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Glad you didn't say that he popularised bucket hats and vaporwave. So many videos say that, and it's just so stupid. He did a lot more for culture (like inventing Sweden).
Right...Macintosh Plus along with a Fantano review popularized vaporwave...and Schoolboy Q popularized bucket hats...but let's be honest, Lean did bring those aesthetics to an audience that probably wouldn't have found it otherwise
I went to a Yung Lean concert in the 10th or 11th grade. Must’ve been about 2015. He was about an hour late to do his set which lasted for all of 20 minutes and was just mumbling with absolutely none of his hits being played. One of the best times of my life honestly.
That’s wild! I saw him in 2014 on the Unknown Memory tour in Seattle, and he played a full set and absolutely killed it. My friends and I stood outside in the rain for an hour after the show to meet him. Crazy to think he was only 18 at the time. He was a super nice guy too.
Seeing a Yung Lean music video for the first time in Summer 2013...it wasn't like finding OFWGKTA in 2010 or listening to Live.Love.A$AP in 2011...it really did feel a little bit more futuristic and alien...
It also felt like you were the only one who listened to it along with a bunch of anons online. It made you feel nostalgic for a memory that had yet to happen. Somehow you got it, without having to "get" it.
Miami Ultras genuinely changed my outlook on life and drugs. The music video of him digging his own grave hit me so deeply it genuinely gives me shivers just thinking about the beat.
Many say that his prime is behind him, his “time in the spotlight” but I tell you all now. His peak hasn’t even began yet. That man is going to enter his genius phase one day and drop some genre breaking game changer that will flip the gang. Viva Los SadBoys
I taught high school Digital Design to 9th thru 12th as a 25/26 year old in 2014/2015. I was also a well known “retired” rapper in my small town so a lot of the students would bring their favorite artists in for me to listen to (it started as a meme and them teasing and quickly turned into a Friday tradition). As a STUDENT of hip hop growing up, I completely related with their passion and excitement and loved seeing them light up while exposing someone older, someone “new” to their favorite artists. I found out about Yung Lean, suicide boys, death grips, grimes and so many alternative and indie artists and groups. I also got to share a ton of artists that they’d never heard of that some of them ended up really appreciating.
The reason why I'm such a huge fan of Mr. Lean's work is that I feel like I grew up with him through listening to his music. When Unknown Death dropped, I was a Sophomore in high school, and I still haven't found my clique. I became fascinated with the Solarflare music video, and Lean's Bape hoodie from that music video got me into fashion. A few months later, Yoshi City dropped, and the song got me into music production. I feel like I owe a lot to Yung Lean and his crew because they made me the person that I am today. Seeing his growth from Unknown Death to Unknown Memory to the later albums is super inspiring. His music is truly an art, and I can't wait to see what he has in store for us.
lean is so incredibly fucking relatable, well except being a rapper part when he first blew up in 2013 i knew this was it, i was sad angsty lonely depressed and never left the house later i started living a fantasy, i turned my life 180, what i thought was for good, i was popular even but i spent years in a drug fueled rage, i was dragging down others around me, i suffered so much and i lost my best friend finally, i went to rehab, got back to my parents place, i get therapy, focus on mental health, work on my traumas, i even began gender transition, which something ive always wanted, but never got the courage to do
Kyoto remains as one of the most ahead of it's time song i heard, and it translate to the music video with the crazy editing and effects that were yet to be seen until years later once the psychedelic themed music became mainstream by the hand of artists such as Kanye and Travis Scott. I'm glad one of my favorite artist is a study subject each time he drops.
Yung Lean is such an inspiration to every youngin’ from the the Nordic countries or Europe in general tbh. His story proves that any random kid from a ”random” European country can have global success.
Thank you for talking about whitearmor and gud, these dudes are probably some of the best producers ever and I feel like people dont talk to about them enough. From making the insanely good early hits for lean and the awesome beats for drain gang as well I feel like their contribution is unparalleled into what yung lean and drain gang have become today
As a bipolar person who has had manic episodes, I find comfort in the themes in Lean's music. It reminds me that even when things are hazy and confusing you can find meaning in chaos.
