Anthony the Astronaut is anything but ordinary. If the name wasn’t enough to give it away, his music surely will. The blue haired rapper from Bakersfield, California surprises listeners with unexpected twists every time he unveils new music, leaving his fans anticipating and craving more.
Anthony explains that “Me and my producer SpacemanJay are like a band and make all our songs from scratch beat and everything. We call our selves ‘The Astronauts’ and just take this music thing day by day and try to help people escape and bring them into my world for a few minutes with each song.”
His pinned Tweet on his Twitter leads to his newest music video for “Hell in the Morning.” On the surface, the title makes the track sound like another addition to the atmospheric trap music that has saturated the scene in recent years, but all expectations are thrown out the window as soon it actually begins.
The childish keys that open up the track are incredibly reminiscent of the pop tracks dominating the billboards, yet it is Anthony’s vocal performance that separates him from the pack. His light, fun flow is so catchy that it is destined to live on in listeners heads way after the end of the track. Furthermore, his lyrics only enhance the experience, as he goes back to the more emotional vibe that he creates with the title. Singing lyrics like “I can’t escape all my demons. Help me forget them tonight. Alright”, nothing quite makes sense.
Yet, incredibly, it all works together, as a brilliant mesh of subgenres, and ultimately, Anthony is able to create a track with both emotion, and energy while never sacrificing catchy flows and detailed vocals. “Hell in the Morning” is only a taste of what the artist provides listeners. Staying true to his sound, “GUM” is an upbeat track about a failed relationship, with the visuals more like the trippy scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey, than a traditional music video. Currently, his YouTube channel has five tracks, including the trap inspired “dogs” and the video game sampling “King of Hearts.”
Anthony’s SoundCloud, however, reveals his actual popularity and rise in the music world. The audio for “Hell in the Morning” has already reached over 50 thousand plays, and “Wrong Way” is not far behind with close to 35 thousand plays. His SoundCloud reveals that the young musician has near perfected his aesthetic, as the cover arts work perfectly together, and even though the songs all sonically vary, they all sound like Anthony the Astronaut tracks.
Anthony the Astronaut is unique, but more importantly he is talented. Anthony knows what makes good music, and he knows what his listeners want. If you enjoy one of his tracks, you will enjoy the rest, despite their differences. Anthony has figured out how to take the monotony of emotional lyrics, but integrating upbeat happy production, and in the process, creating memorable and fantastic music.