Marie Laveau really knows what’s up. Booking Yung Lean, one of the most talented, twisted, funny and weird rappers ever to come out of Sweden is nothing more than a stroke of genius. With songs like ”Ginseng Strip 2002”, ”Oreomilkshake”, ” and the newly released ”Kyoto”, the young Yung Lean is is making a name for himself. With the help of über-talented producer Yung Gud, he has established  as one of the most shockingly talented and original rappers in a long time. The sound coming from the collaboration Yung Lean/Yung Gud, particularly on ”Ginseng Strip 2002” and ”Oreomilkshake”, has not been heard since A$ap Rocky and Clams Casino dropped their collaboration songs on Rocky’s mixtape Live. Love. ASAP.

Not giving a damn what anyone thinks, Yung Lean and his Emotional Boys (aka Sad Boys or Arizona Iced Out Boys) are digging their own path completely shying away from promotional campaigns, social media strategies and live shows. Not putting his most played songs, ”Oreomilkshake”, ”Ginseng Strip 2002” or ”The fifth element” on his mixtape Unknown Death 2002 – released in early July – is simply evidence of his progressive approach to his own career.

His music is carefully composed and portrayed consciously. The music videos consist of art work created by his friends mixed with clips of himself and filmed with grainy iPhone cameras. His videos are known for constantly making references to novels by Haruki Murakami, video games and Hayao Miyazaki movies.

There’s no question of Yung Lean’s original artistry, and the fact that he’s barely eighteen-years-old is very exciting. The evolution of Yung Lean will be supervised with immense interest.

Words by David Johansson

Yung Lean plays Marie Laveau on 28 December.