Matthew Tyler Musto, better known as blackbear, made a name for himself when he co-wrote one of Justin Bieber’s biggest hits ‘Boyfriend’ back in 2012. He was the tender age of 21 at the time, and hasn’t looked back since.
With numerous singles, mixtapes, EP’s, and other albums released over the years, as well as a casual 2.8 million Instagram followers who have been patiently awaiting his fifth album ‘Everything Means Nothing’ to arrive, this Florida raised artist has sure been busy making waves in the industry…but we’ll let his discography do the talking.
The Beginning
Dropping out of high school to focus on music when his punk-rock band Polaroid started to take off, he moved from Florida to Atlanta in 2008 after being scouted by Ne-Yo.
It wasn’t long before he started to make a name for himself, producing and releasing music under the pseudonym blackbear. It was during this time he firmly established himself as a musical triple threat from his creative work behind the scenes; revealing prolific talents across song writing, producing, and performing.
In 2014 he began cutting through the underground scene with the release of his moody EP ‘The Afterglow’. The EP premiered some of his jaded West Coast anthems like ‘Valley Girls’ and ‘Califormula’, and garnered so much attention that it kicked off monetisation on Soundcloud.
Deadroses (2015)
Released on Valentine’s Day, blackbear’s full length debut was host to some of his most familiar tracks to date, including the raw ‘idfc’ or one of his most streamed tracks ‘90210’ with frequent collaborator G-Eazy.
Tapping into his poppier side, ‘Deadroses’ was significantly more upbeat than his previous work and marked the beginning of a new era. His self-released debut garnered even more attention from critics who had been watching his rise since 2012, resulting in ‘Deadroses’ landing on the Billboard Hot R&B charts and staying there for over a year.
Digital Druglord (April 2017)
‘Digital Druglord’ was another successful studio album, and blackbear’s talent combined with high-quality production and resources resulted in one of his slickest works yet.
Breaking into the commercial charts with the icy break-up hit ‘do re mi’ and reaffirming his audacious attitude through the rest of the track list, starring songs like ‘wish u the best’ or ‘I miss the old u’, blackbear’s no f**ks attitude attracted listeners far and wide.
Merging indie pop, electronic, and R&B on one record, blackbear’s scope of talent was realised as he contrasted upbeat and electronic production with his taste for the dark and sordid hiding in his lyrics.
Cybersex (Nov 2017)
Released on his 27th birthday, ‘Cybersex’ was blackbear’s fourth mixtape – although with 14 tracks clocking in at 51 minutes and boasting some A-List features (Gucci Mane, T-Pain, and Tinashe just to name a few), ‘Cybersex’ felt like his first real commercial album.
‘Cybersex’ was a hedonistic venture, exploring the highs and lows of fame as he had done in the past. ‘Cybersex’ saw blackbear discover newfound confidence as singles like ‘Up In This’ with Tinashe or ‘Playboi Shit’ with Lil Aaron flaunted the life of the rich and famous with plenty of addictive bass-heavy party tunes.
Anonymous (April 2019)
Four years on from the release of the ‘Dead Roses’ LP, ‘Anonymous’ was also set for release on Valentine’s Day but was pushed back for finishing touches.
His longest album yet with 18 tracks, ‘Anonymous’ explored Blackbear’s more personal side, with lyrics detailing love, loss, and depression.
As he shared in a now-deleted Instagram post, he revealed to fans his gratitude for a second chance at life after facing health challenges as a result of his chronic pancreatitis. Only in his early twenties at the time, this was an unforeseen diagnosis that forced him to make serious lifestyle changes (he’s been candid about his drug and alcohol problems in the past), and the journey through these changes are reflected on with insightfulness throughout the album.
This album is also a personal favourite of blackbear’s himself, sharing online, “It’s my best work to date, so do not sleep on this album”.
Hot Girl Bummer – Single (2019)
An honourable mention has to be given to this catchy single that everyone was singing this Summer, with this cheeky middle-fingers-up tune putting blackbear on the radar of anyone who had missed him before. His biggest commercial hit to date, ‘Hot Girl Bummer’ climbed to 14 on the Billboard Hot 100, and is set to star on his forthcoming album.
‘Everything Means Nothing’ (2020)
While blackbear went on record back in 2017 as saying he only wanted to make a few more albums in his career, he doesn’t seem to be showing any sign of slowing down. Nearly four years sober and being a newfound family man (he welcomed the arrival of his son Midnight this January) as well as reaching newfound levels of fame after the success of ‘Hot Girl Bummer’, a lot has changed in his life between the release of ‘Anonymous’ and ‘Everything Means Nothing’. Deleting all of his Instagram posts and revealing a new pastel infused theme, it seems these changes will be reflected on the highly anticipated ‘Everything Means Nothing’.
blackbear’s new album cycle has well and truly begun with the release of ‘queen of broken hearts’ out now and the two-part album ‘Everything Means Nothing’ arriving Friday 17th July and Friday 21st August respectively.
SEE MORE: Blackbear drops a new music video for ‘hot girl bummer’
