Blackbear

**Matthew Tyler Musto** (born 27 November 1990), professionally known as **blackbear**, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has released five studio albums, six EPs, one mixtape and two collaborative albums.

## Early life

Matthew Tyler Musto was born in Daytona Beach, Florida and moved to Palm Coast, Florida as a child. His father is of Italian descent. He has stated that many of his family members are from Pittston, Pennsylvania. In fourth grade, he became interested in music through Rancid, Blink-182, and other bands his babysitter introduced him to, such as New Found Glory and Alkaline Trio.

## Career

### 2006 – 2014: *Early career*

In high school, Musto was the singer of Florida-based rock band Polaroid. They released one album, Paint The Town; one EP, Inside And Out; and one demo, The Cure Demo and have been variously described as being a pop punk, punk rock and garage band. During Musto's freshman year of high school, the band signed to Leakmob Records. Musto dropped out of school in the 10th grade to focus on music. As Polaroid progressed, their music became increasingly influenced by emo. By 2008, Musto had also begun to write his own solo music.

After leaving Polaroid, Musto began a solo career when he moved to Atlanta to work with Ne-Yo. He put out his first EP entitled Brightness in 2008, followed by Contrast in 2009, and Exposure in 2010. He put out the Christmas song "I Hate the Holidays" with Tyler Carter, then-member of the band Woe, Is Me in late-2010, shortly followed by a new single, "Douche Bag" in early-January 2011. In mid-2011, Musto released both the Gone For Good EP and the Year of the blackbear EP. In fall 2011, Musto decided to use his nickname blackbear as his pseudonym when making music. The first song to be released with the blackbear moniker is Mike Posner's "Marauder Music" in November 2011.

Musto co-wrote Justin Bieber's *"Boyfriend"*, a number 2 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 2012. Intent on pursuing a career as an R&B singer, Musto released his debut EP Foreplay on 20 April 2012, and his debut mixtape Sex on 31 October 2012. Both releases were under the name blackbear, and Sex featured collaborations from fellow *"Boyfriend"* co-writer Mike Posner, along with producers, singers, and songwriters James Blake and Maejor Ali. He also appeared on MGK's "End of the Road" from the Lace Up album, released 9 October 2012. On 20 April 2014, blackbear released The Afterglow EP, which landed him number four on Billboard's Uncharted listing of releases from upcoming artists.

In 2014, Bbackbear became one of the first independent artists to monetize streaming on SoundCloud.

### 2015: *Deadroses* and *Help*

blackbear released his first full-length album, *Deadroses*, a self-released set of 10 tracks, on 14 February 2015. The album received favorable reviews, one of which stating that the album had "pleasantly mixed together a plethora of genres, sounds, and emotions to create a completely cohesive and unique project." The lead single, "idfc", charted on Billboard's R&B Hot 100 and held a spot on the Billboard R&B charts for over a year. The track has earned millions of streams on both SoundCloud and Spotify. It has been streamed over 550 million times on SoundCloud and Idfc (Tarro Remix) has over 255 million views as of January 2022. "idfc" shot blackbear to the top 20 of the Billboard charts. The second single, *"90210"*, features G-Eazy and gained over 55 million streams on Spotify.

In May 2015, his track "NYLA" was featured in the documentary Hot Girls Wanted on Netflix. Deadroses was followed by the EP *Dead*, which featured acoustic versions of four *Deadroses* tracks, as well as one new track, *"Weak When Ur Around"*. He released his second full-length album, *Help*, on 27 November 2015.

### 2016: *Drink Bleach*, *Cashmere Noose*, and Mansionz

On 20 April 2016, blackbear released his fourth EP, *Drink Bleach*, which featured appearances from *"Boyfriend"* collaborator Mike Posner as well as American hip-hop recording artist and The HBK Gang co-founder P-Lo. Throughout the year, blackbear collaborated with other artists such as American rock band Linkin Park as well as Jacob Sartorius and Phoebe Ryan. He also toured with Hoodie Allen, whose 2016 track and Happy Camper promotional single *"Champagne and Pools"* also featured blackbear. Mid-year, he joined Super Duper Kyle and Tinashe on their tours.

