Yung Lean - Frost God

The Guardian 40

(YEAR0001)

Since their emergence in 2014, Swedish rapper/producer Yung Lean and his Sad Boys collective have used the pose of vague, bored depression as their brand aesthetic. In 2015, real tragedy struck: drug addiction, the death of Yung Lean’s manager in a car accident, a spell in a psychiatric hospital. There are no increased depths to his music, though: new mixtape Frost God retreads chilly synths and affectless monotone in torpid, ever-decreasing circles without even the sparks of energy that livened up this year’s Warlord album. This internet ephemera still comes with the added distaste of a white Swede mimicking the tropes and language of US street rap: between this and his rudimentary talent, Yung Lean remains the hipster Iggy Azalea.