Turtleneck sweater, durag and gold chain. A 16-year-old wispy boy is standing in the snow, singing about the love of his life and a broken heart. His melancholic lyrics melt into the sound of damped 80’s drum machines. Mystical blurred voices in the background. It’s the camcorder taped music video of Spooky Black’s first single “Without You”, which came out on YouTube about a year ago. Since then, a lot has changed for the teen from Minnesota.
Within the past few months, the young singer did not just get a huge following on SoundCloud, but also published his second EP “Leaving” and teamed up with HipHop and RnB collective “The Stand4rd”. Since his music video went viral, a lot of people wondered if his voice is a studio-based illusion. After going on tour and playing some sold-out gigs, it turns out: This boy can sing for real. But it’s not just the range of his voice that is fascinating – it’s this beautifully dark world, the feeling of social isolation and acoustic depression that his songs bring with them. Because music makes most sense when you’re sad.
By Bela-Tess Wind