On 2 August 2016, blackbear released his fifth EP, titled *Cashmere Noose*, through SoundCloud. He handled the EP's production entirely on his own through his production collective Bear Trap Records. The EP originally included a feature from American rapper Mod Sun on the track *"Spent All My Money On Rick Owens Cargo Pants"*; however, this track was removed from the EP's final cut and replaced with *"Wanderlust"* and *"Flirt Right Back"*. The original version of Cashmere Noose, however, can still be found on blackbear's SoundCloud page. The final version of *Cashmere Noose* peaked at number one on the iTunes R&B charts and number six overall on iTunes, just behind Beyonce's *Lemonade* and Drake's *Views*.

blackbear was also featured on Olivia O'Brien's single *"Root Beer Float"*, released 15 September 2016. He also released the track *"If I Could I Would Feel Nothing"*, a freestyle originally posted on his Twitter that eventually became a promotional single for his upcoming third studio album. In late 2016, blackbear formed the alternative hip hop and R&B duo Mansionz with frequent collaborator and singer-songwriter Mike Posner. Mansionz has been active since 2016 and is based out of Los Angeles, California. The duo released their debut single, *"STFU"*, on 9 December 2016. The song features rapper Spark Master Tape. Mansionz released two more singles in early 2017, *"Rich White Girls"* and *"Dennis Rodman"*, the latter of which features the basketball player Dennis Rodman. Both of these singles, along with *"STFU"*, were featured on Mansionz' self-titled debut album which was released on 24 March 2017, and features guest appearances from G-Eazy, Soren Bryce, CyHi the Prynce, and Snoozegod.

### 2017 – 2018: *Digital Druglord* and *Cybersex*

On 29 January 2017, he posted the track *"Make Daddy Proud"*, which was a remix of Jeremy Zucker's *"Heavy"*, on his SoundCloud page. The track was later confirmed to be the next promotional single for his third studio album *Digital Druglord*. On 17 March 2017, blackbear released the lead single for the album, titled *"Do Re Mi"*. On 2 April 2017, shortly before the release of *Digital Druglord*, blackbear released a short acoustic EP titled *Salt* on his SoundCloud. *Digital Druglord* was released on 20 April 2017, featuring the single *"Do Re Mi"* along with promotional singles *"If I Could I Would Feel Nothing"* and *"Make Daddy Proud"*. In an interview with Vice's music channel Noisey, he revealed that he wrote *Digital Druglord* while in the hospital based on his experiences with alcohol and drugs. He states that the cover art for the album, a woman with pill bottles attached to her chest, is not to glorify the use of pharmaceuticals, but because he now has to take prescription drugs to stay alive due to his illness. On 22 June 2017, he signed a 10 million dollar distribution deal with Interscope that gave the label the rights to *Digital Druglord* and the following studio album and their respective singles.

On 18 August 2017, blackbear announced his next project, a mixtape named *Cybersex*. The name *Cybersex* comes from blackbear's infatuation with the internet. In an interview with Pigeons & Planes, he talks about how the internet is why he is here and how cybersex was the first form of sexting. He states how he finds the internet interesting and how you can now fall asleep with your loved one in another country, due to technology. He released a song on SoundCloud in September 2017 titled *"froze over"*. The track was written and produced by Good Intent and blackbear and it would later appear in *Cybersex* as a two part interlude titled *"thursday/froze over"*. On 6 October 2017, a song titled *"Playboy Shit"*, which features rapper Lil Aaron, was released on blackbear's PornHub account and confirmed to be a part of the project. On 20 October 2017, nlackbear released the single *"Bright Pink Tims"* featuring Cam'ron. This day also marked the first day of his tour in support of Fall Out Boy's Mania Tour, running until 18 November. On 27 November 2017, Musto's 27th birthday, *Cybersex* was released.

On 26 April 2018, *"About You"*, a song written by Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda regarding the death of his bandmate Chester Bennington, was released featuring blackbear. On 23 August 2018, blackbear released his single titled *"the 1"*, produced by FRND.

### 2019 - 2020: *Anonymous* and *Everything Means Nothing*

In February 2019, blackbear said he would be releasing a single per week until 26 April, which is when his fourth studio album would be released. On Valentine's Day 2019, he released his single *"1 SIDED LOVE"*. On 20 February 2019, he released his single *"HIGH1X"*. On 13 March he released his single *"SWEAR TO GOD"* during Zane Lowe's transmission on Beats 1. 26 April 2019, he released the full album, *Anonymous*. This album is his longest album yet, containing 18 tracks lasting a total of 51 minutes. Along with the release of this album, he posted a photo on Instagram with a caption discussing his gratefulness of a second chance after his health complications at age 27, and he discusses how meaningful this album is to him. On 23 August 2019, he released the lead single *"Hot Girl Bummer"* from his upcoming fifth studio album *Everything Means Nothing*. This song was actually inspired by his diagnosis of necrotizing fasciitis. The mention to drug and alcohol abuse over a short period of time allude to his addiction during his diagnosis. On 13 November 2019, blackbear released the one-off single *"Tongue Tied"*, with American producer Marshmello and YUNGBLUD. On 16 January 2020, he released the album's third single *"Me & Ur Ghost"*.

