From Dadboy to Sadboy? "Stardust" by Yung Lean review 

the three most important songs in yung lean’s cannon - not necessarily my favorite, but i think the most vital and influential - are Ginseng Strip 2002, Kyoto and Agony

I'm not a Dadboy, more of a Grandad boy although I'm not a Dad at all, but I thought this song had a very appealing and catchy sonic texture juxtaposed against his thrown off vocals. From what I understand from my Zoomer friends, a Vibe is a feeling that is enjoyable, pleasant, and can't quite be explained in words. It's a feeling.

I would go as far as also saying that not only was yung lean and sadboys influenced big time the underground music panorama, but also both the sadboys groups and specially Draing Gang were super influential to Art Design and underground culture. The trends with hyperpop and taking inspo from the early 2000's that you see right now mainly in design and fashion, they were doing it and pushing it in 2013 2014.

Drain Gang (formerly known as GravityBois) is Bladee, Ecco2k, WhiteArmor and company whilst Sadbois is Yung Lean, Yung Sherman,Yung Gud and company, but they share a lot of crossover.

Like other people said I think it's important to watch the documentary "In my head" to understand more about his history and what he has been through

Hey Professor, I just want to commend you because this is pretty much the only music review channel I have the patience and attention span for. You always make me have a greater appreciation for the projects I already enjoy. Anyways I'm a huge Yung Lean fan, so thank you.

One of my favorite things about yung lean is just how he seems like a random kid from Sweden who started making music with his friends in a basement when they were smoking weed in high school. The raw or amateurish vocals over super complex and interesting beats is so charming to me that i cant get that feeling anywhere outside of sadboys and drain gang My 3 lean songs to listen to that I think give a good picture of the range lean hits throughout his albums 1. Hennessey and Sailor Moon 2. Miami Ultras 3. Monster

the most important songs from each album imo: unknown death: gatorade unknown memory: yoshi city warlord: hocus pocus or pearl fountain frost god: hennesey and sailor moon stranger: agony or yellowman poison ivy: bender++girlfriend starz: boylife in eu or pikachu

About your question regarding essential Yung Lean songs: Agony, Kyoto and Ginseng strip are the classic ones. My FAVORITE ones, however, would be Pearl Fountain, Boylife in EU, and this recent track called Bliss. HOWEVER It is *essential* to watch the Yung Lean documentary. That’s how you understand Yung Lean. It’s free on RU-vid!

I highly recommend the songs Red Bottom Sky, Hotel in Minsk, and Agony. Hyped to see you getting into Yung Lean's music!

Hi professor Sky! Long time watcher, first time commenter. Yung Lean is one of my favorites and these are my personal favorite songs in no particular order. 1. Yoshi City - amazing production. Droney, auto tuned slathered, hook-centric, sad boy vocals. I think this is his best “cloud rap” era song. My favorite song to zone out to while driving at night. 2. Miami Ultras - this is the quintessential song from Warlord imo. This was a dark period in his career. Watch his “in my head” doc if you’re interested. It’s a dark song with dramatic production, intense vocals and pretty nonsensical lyrics. 10/10 3. Starz - this song is indicative of his evolution as an artist. This song is so dreamy and coherent compared to some of his earlier works. Him and drain gang/sad boy affiliates are such an anomaly in the grand scheme of traditional pop and hip hop music. Everything they do feels slightly off kilter and novel in the best way possible.

For me, the three songs that encapsulates what it means to be a “SADBOY” & showcases Yung Lean’s influence on Hip-Hop are Hurt, Red Bottom Sky, and Miami Ultras. Also, I’d recommend watching the music videos for all three tracks. He has a knack for visual storytelling which can provide context to his cryptic lyricism. Distinctly Red Bottom Sky & Miami Ultras deal with the traumas from the death of his manager Barron Machat to his time in a mental hospital after his breaks from reality. P.S. If you have time to spare I’d also highly recommend the documentary on Yung Lean titled “In My Head.”

love the hw question because I know you're going to get so many different answers my 3 would be Hoover, bender++girlfriend, and Red Bottom Sky. I think these three give a good depiction of all the different sides of lean. Honorable mentions to Boylife in EU and Agony

Really appreciate you deep diving into this odd group of swedes. Look forward to seeing more videos on them (please do E-Ecco2k)

Skye your reviewing style is so refreshing. I hope your channel prospers. This is what music criticism should be.

