Blackbear

blackbear
Background information
Birth name	Matthew Tyler Musto
Born	(1990-11-27) November 27, 1990 Daytona Beach, FL, U.S.
Origin	Los Angeles, California
Genres	Alternative hip hop Hip hop R&B Rap Soul Pop
Occupation(s)	Recording Artist Singer Rapper Songwriter Record Producer
Labels	Beartrap records
Associated acts	G Eazy Justin Bieber James Blake Mike Posner Devon Baldwin Hoodie Allen Travis Mills Mod Sun Tokyo Police Club Machine Gun Kelly Palisades (band) Olivia O'Brien Tinashe Relient K Skizzy Mars Billie Ellish Gnash Big Time Rush The Janoskians
Website	beartrap.la

Matthew Tyler Musto (born November 27, 1990), best known professionally as blackbear, is an American hip hop recording artist, singer, songwriter and record producer. blackbear is best known for his rap and R&B-oriented music.^[1] He has collaborated with several musical artists such as Justin Bieber, G Eazy, Mike Posner, James Blake, Maejor Ali, Machine Gun Kelly, Mod Sun, Rivers Cuomo, Childish Gambino, and Pharrell Williams.^[2] He made his mark in the industry after writing the hit "Boyfriend" by Justin Bieber.

Blackbear has over 100 million plays on Soundcloud and has garnered success in the underground music scene.^[3] He is an independent artist based in Los Angeles, CA.

Blackbear took his talents to new levels when he formed a production collective called beartrap records. The label includes fellow producers Rad Cat, Tarro and Sevnth. Like Blackbear, beartrap records is most recognized for melodic, smooth tones and edgy aesthetic.

Early life

Musto was born on November 27, 1990 in Daytona Beach, Florida. He was discovered as promising talent from an early age as a rock-leaning singer-songwriter, who grew up playing in garage bands. Musto earned his GED while on tour. He was discovered in 2008 by talent manager Tabari Francis and later connected with manager Mister who runs Compound Entertainment, an artist incubator started by recording artist Ne-Yo. Musto then moved to Atlanta, Georgia at age 18 and spent two years developing his sound and learning from hit writers like Sam Hook, Maejor and Ne-yo.

At 20, Musto moved to Los Angeles and re-invented himself as a rapper and R&B oriented singer.

Career

2012–2014: Early career

Blackbear co-wrote Justin Bieber's "Boyfriend",^[4] a number two hit on the Billboard 100 in early 2012. Intent on pursuing a career as a rapper and R&B singer, Blackbear released his debut mixtape "Sex" with collaborations from fellow "Boyfriend" co-writer Mike Posner, James Blake and Maejor Ali.^[5] He also appeared on MGK's Lace Up. He released his second EP, The Afterglow, on April 20, 2014.^[6] This landed Blackbear as number four on Billboard's Uncharted listing of releases from upcoming artists.^[7]

In 2014, Blackbear became the first independent artist to monetize off Soundcloud.^[8]

2015: Deadroses and Help

blackbear in 2016

Blackbear made waves with his first full-length album, Deadroses, a self-released set of 10 tracks. The lead single, "Idfc", is approaching gold on Billboard's R&B Hot 100 and has consistently held a spot on the Billboard R&B charts for over a year. The track has earned millions of streams on both SoundCloud and Spotify. The second single, "90210", featuring G-Eazy has over 11 million streams on Soundcloud^[9] and over 9 million streams on Spotify.^[10]Deadroses was soon followed by an EP, Dead, which features acoustic versions of Deadroses tracks, as well as one new track.^[11][12]

He released his second full-length album, Help, on November 27, 2015.^[13] The album features tracks such as "Different Hos," "Verbatim," "Help," "Where Was U?," "Nervous," "Slide Thru," and "Don't Stop." "Different Hos" has been featured on celebrity Kylie Jenner's Snapchat several times. blackbear's music video for "Slide Thru" caught significant attention on Twitter and Youtube for its Wes Anderson vibes through its whimsical, colorful videography.

2016–present: Drink Bleach, Cashmere Noose, and other projects

blackbear performs at UC Irvine

Blackbear released his fourth EP, Drink Bleach, on April 20, 2016.^[14]

In 2016, Blackbear joined Hoodie Allen's 'Happy Camper' tour with Super Duper Kyle & Tinashe's "Aquarius" tour.

Blackbear's track "NYLA" was featured in Hot Girls Wanted on Netflix produced by Rashida Jones.^[15]

His most recent EP, titled Cashmere Noose,^[16] was released on August 2, 2016 via Soundcloud. Production was entirely handled by Blackbear through his production collective beartrap records. The project has 6 tracks and includes a feature from Mod Sun.

Upcoming projects

Blackbear's "Over You" Part 1 tour will begin December 2 in DC, December 3 in NY, December 6 in Boston and December 9 in Philadelphia.

Blackbear is currently working on Mansionz, a soulful hip hop project with spoken word influence.^[17] This is a collaboration with Mike Posner and recently signed to Island Records. They've only dropped one track called "stfu" ft. Spark Master Tape.^[18] The full length album is set to release in 2017.

Linkin Park has brought on Blackbear to add extra production to their newest album. The release date has not been set.^[19]

Influences

Major influences include Tupac, Bill Withers, Alkaline Trio, City and Colour, New Found Glory, the Postal Service, Weezer, Sublime, David Bazan, Craig David, Morrissey (The Smiths), Nelly, Radiohead, R Kelly, Ne-yo, Kanye West, Monica, Usher, Aaliyah, Jodeci, Drake and Ashanti.

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Mixtapes

Writing, production and feature credits

References