreigners but to the rich swedes that choose not to believe in it. Although ig they will choose to ignore it either way, after all it wouldn’t benefit them to recognise it

What’s up David Guetta

Proffesor skye, I love you but I feel like when you talk about drain gang you may be focusing too much on them being Swedish in your analysis, it would be weird for me to focus on an artist being American. Further, I would argue that they are a voice for the voiceless, both in “traditional ways” such as ecco2k singing about being outcast in Sweden in peroxide, but also talking about having mental health, and drug problems are ignored and drug users are seen as outcast. I will say that they do have a fan base that comes from relative material comfort but increasingly in the west people do, the hardest problems now are forcing yourself to resist short term comforts like social media, drugs etc. I think like you their music provides some soothing, and spiritual poetry to connect with a higher purpose for a generation that grew up with 808s and auto tune. This isn’t my fav and I don’t know if I like this album on first listen but with most dg projects I don’t. You should check out Bladees album “eversince” and “333” AVAA

AVAA, i have learned that i don't need to naruto one piece

Pozdrav za Vuka Ivića

20 HOURS MF

DRAIN GANG

Avaa

drained skye

AVAA

Some of the biggest rappers in Sweden right now are probably Yasin, Einár, 23, Vc barre. Bladee and Yung Lean are kind of underground and not that popular in Sweden.

Idk album didn’t feel sad to me. More euphoric

I pozdrav za Miloša Spasojevića

Nah pewdiepie is the most famous Swede

I’m bladee she call me bladee-ee lmao you are the she 😂

very cringe fetishization of "voiceless" at the beginning very clearly rooted in the self-loathing which is so common with north american academics, hopefully youre still able to overcome this mentally corrosive vice

bladee is jesus.

you should watch yung leans interview on his youtube at trinity college one of the best ive seen recently

I am Swedish and I'll tell you, there's a really big and thriving rap scene in Sweden. Here are some really good Swedish rappers that come from marginalized contexts (and sing in Swedish): Erik Lundin (his album "Suedi" especially), Abidaz, The Latin Kings (from the 90s), Greekazo, Yasin (his song "Chicago" had soo great impact when it came out), Ison & Fille, ADAAM and Einár :)

Aave I knew u would have opinions on this when I heard a football chant

professor skye i would just like to let you know that lean does have albums in swedish under the name död mark. avaa

AVAA