As someone who discovered yung lean ginseng strip during my 1st acid trip and learning his influence from a friend back in 2013 it blew my mind how important he is culturally now so this is refreshing to see thank you
I really think the appeal for me with bladee and lean is that the vocals are very relatable you dont feel like hes trying to perform but more so get something out of his head fr no frills and that why i love these guys
I feel that. Ecco said in a recent interview with FACE that they dont care to entertain anyone and they dont like marketing themselves because they wouldn’t be happy with that. So really everything they create, they stay true to themselves.
a few days ago i went to a technology store and yung lean was pumping out the speakers... felt so weird but so right at the same time hearing his music play in the mainstream
Lean early on found ways to connect realities that shouldn’t really be together. The mind of young creator, scrambling through 100s of references managing to paint pictures with the help of wondrous sound. In the US it’s all money/hoes/clothes, Yung Lean was opposite, melancholic. He was able to paint pictures about himself & in Leanworld the imagery of going through a Disney like kingdom was what really hit me as a listener. Sound & idea melded so perfectly together that a shared dream was achieved. Listening now, it’s gnarly to look back at the topics he touched on. What originally was loud & in your face, seems the opposite. Yung Lean, the sadboys are all craftsmen that were uniquely themselves in a world of stealing styles & copying beats.
I recall him being pretty big back when I was in high school. Everyone was bumping his shit but I didn't lol I still haven't heard anything from him yet but I'll check it out.
awesome video. u should make a video about black kray/sickboyrari and his influence on trap..1 of the most underrated yet influential artists in rap...
you deserve alot more subs mate, this quality/execution and authenticity is a genuine find. hope this message finds you. Hope creating content like this makes you happy because it is a treat for us viewers! love from Australia
A couple of days ago a friend of mine met him in a restaurant in Stockholm and asked him to say hello for me on camera. She told me he was nice and even a bit shy. I’ve been listening to him for a long time and quite often, knew some separate stories from his life, but this event made me find out a bit more about his life story and understand how much this person changed in the industry. Thank you for the video
Finally someone to shed light on Lean after a long time, imo he will always stay underrated, but I like it that not everyone listens to him, the music stays underground in a way.. Been a fan since Kyoto came out
really good job on this video man i have been sad and drained since the beginning and this is the only video like this that has not made me mad as far as people covering these guys
Just found your channel man. This video is dope. Cant wait to get more into your uploads. You are super knowledgeable and get your ideas across in a super easy way to understand. "I'd rather you hate me for who I am, than love me for who I am not." That is such a great quote and not corny at all.
Thanks for the vid.I grew up with lean, I’m 2 years younger than him, started with unknown memory and listened to all of his projects. Overall I think the most mature and most musically sound album has to be starz it feels less rough more mainstream and is still true to form. My favourite album is probably poison ivy, I can loose myself in the dreamy vocals and cloudy beats, I can dance to and play some tracks from PI at parties. Overall lean has been with me since the age of 16, listening to his old projects feels like being a teenager in the summer and smoking way too much weed with my friends. Listening to his more mature albums (everything from frost god) is like a coming of age story for me I can always tell in which stage of life I’ve been and what I did when I listened to a new lean album. In a time where quarter life crisise are a thing and everyone texts instead of talks, our genoration has their very own problems and lean can bring them to a common denominator. Oh and Boylife in EU is so relatable for most of 20-25 yr old europeans.
i got goosebumps reading this because i relate to it so much. i think thats why so many people love yung lean. its because we grew up with him and saw him become the person he is today
I've been a fan of lean's for years and its weird to me people are JUST catching on, especially with Starz and unknown death, I thought those records would have been a smash as far as popularity but not a lot of people talked about it compared to how much he's discussed now.
I think his music is just a bit too ahead of its time for the mainstream to pick up on it straight away. When I first listened to his music from 2013 in 2016, it felt futuristic and new and from a generation younger than me that I didn't quite understand. He's ahead of his time and his time is now slowly catching up.
