Boslen Unleashes Boundary-Pushing EP ‘Gonzo’
Today (June 24), alternative hip-hop artist Boslen makes his return with the genre-blurring GONZO EP, out now via Chaos Club Digital/Capital Records. You can listen to the project here.
February’s braggadocio single ‘Levels’ was the first taste of the eclectic inventive project that we got from Bolsen. That was followed up by the Y2K-produced track ‘Fallen Star’ that was released in April. Boslen now takes us deeper into his world and swerves between even more visionary sounds on GONZO. Along with the record comes a cinematic emotional video for one of the EP’s standout tracks, ‘Gone.’ The self-reflecting Talha Pervaiz directed and Natasha Dion executive produced video was filmed in Boslen’s hometown of Vancouver, BC and is a testament to his artistry. You can watch the video here.
“I’m inspired by the artist Salvador Dalí. He would hold a fork in his hand and every time he fell asleep, he would drop the fork and wake up and immediately draw on a canvas in front of him. I thought it’s crazy that he’d push himself that far to create,” says Boslen. “That’s how I came up with the world of GONZO of how delusional you have to be for your art. You have to have delusional confidence to believe in yourself.”
Across the project’s seven tracks, the Vancouver-bred artist displays his versatility. Anthemic production in the aptly titled ‘Manic,‘ including soul-shaking 808s, is balanced by stripped-back bars “Way too many try to bleed for the fame,” he sings. Similarly defiant, both in sound and scope, the track ‘Levels‘ offers a brutal commentary on the pitfalls of idolatry. He recently performed the track live for UPROXX Sessions. Watch it here.
GONZO includes the aforementioned standout track ‘Gone.‘ It’s a raw track that allows Boslen room to be both boastful and vulnerable at once. When you say you hate me to all of your friends,” he softly sings, “Just don’t forget I still live in your head.” The visually striking video that accompanies it finds him trapped: wandering in a maze, sitting in the car while rain falls, and contemplating life in his bedroom. What starts as a slow-burning ballad slowly builds from acoustics to pulsating beats, mirroring his painful realization that he needs to move on — no matter how much it hurts.
GONZO TRACK LIST:
- Manic
- Levels
- Fallen Star (feat. Y2K)
- Heist
- Fiesta
- Gone
- Scars
Since his earliest releases, Motionless and Motionless II, Boslen’s evolution and self-awareness have been undeniable. His bars have only sharpened, and his confessional lyricism has become all the more evocative in the four years since those formative days in Victoria. His 2021 project ‘DUSK to DAWN‘ solidified him as a poignant conceptual artist, with boundary-pushing tracks featuring the likes of Charmaine, Tyla Yaweh, Rascalz, and Vory.
With GONZO, Boslen pushes himself even further, living up to the billing as one of HotNewHipHop’s “Artists to Watch in 2022” and proving that he’s still going to continue his rapid growth in the years to come.
Listen to GONZO now and let us know what you think about the EP in the comments. To stay connected to everything Boslen, follow his Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.