On 13 March 2020, Ellie Goulding's single *"Worry About Me"* was released featuring blackbear. On 3 April 2020, he was featured on the All Time Low song *"Monsters"* from their album *Wake Up, Sunshine*. On 5 July 2020, blackbear tweeted the release date of the coming album, stating it would be a "2 part LP", with the first part releasing 17 July 2020 and the second part releasing 21 August 2020. On 9 July 2020, he released the album's first promotional single, *"Queen of Broken Hearts"*. On 17 July 2020, he released the first part of the album consisting of three new singles and the three already released, with new songs *"I Feel Bad"*, *"I Feel 2 Much"*, and *"I Felt That"*. The tracklist for part two of *Everything Means Nothing* was also released, with songs *"Sobbing In Cabo"*, *"Clown"* with Trevor Daniel, *"Half Alive"*, *"If I Were U"* with Lauv, *"Why Are Girls"*, and *"Smile Again"*. On 7 August 2020, Machine Gun Kelly's single *"My Ex's Best Friend"* was released featuring blackbear. On 16 October 2020, G-Eazy's single *"Hate the Way"* was released featuring blackbear. On 25 December 2020, blackbear released the song *"cheers"*, with American rapper Wiz Khalifa.

### 2021: *Misery Lake*

On 12 March 2021, blackbear was featured on Mod Sun's Single *"Heavy"*. On 21 May 2021, blackbear released the single *"Jealousy"* alongside Mansionz partner Mike Posner, the first track in 4 years following the duo's self-titled debut album. On 4 June 2021, blackbear released the EPs promotional song *"U Love U"* with Canadian singer-songwriter Tate McRae, as the lead single from his upcoming extended play, *Misery Lake*. On 14 July 2021, blackbear announced the tracklist to his EP *Misery Lake*, alongside a tweet that the EP would be delayed to 13 August 2021, as a result of Sony Music Entertainment acquiring Alamo Records. On 13 August 2021, blackbear released the anticipated EP *Misery Lake*.

## Personal life

### Health

In April 2016, he was hospitalized and diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis due to excessive alcohol use. During his time in the hospital, he wrote his album *Digital Druglord* and took this time to become sober. In August 2018, Musto joined forces with Mission: Cure, a non-profit dedicated to finding a cure for chronic pancreatitis. He was a recipient of the "Courage Award" for his inspiration to others living with pancreatitis and gave a speech at their gala event. In November 2018, Musto collaborated with the brand PopSockets and donated 50% of the proceeds of his branded products to Mission: Cure.

### Family

On 25 September 2019, Musto announced that he and his girlfriend Michele Maturo were expecting their first child in January 2020. On 29 January 2020, the couple announced the birth of their son, Midnight Thomas Musto, born on 26 January 2020. On 11 April 2021, the couple announced their engagement via Maturo's Instagram page. On 20 September 2021, Musto announced on an Instagram post that he and Maturo were expecting their second child, Morrissey Onyx Musto, was born 12 March 2022

## Collaborations with YUNGBLUD

### Tongue Tied

*"Tongue Tied"* is a song by producer Marshmello, YUNGBLUD and blackbear. It was released on 13 November 2019, through Joytime Collective, Geffen Records and Interscope Records. The track originally only had blackbear and Marshmello on it since 2017, then, during an interview for Capital FM on 31 October 2019, blackbear officially revealed the collaboration, with a third artist on the track, YUNGBLUD. However, he did not specifiy a release date for the track, just unveiling that it will be released before the end of 2019. A few days later, an announcement was made by the three artists via their social media, revealing the title of the song and its release date. On 14 November 2019, responding to a fan who used the hashtag #askmellobludbear on Twitter, created for asking the three artists about the song, YUNGBLUD confessed that the trio "wanted to make a song that encompassed all of their energies".

## Discography

* *Deadroses* (2015)
* *Help* (2015)
* *Digital Druglord* (2017)
* *Anonymous* (2019)
* *Everything Means Nothing* (2020)

## References

1. ↑ Alamo Records — "ALAMO RECORDS". Retrieved 8 February 2022.
2. ↑ Reddit — "Beartrap sound : Blackbear". Retrieved 8 February 2022.
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3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Capital FM (@CapitalFMOfficial) on YouTube — "Who Is Blackbear? - Wikipedia Fact Check - Capital" Posted 28 November 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
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4. ↑ VICE — "blackbear Is Extremely Famous, Even If You Don't Know Who He Is". Published 14 November 2017. Written by Rebecca Haithcoat. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
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5. ↑  — "Remember when blackbear used to be in a scene band?". Published 24 July 2018. Written by Rachel Campbell. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
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