You nailed the Sadboys ethos. Your articulation is unreal, as always. Here are my picks: UD 2002: Solarflare, Nitevision, Gatorade Unknown Memory: Don't go, Yoshi City Warlord: Highway Patrol Frost God: Crystal City Stranger: Yellowman Poison Ivy: friday the 13th Starz: Starz

Phenomenal review Professor! I think you will find my perspective a bit interesting. I've been a fan of Yung Lean and as well as Drain Gang since they've orginally came to fame back in 2013. I was about to finish high school around that time and I'm also around Lean's age. For more additional context, I am black/a person of color, which I'm aware apart of a minority within their fanbase. Yung Lean's rise to fame was a special place in time and to understand you must see it from the begining, or atleast when it comes to his evoluation as an artist. The first place to start off is his first major hit, Ginseng Strip 2002, which has recently gotten a lot of attention from Tik Tok! Which will be intresting to see the contrast from generational inbetweeners like myself (Late Milennial to Early Gen Z; Age 20-27?) The next song you should visit is Kyoto, a 2014 major hit for Yung Lean before his official Debut album (sophomore project) Unknown Memory. Following album releases, my personal favorite album, Warlord, which is Yung Lean's at his somewhat darkest artistcally. This album was released along the time with the death of his former manager and there's a whole story behind this rollout that is too long for me to touch on within this comment. Notables song to visit from this album: Miami Ultras! Afterwards care to visit his albums Stranger and Starz! Some of his very best solo work resides there. To answer your question between the differences between the Sadboys and Drain Gang, they're indeed different groups, but share or shared a single member, Yung Sherman who is a producer for both groups. Each group has known eachother personally for a long time before their rise to fame and work so closley together that they're basically partner groups!

Great Video! also fyi Thaiboy digital is also in drain gang. The groups( DG/SB) are technically separate, but they share some members. For example, Yung Sherman (producer) is a member of both groups. ps three yung lean songs I would recommend are Red bottom sky, Starz, and Ghosttown

My three exemplary Yung Lean tracks, in chronological order, would have to be: 1. Ginseng Strip 2002 2. Hoover 3. Red Bottom Sky These works all exemplify how versatile of a musician he is and the production on each one push the genre forward as a whole.

the documentary 'in my head' is a great look into Yung Lean if you want to learn more about his rise to popularity and the shit he's gone through

In my opinion, Stardust is his weakest mixtape so far. I highly recommend that u listen to his album Stranger, and as you asked for some music recommendations you can listen to: -Yoshi City (one of his most popular and accessible songs from the beginning of his career) -Blue Plastic (a song from 2019, it's not his usual style but for me it represents a lot of his potential) -Yellowman (from "Stranger", I just think this one is beyond beautiful) -Extra one: Boylife in EU

23:20 Sad Boys Entertainment is the name of Yung Lean's group with the producers Yung Sherman and Gud, Drain Gang (formerly Gravity Boys) is Bladee, Ecco2k and Thaiboy Digital's group with the producers Whitearmor and Yung Sherman (again). The two groups are so closely related that the subreddit r/sadboys primarily discusses drain gang music and the two are often combined with the acronym GTBSBE/DGSBE. The only reason for the separation is basically that the two started independently and met after forming, and Yung Lean is so connected to the Sad Boys branding that it would be weird for him to just disband Sad Boys and join Drain Gang

For the homework: -Yellowman (really neat The King in Yellow intertextuality) -Agony -Miami Ultras As a quicker alternative to the documentary everyone else is recommending, I'd suggest the Fader article 'Yung Lean's Second Chance'. INCREDIBLE story. Epitomizes the artistic transvaluation of tragedy into heightened creativity.