Nobody will tell it straight up, but: he was a weirdo and not popular in the start. That means normies hate it because its not part of the status quo and they can't play it at parties, because then ur associating with a wierdo. Now it hit a tipping point of popularity and positivity where those same people will tell you how they didnt understand it at first, and they didnt listen to it correctly (this just means you didnt want to be associated with him) or even have the nerve of telling others they always loved him and yappa yappa, they are so weak and they sicken me. This video sickens me as well, make this 8 years earlier and you get my respect, but now ur bandwagoning.
I think why stars is seen as “boring” is because I see it as lean accepting what happened and how he can’t go back but is still here and all to do is keep going forward and hoping for the future
Thank you for making this video. For yung lean fans this is the voice we needed. Despite knowing this story already, it nearly brings me to tears hearing it again, without knowing anything about me he has changed my life beyond comprehension. Sadboys and DG forever
10 years latter and Yung Lean still making music and still remains original. I got nothing but love for him. Also buy every album of his to show support and care
Seeing a Yung Lean music for the first time in Summer 2014. When I was 14 . Yung Lean change my childhood, change my mind about rap. Change me when i broken. Tank you Yung Lean.
i think a lot of artists who are known for “sad rap”/ discuss deep dark topics end up getting a bad rep when they no longer make that type of music. lean obviously, cudi, earl, mac (at least when he was alive). it’s sad to see, as artists drew from their personal life, feelings and mental state to have made the music those people once loved. people say “i need this person to start doing drugs again” or “i need this person to get their heart broken again”. i get its jokes but artists aren’t robots built for our amusement, they’re people like us who share their talent to the world.
i feel like starz is like a somber reflectioon of his past and accepting he isnt in that place in life anymore, and for future albums i feel hes going to become EVEN more creative because of that acceptance.
My first concert ever was a Yung Lean concert in Brooklyn, back in 2014. It was so lit, you had no choice but to jump around with the rest of the crowd. At the end of the night everyone bum-rushed the staged for the last song. Imagine jamming out on stage with Lean for your 1st concert 🤩
As a huge yung lean fan, I wanna say that this is one of the best yl videos i've seen on youtube. You didn't try to categorize him and you did well on going all threw his career (main releases) in a short 15min youtube format. I relate on how you describe all his different eras, showing the interesting parts of them and the global evolution of his music. Once again a great video man !
awesome video i felt some of your points were a little vague and at times it went off topic but i really enjoyed how much you were able to find out about his life
Holy sh*t, this story moved me I love the way you told the story with the way you worded it and delivered it, you portrayed the story in just the right way to move me emotionally. Thank you
Yung Leans story is truly fascinating. It's strange, but he's not really all that big in Sweden, even though, as I too see it, he really did leave a significant mark on the direction that rap was heading at the time. I'm honestly just glad that he's doing fine today and that he still is here to light up our presence and that he's still making msuic.
he got influence for sure esp in cloud rap and internet music but his fans will say that the world changed with his breakout like no that was just a viral youtube video 😭 n then theyll give him credit for sumn somebody else already did before
I really wanna hear the story behind that photo of Yung Lean at the Donda listening party. Like, has Kanye ever sat down and watched through Yung Lean videos? The idea is hilarious to me.
Why wouldn’t he have done that, Yung Lean’s worked with Travis, frank ocean, and other artists that are connected to Kanye, I’m sure he was already familiar with yung lean prior to a possible Donda 2 feature
I understand what you mean when you say that lean’s music isn’t identifiable with time or space but I also somewhat disagree on that point. I found myself listening to him more in the autumn and winter since much of his music really fit the glimmering Swedish winters with both the snow and darkness it brings. Listening to lean in a snowy Stockholm is definitely a “aesthetic” where at least I can identify the music with a time and place.
It's crazy to see people make the claim that he paved the way for modern rap when he was clearly influenced by the artists that had his sound years before him. Namely, Lil B. His lyrics may not have been "sad" but the instrumentals and cadence are definitely where Yung Lean's was derived from.
