kids of dada

SPOOKY BLACK'S GONE VIRAL

17 year old rapper Corbin is the internet's new wonderboy

by Julia Howe

Rapper? Singer? One Hit Wonder? Call him what you want, but there is no stopping Spooky Black. At the tender age of 17, he has already gained 21st century fame, overnight.

For those unaware, Spooky Black is a wistfully quiet boy, whose backstory has been kept largely under wraps. The boy wonder came to the forefront in 2014, when his hit ‘Without You’, went viral. The nostalgic lo-fi footage of his DIY music videos and plaintive lyrics give his sound a refreshing edge. With his experimental mix of performance art and a raw aesthetic, you get over the goofy do-rags and gold chains, falling for his sorrowful lonely-boy music video - which has been viewed over two million times. His sexualised lyrics and angelic voice echo the sound of a King Krule or an early Bon Iver.

Spooky highlights his changing voice, bouncing between a gutturally aggressive monster to a delicately smooth angel. Listen in below.

The Internet’s hottest mystery, Corbin (Aka Spooky Black) attracts over 2 million viewers

It’s seems unlikely that a white kid from St. Paul Minnesota would have been recognized as an RnB artist, without the ability to share his sound through normal channels of the record industry. Yet, he has managed to break through with a vulnerable sense of honesty that is in stark contrast to the overtly constructed pre-internet RnB days.

"Without You" is Spooky's darkly cryptic track, which went viral last year

With artists using the internet as a platform to self promote, unexpected success stories such as these are becoming more common. Against all odds, Spooky Black is the latest product of this phenomenon. After reverting back to his real name, the notoriously mysterious Corbin is now touring with Stand4rd. Causing a new internet frenzy and leaving his fan-base scrambling for tickets. 

Spooky Black has reverted to his real name Corbin, and now tours with Stand4rd