Hi man, really glad to found your channel. The 'bliss' sample is from Альянс - На Заре, you should definitely check it out, it's an old synth pop band. As for best Yung lean songs, it's "Agony", "Blue Plastic" and "Bender++girlfriend". There are so many layers in these songs and they just blend blatantly well on repeat. You should, however, definitely check out the whole discography to see how versatile Yung Lean is and how he progressed over the years. Not necessarily to make a video about it, but I'm sure you will appreciate it!

1. Hoover 2. Eye Contact 3. Hennessey & Sailor Moon

This channel is amazing, I love seeing your reviews because you take on so many variables and nuances that other's don't express, thanks for being so open minded in reviewing these albums, I'm such a drain gang fan and it makes me value my taste more. thanks!

In the Song 5th Element Leany goes '' ...Yung Lean aka Neil Young...''

Im a proud Sadboyz/Drain gang since 2012, and recently turn into a Dadboy in feb 13 2022. Life is amazing. Bliss trip/fields.

damn prof you got some interesting stories, one of the many reason i watch your videos.

Top 3 recommendations: 1. Ginseng Strip: Not necessarily my favorite but is one of his most iconic songs, it captures well the type of music Yung Lean was making in his early career. 2. Blue Plastic: A more recent song of his and a personal favorite, good example of how much his singing has developed, how his songwriting has evolved, how much more instrumental / lyrical depth his songs have, etc. 3. Agony: Captures a really important part of his career / life path... one the more vulnerable / unique songs he's released. P.S. If you're into this kind of stuff, the documentary "In My Head" offers context to what was going on during the the production of most of his work up until 2018-ish (I think). Also, thanks for the great video, 10/10 :) Edit: Messed up the name for Blue Plastic earlier, lol - was watching David Lynch earlier this week and had Blue Velvet on my mind.

Top 3 songs under name Yung Lean: 3. Silicon Wings 2. Buildings ft. Bladee & Thaiboy Digital 1. Yellowman Worth mentioning: Stars Align, Don't Go, Volt, French Hotel, Hellraiser, Hennessy & Sailor Moon, Put Me in a Spell, Lightsaber // Saviour, Heal You // Bladerunner, trashy, bender++girlfriend, Miami Ultras, Smirnoff Ice, Pikachu, Hoover, Sandman, Eye Contact, Af1s, Hocus Pocus, Head 2 Toe, Metallic Intuition, Silver Arrows, Low (random order)

great review, super cool hearing a different perspective on his music. and btw on lips he says "pupils getting bigger" not puke lol.

please listen to that new billy woods record its really ground breaking

Lean’s early songs are verrry influenced by clams casino and asap rocky’s early work. As he progressed he has found his own voice and experimented with new sounds on pretty much every album. To recommend three songs, I’d say ginseng strip (early style), Hoover (hype banger), and agony (sad, spacy, moody). Also his album Starz is my personal favorite rn

Pocket full of beans, it’s Yung lean In order to fully understand Yung lean, I believe that music videos played a major role in the whole package that is Yung lean and early cloud rap. Also, the “in my head” documentary helps answer many of your questions on Yung lean (highly recommend). 3 must watch music videos: Kyoto Miami Ultras Hurt Myself, and most other sadboys wouldn’t have found or more importantly, connected with Yung lean if it weren’t for these videos. I would also recommend looking into some newer songs, but I find this era to be the most influential on cloud rap.

