//EMERY DAVIS//

“I’m sick of taking drugs and feeling bad. I swear to God, I’m gonna change.”

In previous albums, 28-year-old Matthew Musto discussed the high-life of Hollywood, drug addictions, emotions, nostalgia, love, and heartbreak. However, with a new album comes new topics and new concepts. On Apr. 26, R&B artist who goes by the stage name “blackbear,” dropped his fifth studio album ANONYMOUS to the world.

In the album, blackbear opens-up to expose a softer and more apologetic side of him to tug on your heartstrings. Rather than his hostile front that sometimes shines through in songs, like “i miss the old u” and “do re mi,” he shows the community more of his fragile side. In the song, “1 SIDED LOVE”, Musto lets listeners into his love life to reveal the issues he faces with his significant other while “SWEAR TO GOD” is almost a call for help to battle his drug addictions.

Though this album exposes a new side of Musto, some songs still include a little taste of his older works where he flaunts his wealthy lifestyle. The sound of blackbear’s classic composition can be exemplified in the tenth track of the album, “BURNT AF”. Not only do some songs sound like the music the public is used to getting from him, but one song is actually a remastered version of the song “NYLA” which was originally released in 2013.

Overall, ANONYMOUS is a very honest and respectable album, all about change, strength, and growth. Blackbear’s new album brought new and unfamiliar sounds into his style, while still managing to keep his own unique sound. Even though this album was just recently dropped, fans are buzzing for even more content from blackbear. The album tour will be launched mid-May and will take Blackbear’s music across the U.S. all the way through June.