YUNGBLUD is Coming For His Legacy
On the cusp of a new era, the young artist is more determined than ever to cement his place in the rock n’ roll zeitgeist.
The last time I saw Dominic Harrison, professionally known as YUNGBLUD, he stood on stage clad in a cutoff t-shirt with the phrase “star fu—” emblazoned across the front, his signature pink socks soaked with sweat. He was egging the audience on through the chorus of his popular song “Fleabag,” challenging them to lose their voices with him. If he had to be on vocal rest, it might as well have been for a good reason.
As Harrison sits in front of me now, on Zoom from his hotel room in Brussels, Belgium, I can’t help but notice his black t-shirt says, “Stand Back! I don’t wanna catch a case of dumb” on the front of it. I wonder if he has a collection of brash novelty shirts. The polite 26-year-old has topped his outfit off with a sparkly skull-and-cross-bones baseball cap and safety pin earring. Even offstage, Harrison is, at least casually, YUNGBLUD. The artist is currently playing a string of European festivals as part of his world tour. “I’ve not been sleeping,” he tells me, surprisingly fresh-faced. “We haven’t been going on stage till ten o’clock at night, and there’s so many people. I’m wired till 5 AM. It’s crazy.” Harrison can’t help but smile about his predicament. Three albums in, and seemingly nothing about his career is a chore.
The young artist has always maneuvered with a determination not to trap himself in a gilded cage. “I really don’t want to do things in an orthodox way. I write so much music. I’m going all over the world and playing the biggest shows of my life, but I don’t want to do what I’ve already done again and again.” Even though he is fast becoming one of the most well-known artists in the world, Harrison seems intent on tearing his career down to the foundation and rebuilding it in the most honest way possible. “This project isn’t going to be a project.” He tells me, referring to his most recent work. “I feel like I’m 19 again because I’m releasing music like I did when I first started. I love the way hip-hop acts will write and put out music in real time. There’s just something about music coming out of you and going directly into the world that excites me. It’s raw and unfiltered.”
Although Harrison has built a reputation for his filterless approach, his two latest singles dig to new depths below his cheeky façade. “Lowlife”, released in June, is a throwback to the earlier sound of songs like “Medication”, but with lyrics like “Cause you know what, life is extremely divisive, it's a fraudulent razor for you to trim your sides with,” the track begins to chip away at the singer’s well-worn armor of “It’s okay, not to be okay.” His second single ‘’Hated,’’ released just last week and described by Harrison as “the most personal song I’ve released,” directly addresses the singer’s trauma around being molested as a child. The track strips away any remaining sentiment, leaving simply “I’m not okay” in its wake. With these two releases, Harrison seems just as intent on rebuilding himself as much as his career.
The one mainstay for the singer is his connection to his fans. “All I want to do is give to my family and fan base.” He says. “I want to put out art and connect with people; that’s what got me here in the first place.” There is no pretense when Harrison talks about his audience. He is just as loyal to them as they are to him. “It’s an exciting time to be a YUNGBLUD fan because I’m just going to drop music. I see it as releasing a mixtape that will turn into a full album in real time with everyone. I want it to be an immersive experience between us. I want to go to new places with them.”
Indeed, the idea of staying in one place for too long, either physically or in his music, seems almost painful to Harrison. “I get asked all the time to make another song like this, or like this one. Why? It already exists. You don’t paint the same picture over and over again. Artists will stick to the same formula, and that’s great for them, but it’s boring to me. That’s why I love Bowie, Gaga, The Arctic Monkeys, and My Chemical Romance. The music has to go to new places; otherwise, you’re not an artist. You have to paint ten different pictures, not just the one. You have to earn that label.” He further emphasizes his point by adding, “It has to be absolute truth.” When Harrison mentions earning the label of “artist,” I get the impression that he feels like he’s not as of yet worthy of the title. As our conversation shifts to his recent Coke Studios session with BNXN, covering the song ‘’Movin’ On Up’’ by Primal Scream, he brings up the idea of working to gain his place again. “I grew up on Brit pop. Oasis, Stone Roses, Primal Scream, Suede, Blur. That’s what I want to do eventually. Creating music with 30 musicians in the room was amazing, but I have to earn the right to get to that place.” As I listen to him, I wonder what Harrison needs to prove to himself and the world. “I have written that album,” he continues. “But that’s my destination. I don’t want to do that yet. I have other avenues to run down first. It’s less adventurous even though it lights my soul on fire.”
The artist isn’t shy about invoking big names when it comes to his work. “I want to put out everything. That’s why I admire Bowie so much. The fearlessness of his artistry is truly an inspiration to my soul. I want to put out a thousand songs and see what lights people up like Bowie did.” The singer pauses at his second mention of the legendary name and then adds, as if he’s challenging me, “Do you know what I mean?”. He waits with his tattooed fingers resting on his lips. When I don’t flinch, Harrison boldly smiles. It’s obvious now what he’s building and rebuilding towards. Dominic Harrison doesn’t just want a music career free from conventional trappings; he wants a legacy. He wants eras and epic characters— albums that will be celebrated and analyzed for years to come. Harrison wants a seat at the cosmic table, and he wants you to give it to him. “You give these songs to the world,” he says as we wrap up our short interview, “and you let them decide if they will be significant. You can’t force it. Does it connect? The answer is yes or no. When it comes down to that, that’s when it’s fun and beautiful.”
This article has been edited and condensed
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