Benjamin Reichwald (born 9 April 1994), known professionally as Bladee, is a Swedish rapper, singer, record producer, designer, and member of the artistic collective Drain Gang. Reichwald has released music through the Stockholm record label Year0001[1] since his debut mixtape Gluee in 2014. In addition to his music, Reichwald creates visual art, which frequently appears as cover art for his releases.[2][3] Reichwald also serves as the creative director for Yung Lean's clothing line Sadboys Gear.[4]
Bladee | |
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 Bladee in 2016 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Benjamin Reichwald |
| Born | 9 April 1994 Stockholm, Sweden |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
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| Years active | 2011–present |
| Labels | |
| Member of | |
Early life
Benjamin Reichwald[5] was born 9 April 1994[6] in Stockholm, Sweden[6] and was raised mainly in the Skanstull area.[7] It was here where, in 2004, he met Zak Arogundade, also known as Ecco2K. The two were classmates and formed a punk band named Krossad (Swedish for 'crushed') when Reichwald was 13, which led to Reichwald's interest in music.[7][5][8]
After leaving school, Reichwald began to get into making music whilst working at a daycare centre.[9]
Career
Music
Reichwald released a few tracks in 2011 under the name Ken Burns,[10][11][12] but properly began releasing music in 2012. He eventually became friends with 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 his own 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 him attention from Lean's fanbase.[13]
Reichwald released his debut mixtape, Gluee in 2014 on the Year0001 label[14] which was described as the "summertime anthem for a suburban generation stuck scrolling through Twitter."[9] The mixtape was successful on the audio distribution platform SoundCloud, racking up over 2 million plays.[15] This mixtape, coupled with several singles going viral and features on Yung Lean's debut mixtape Unknown Death 2002 was able to rocket Bladee into underground hip hop fame.[16]
Reichwald released his debut album, Eversince on 25 May 2016.[17] The album received mixed reviews from mainstream outlets, but was well received by underground and experimental critics.[18][19] In 2017, Reichwald teamed up with production group Working on Dying to release his second mixtape, named after the group. The next year, his second album, Red Light, released.[20]
Reichwald's third mixtape, Icedancer, was released 28 December 2018. This album was executively produced by Australian collective Ripsquadd featuring production from Whitearmor and PJ Beats.[21] In April 2020, Reichwald released EXETER, a nine-song album he recorded whilst in Gotland with Gud. It is the first Bladee project produced by Gud on the Year0001 label.[22]
In July 2020, Reichwald released his fourth album and second project of 2020, 333 via Year0001. The album was produced primarily by Whitearmor, with additional production coming from close collaborators Gud, Mechatok, and Lusi (Ripsquadd member), as well as Joakim Benon of the Swedish band JJ. Notable is the absence of any vocal features, especially of longtime collaborator and fellow Drain Gang member Ecco2K, who contributed to the previous 3 Bladee albums.[23]
In December 2020, Reichwald released his third and final project of 2020, a collaborative album with the producer Mechatok entitled Good Luck via Year0001. Both Reichwald and Mechatok performed all of the tracks on the album as well as an additional set from Mechatok in a livestreamed performance on 10 December, the same day the album was released.[24]
In May 2021, Reichwald released his fifth solo album, The Fool via Year0001.[25] The album was executively produced by frequent collaborator Lusi.
In January 2022, Reichwald released the single Amygdala in collaboration with Ecco2k and Mechatok.[26] That same year, a collaborative project, Crest, with Ecco2K was released via Year0001 in March. The project was recorded in spring 2020.[27]
On 30 September 2022, Reichwald released Spiderr.[28] In January 2023, Bladee featured on the Skrillex song Real Spring.[29] Seven months later in August 2023, he released the songs Victorious and Bullets with Yung Lean.[30]
Reichwald and Yung Lean released Psykos, a surprise album, on 13 March 2024.[31] Reichwald released Cold Visions, also a surprise album, on 23 April 2024.[32]
Art and fashion
In July 2018, Reichwald and fellow Drain Gang member Ecco2K walked Alyx Studio's S/S 2019 menswear show in Paris, on invitation from Matthew Williams.[33]
During July and August 2021, Reichwald exhibited his first solo collection of paintings Real Sprin9 at the Residence Gallery in London.[34]
In September 2021, Reichwald released a capsule Drain Gang collection in collaboration with the American-Swedish clothing brand GANT.[35]
In 2023, Reichwald collaborated with fellow Swedish artist Jonas Rönnberg (Varg2™) for their first art exhibition, "Fucked for Life," held at The Hole in New York.[36] The exhibition featured a series of unique paintings, merging traditional and contemporary art styles, created using both traditional and unconventional tools. The artistic process mirrored their collaborative approach in music, with the paintings reflecting the fleeting moments of the digital age. This venture further established Bladee's multifaceted career in music, visual art, and design.
Musical style
Reichwald has described his style as "pain" though saying, as of 2018, he had "evolved into some sort of auto-tuned dark angel".[37] He often experiments, incorporating various genres. He has stated that he finds the process therapeutic.[7]
In an interview with Reichwald, Jack Angell, a music writer for The Fader, described Reichwald's sound as "frostbitten futurism" and remarked that Reichwald's music evokes "a wide spectrum of emotion".[7] He has received attention for his collaborations and live performances with Yung Lean.[38]
Reichwald has cited Chief Keef, Lil B, The Beach Boys, Basshunter, and James Ferraro as influences on his work.[39]
Discography
Studio albums
- Eversince (2016)
- Red Light (2018)
- Exeter (2020)
- 333 (2020)
- Good Luck (2020) (with Mechatok)
- The Fool (2021)
- Crest (2022) (with Ecco2K)
- Spiderr (2022)[40]
Mixtapes
- Gluee (2014)
- Working on Dying (2017)
- Icedancer (2018)
- Cold Visions (2024)
Extended plays
- Rip Bladee (2016)
- Plastic Surgery (2017)
- Sunset in Silver City (2018)
- Exile (2018)
- Vanilla Sky (2019)
- Requiem (2023)
Collaborative projects
- GTBSG Compilation (2013) (with Thaiboy Digital, Ecco2K, Yung Lean, Whitearmor, Yung Sherman)
- AvP (2016) (with Thaiboy Digital)
- D&G (2017) (with Ecco2k, Thaiboy Digital)
- Trash Island (2019) (with Ecco2k, Thaiboy Digital)
- Crest (2022) (with Ecco2K)
- Psykos (2024) (with Yung Lean)
Singles
- "Into Dust" (2014)
- "Dragonfly" (2014)
- "Destroy Me" (2017)
- "Gotham City" (2017) (with Yung Lean)
- "Sesame Street" (2018)
- "I Chose to Be This Way" (2018) (with 16yrold, Skys)
- "Trash Star" (2019)
- "Apple" (2019)
- "Undergone" (2020) (with Ssaliva)
- "Amygdala" (2022) (with Ecco2k, Mechatok)
- "Som Jag" (2022) (with DJ Billybool)
- "Drain Story" (2022)
- "Real Spring" (2023) (with Skrillex)
- "Ceremony" (2023) (with Skrillex and Yung Lean)
- "Victorious" (2023) (with Yung Lean)
- "Bullets" (2023) (with Yung Lean)
- "Requiem" (2023) (with Thaiboy Digital)
- "Obsessed with Death" (2023)
- "TL;DR" (2024) (with Ecco2k, Thaiboy Digital)
References
External links
- Bladee discography at Discogs
- Year0001 Official