Some of my fav yung lean songs are probably sandman, hocus pocus, iceman, pikachu, boylife in EU, volt, yellow man, miami ultras and bender++girlfreind. And on the sad boys/drain gang thing, the sadboys are yung lean + producers gud and yung sherman, and drain gang are bladee, ecco2k, thaiboy digital + producers whitearmor and also yung sherman and also you should watch the In My Head decomentary to understand more about him

I really enjoy you're channel because I think you do a much better job of looking at music for what it is than a typical music review channel where some white dude rates an album out of 10 and that's the end of the day. While sometimes you say something that makes me laugh, I think that overall the fact that you take all the music you listen to seriously definitely pays off, and so you're videos are really enjoyable to watch thru. Would be interested in your opinion on older Bladee album or even other artists like Burial (your vid on anti dawn was great). Although to be fair, when you listen to most of Burial's music, the vibe is fairly obvious and it doesn't take the same level of effort, in my opinion, to decipher as drain gang and yung lean typically post to new listeners. Not sure if you would be open to doing music that isn't more or less brand new though.

I love seeing people in the comments recommending old music to the new music reviewer

The people from both groups came up together as a team, but originally yung lean sherman and gud formed Sad Boys , and Bladee Thaiboy Ecco and whitearmor , Gravity Boys/DG

Love the perspective you bring

Pocket full of B's "big faces aka bills "or pills or blunts I'm guessing. Im also just got in to lean the past year he's amazing I soo glad to hear your opinions on this album. I'm also a dad boy... And ain't nothing better then recording on a 4 track. Reminds me of my high school

I'd really recommend watching his documentary 'In My Head' if you want to know more about him and his rise in music !

yung lean is a super versatile artist, his sound has undergone an insane progression over the years, yet his music always seems to be ahead of the curve and timeless in the larger lense of hip hop. it's also important to remember that his influence and impact mainly apply to the underground scene and what is now known as "melodic" or "emo" hip hip, which can then be attributed as a natural progression from kanye's 808s and heartbreaks.

Not only was Yung Lean's dad a translator, he was a translator of French Literature (according to Wikipedia). You should have a sit-down talk with Yung Lean and his dad. It should be a great conversation.

Recently I watched an interview with Zdzisław Beksiński where he talks about his work and discusses art as more of a mood or essence and not the comparative or literal. I was reminded of this when you said Lean's lyrics aren't always the main point in the aura he creates. Some Yung Lean songs- Hunting My Own Skin french hotel Boylife in EU

Dadboy is such an oxymoronix phrase. Only Prof Skye could gift the English Language with such a phrase

The music video for Hurt basically changed my life. Listen to Hurt, Yoshi City, Kyoto, Red Bottom Sky, Agony, Highway Patrol, Hennessy and Sailor Moon, and Boylife in the EU. Those are some “Hits” but honestly he has a really good discog. If you can catch the vibe, Lean is very consistent with his projects.

This is a good alternative to needledrop. Great experience, thank you.

i wouldnt exactly say its indicative of his entire catalogue, but the three songs that are Yung Lean for me are Starz (ft ariel pink), Red Bottom Sky, and Butterfly Paralyzed. (honorable mention: Chandelier) Something about how they make me feel calm while also having so much going on sonically really makes me happy and at peace listening to them. thats all fairly new though. to really understand how he's evolved, give Unknown Death 2002 a listen and then come back to some of the stuff off starz and Stardust

great video! my 3 essential Yung lean songs would be Kyoto, agony, and Miami ultras

1. Solarflare 2. Sunrise Angel 3. Stay Down extra recommendations. Highway Patrol, Leanworld, Ice Cold Smoke

I’d say 3 songs to listen by Lean are Kyoto, Red Bottom Sky and Hennessy & Sailor Moon. Honorable mentions: Ginseng Strip 2002, Yoshi City, Agony, Miami Ultras, Boylife In EU.

most important songs are agony - ginseng strip - hotel in minsk

Red Bottom Sky, Starz, Kyoto, Yoshi City, Miami Ultras, Hennessy & Sailor Moon, Agony, Boylife in the EU, Bliss

Listened to your album. Really enjoyed it and i understand the similarities you made to this music. And i think it kinda has the same essence. very cool

Drain Gang is Bladee, Ecco2K, Thaiboy Digital, and Whitearmor. Sad Boys is Yung Lean and Gud. Yung Sherman is part of both collectives I think.

