Bryson Tiller’s Hazy R&B
The “Don’t” artist is back with a new feature
Bryson Tiller’s Instagram posts probably look like a lot of your guys friends’. Workout selfies, photos at parties, candids with his girlfriend, a snap of a video game controller. He plays up that he’s a down-to-earth, average guy, despite having a few million record sales and Grammy nomination to his name.
The 26-year-old from Louisville exploded with popularity in 2015 when his debut single “Don’t”, a smooth and sensual R&B hit, went viral. The song went multi-platinum, and a few months later, Tiller followed up the release with his first full-length album TRAPSOUL. His second album, True to Self, released in 2017 to rave reviews and a number one debut on the Billboard Hot 100.
Despite rocketing to fame, Tiller’s taken care to keep a fairly low-key public persona, interviewing infrequently and tweeting irregularly. He’s intentionally made himself an outlier in the world of hip-hop where a larger-than-life image and social media flexes seem to come with the genre.
To sum it up, Tiller is Drake-inspired and Drake-approved without Drake’s ego.
Like his image, Tiller makes his music accessible. It’s sexy R&B for the people, with songs like “Right My Wrongs” and “Exchange” solidifying TRAPSOUL as an impressive debut with mass appeal. His sophomore collection kept that appeal but showed some diversity with tracks like “Run Me Dry,” which features a funky electronic riff.
Tiller reemerged in March with a feature on a track by newcomer Ryan Trey. “Nowhere to Run” is a sultry R&B track with a cool beat, and the music video is filled with dimly lit shots and flashes of hazy, intimate scenes of Trey and Tiller talking closely to two women. Tiller’s rap feature on the track is a satisfactory taste of what may be coming from him next.
