Bakar

Bakar Biography by Fred Thomas Badkid A London-based singer/producer with a chameleonic style, Bakar fuses mellow rap flows, easygoing R&B instrumentals, and even the occasional spiky punk rhythm on his genre-bending material. After getting his feet wet self-releasing songs online, he came into a more defined form on 2018's full-length, Badkid, before landing a significant streaming hit with 2019's "Hell N Back." A steady stream of singles kicked off the next decade, including 2021's "The Mission," 2022's "NW3," and 2023's "Good News." Growing up in North London, Bakar first loved hip-hop but came to a turning point when he started getting into indie rock. By 2015 he was making his own tracks out of chopped-up King Krule samples and uploading them anonymously online. His sound branched out from there, and by 2017 he was releasing singles like the bouncy rocker "Big Dreams" and the hazy, looping "Something I Said." Bakar's debut full-length, Badkid, arrived in 2018, earning glowing endorsements from artists ranging from British rapper Skepta to Elton John. The following year, his always-shifting sounds took the form of singles like the bluesy R&B track "Chill" and "Hell N Back," a happy-go-lucky soul tune that became his best-known song. The track appeared on Bakar's Will You Be My Yellow? EP later that year, alongside five other stylistically varied songs. Throughout 2020, he issued a trio of singles, "1st Time," "Play" featuring Lancey Foux, and "Having a Good Time, Sometimes." Two more singles, "The Mission" and "Build Me a Way," appeared in 2021 with "NW3" following in early 2022. Bakar kicked off 2023 with the dreamy and catchy "Good News."