imo the most important lean songs are diamonds, agony, and bender++girlfriend are the 3 that really got me into him after listening; i wouldnt say that these songs are necessarily his most influential, but i think they start to show his evolution as an artist. miami ultras and diamonds are definitely interchangeable to show his earlier stages

imo volt, roses and classic ginseng strip 2002. you can pick kyoto for either one of them or just listen to all of them :D

my personal favorite lean songs: 1. Red Bottom Sky 2. Yayo 3. Boylife in EU HM to Hoover which is still such a unique track in his discog

Please make a video recapping your full journey through all the Drain Gang/Sadboys albums and how your understanding of the music has changed.

Yung Lean songs: diamonds, afganastan, motorola, lightsaber, roses, ice cold smoke, king of darkness, crystal city, wasted, taipei, dont go, muddy sea, iceman, monster, volt, Gatorade, vfiles live set --- review all those -- for a fair review of Leany the Legend

21:07 "pupils getting bigger" not puke ahahaha

Ginseng Strip 2002, Oreomilkshake, and Hurt are mint OG Lean, with Yoshi City, Kyoto, and Hennessy & Sailor Moon being a little older but still bang.

Agony Put Me In A Spell Starz

Ginseng Strip 2002 is the essential and most influential cut, Kyoto is his best song by far in my opinion and either Red Bottom Sky/ Agony to get a feel for his progression

In Lips the line he’s saying is actually “pupils getting bigger”

Thanks for this video, I really enjoyed it :)

Top 3 essentials 1. Agony 2. Boylife in EU 3. Miami Ultras

Red bottom sky, Ginseng Strip 2002, and agony are the 3 vital yung lean songs

"Sad Boys = Yung Lean, Gud, Yung Sherman Drain Gang (aka Gravity Boys Shield Gang) = Bladee, Ecco2k, Thaiboy Digital, Whitearmor, Yung Sherman. They're both from Stockholm and longtime friends and collaborators." Taken from Reddit ^ Also I appreciate your immediate interest in Yung Lean, after listening to a few more of his songs like you asked from the comments I think the documentary "Yung Lean: In My Head" which released just a lil over a year ago would be up your alley, it's over on the Noisey RU-vid channel.

I think its really cool that you're trying to understand "the vibe" (as cringe as it sounds), because iv'e experienced myself where i try to show someone something i see as incredible music, but they immediatly write it off because of a few goofy flexing type lyrics. But for most young people thats not a problem, its just a way of incorporating everything that other pop style music is doing i ntheir music. Anyway, i'm not going to suggest yung leans songs because everyone else has already done that, but i'd like to suggest some albums that i think can help understand "vibe". 1. The life of Pi'erre 4 by Pi'erre bourne: mixtape which for me honestly only have few songs that i would put on by itself or add to a playlist, but the whole thing is really good, and it does the weird thing that yung lean also does by mixing goofy puns and flexing bars with some sort of real emotion. 2. Icedancer by Bladee: also a mixtape type fluent album mixing being in a dark place with a hopeful future while simultaneously flexing in a semi-ironic way, while also using some amazing atmosherical production that kinda blends into his voice. 3. Watch my back by Lucki: super dark album which even though its about substance abuse seems to appeal to a lot of young people on the internet, it has sometimes no apparent writing or hooks, and is almost like getting inside this guys head or diary in a way where it feels like he's admitting something personal while also trying to push you away. Alright sorry for the rambling, have a nice day

1. Agony 2. Hennessy and Sailor Moon 3. Hurt

His album, Warlord, is a must listen

The top 3 Yung lean songs you should listen to: red bottom sky agony Boylife in eu

29:54 "I was at the peak of my physical beauty and charisma" It gets better than this? Damn Prof Skye was a modern day Adonis

Definitely a lot of different responses for this since there's so much music. Mine are Bender++girlfriend, Butterfly Paralyzed, and Blue Plastic

Kyoto Hennessy & Sailor Moon Agony + Violence if you wanna hear more Not super super familiar with Lean but I think these 3 (+ Violence) are pretty exemplary of Lean’s evolution musically in all ways. Great video!

