OH LOOK, YET ANOTHER GENRE-BENDING ARTIST... y'all gotta be sick of these features at this point. If you find yourself saying "just give us someone who sticks to one genre!" I'm sorry, but it's gonna be a little slow. So with that said, I'd like to introduce Britain's Bakar, an act some may have heard of, but likely don't know his full offering.
As is with most genrebenders, Bakar takes a bit of this, and a bit of that, when creating his songs. In his case, his influences generally range across indie and alternative rock to rap, but in some cases, also take inspiration from punk. You'd never guess this if you only know about Hell N Back, his most well-known song. But, if you give his début album, Badkid, any sort of listen, you'll quickly recognize Bakar as an artist whose style is not having a style. As he describes it himself, his music is "schizophrenic." Considering his mission is to literally "bridge the gap," Bakar might just be the most overlap-y feature The Overlap will ever find.
As a singer, Bakar's voice isn't likely to blow anyone away, but it fits his style of non-style almost perfectly. It's soft enough for him to make some great indie tracks. It's smooth enough that it can float over rap beats. And tt's gritty enough that it works on his punk inspired songs. I never come away thinking that his voice did all the heavy lifting, but when I take a step back, I can't help but be impressed by its incredible versatility.
BADlands is a perfect example of his diversity. The style he implements on song's verses and chorus completely contrast one another. Verses -- emphasize significant punk traits, and his voice has a certain level of aggression and roughness to it that's really only seen in this genre. On the other hand, the chorus' are much more melodic, and almost soothing. Not sure I can say either are perfectly executed, but the song's overall impact is absolutely the result of his ability to jump from one to the other so effortlessly.
What the future holds for Bakar will honestly come down to what he wants it to. His talent is evident and his wide range of music will appeal to the masses, but naturally his style is bound to move one way or another. Just my personal belief: punk music had its shine in the late 90s and early 2000s. While it may be regaining some popularity, I just don't see it ever recapturing that market share it had back in the genre's golden age. For that reason alone, popularity wise, it may make sense for him to lean heavier on his indie- and rap-influenced songs. Then again, this is an artist who clearly has a strong affinity to do it all. If he keeps it up his unique way, he may miss out on mainstream stardom, but he'll continue to cultivate a loyal ass fan base, of which I'll for sure remain apart of.
PERSONAL FAVORITES: BADlands, Ctrl Alt Del, Chill, Stop Selling Her Drugs (feat. Dominic Fike)
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