Hoover, Yellowman and My agenda are my favourites

I LOVE LEAN! I LOVE SKYE

red bottom sky, yellowman, starz, and pikachu are my favorites from his last 2 albums

Love these videos dude c:

Certified Sadboy recommendations, Agony, Miami Ultras and Kyoto

If you want some good Norwegian language rap I can recommend Lars Vaular, Karpe and Cezinando. For what it's worth I also make music in Norwegian, but I have a hard time recommending myself.

okay three Yung Lean songs: Gatorade Miami Ultras Agony

Plz listen to Starz it’s my favorite yunglean project and is different due to a very high production and psychedelic vibe

You should check out Yung Lean's other music. He has this kind of folk-esque music under the name Johnaton Leandoer96 and then he has swedish rock music under Dod mark.

a lot of the accomplishments yung lean gets credited for can be traced back to Lil B, i would recommens checking out 6 Kiss as it's the first landmark to come out of the cloudy internet rap wave

Hello Professor. I thought about your homework assignment and the nature of your request (besides the video engagement metrics). I hope the following outline will help you understand the 2003 Tokyo phenomenon. I picked out three songs I feel exemplify the unique dynamics that allowed a baby-faced boy from a middle-class family coming of age in a wealthy Scandinavian country to fly in the face of propriety which is accustomed to defining the typical disadvantaged background that normally pervades the mainstream hip-hop essence and permits the rap artists' authenticity and legitimacy within the genre. Gatorade Lightsaber // Saviour Hurt In my opinion these works are the seminal influence and moreover, serve as the perfect representation of the cheeky, coy, and ironic portrayal of the era he embraced like an untapped resource.

Red Bottom Sky, Agony, Hennessy & Sailor Moon

Love your video!!! On "Lips" he says "Pupils getting bigger" not "Puke" 💚🌹💚

Yung lean had a tape called “neal yung” kinda funny play on words. I’ve also heard lean described as a modem frank zappa.

Thaiboi, Ecco and Bladee make Drain. Yung Gud, Lean sherman make sad boys. but they link often. lean is the only vocalist in Sad Boys. it’s not puke, it’s pupils Love how you understand Carti, Carti/Lean have a song together that have not been released Great work again

If you like hearing them sing in swedish you should check out “som jag” by dj billybool (thaiboy digital) featurint bladee, and “vit sprit” by Dod mark (yung leans punk band) 😊

my three would be: Yoshi City bender++girlfriend Boylife in EU

my top 3 Yung Lean songs are: Gatorade, Kyoto, Miami Ultras

3D SPACESHIP , oreo milkshake, Visions Of U .

I actually do find that Yung Leans music is particularly impactful because, when you learn about his life, it is clear that he has really struggled. Lean actually suffered a psychotic break when his manager passed away and i believe he was in a mental hospital for a couple months. Some of his music after this period of his life delves into this experience, albeit ambiguously. Agony from the album stranger, is the best example of this and is a yung lean essential. I also think warlord, the album he was creating during his drug fueled trip to miami that would result in psychosis, is really interesting in that he projects this larger than life persona but there are underlying aspects of some of the music that reveals feelings of anger and depression that preceded the breakdown.

If you're liking that europop/hiphop mash up, I would reccomend you check out Tommy Cash. His song "X-Ray" is so epic, actually his whole album ¥€$ is fantastic.

Great review! Definitely would recommend Billy Woods newest album Aethiopes

16:10 Icy like seaworld could be a ref to dirty fanta, aka lean juice or the pink diamonds/cartier references from the other tracks too. Fame and drugs, in a double entendre perhaps? _Edit: I thought that he could be referencing a whale too, as he makes a link to crypto in a later track too. It's all connected and cross referenced, I've found!_ Also, really enjoying the content, I'll be sticking around