by Niko Skinner

Breland is a singer and producer from New Jersey who has mainly drawn inspiration from Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin. His music is a hybrid of country rap, R&B, gospel, and soul. Despite only being in the game since 2019, Breland has already made waves in the music industry with his two EPs titled Breland and Rage & Sorrow and his platinum award-winning single, “My Truck”. I must say I’m quite impressed by the mix of musical elements in his songs. He typically combines trap beats and acoustic instrumentation with R&B vocals that have a soulful tone. Imagine having Keith Urban, Lil Nas X, Usher, Migos, and Kirk Franklin in a studio together. That’s an idea of the kind of ambience you would hear from Breland’s music. It’s like nothing I’ve ever heard before.

Breland recently dropped his debut album, Cross Country, in the early part of September. On this album, he teamed up with other country artists, including the aforementioned Keith Urban, Mickey Guyton, Thomas Rett, Lady A, and Ingrid Andress. Most of this album sounds like it’s strictly country music because it deviates from Breland’s usual mix of elements from various genres. The general sound throughout is relaxed yet upbeat. You can dance to the songs in this album, and it also makes for good music to calm down to. This is accomplished by the use of soft vocals, finger-style guitar picking, and medium tempo. You can still hear obvious elements from other genres combined in some songs. For example, “Throw It Back” is driven primarily by a trap beat that you would hear in hip-hop along with the aforementioned acoustic guitar finger-style picking technique and familiar high-pitched vocals from Keith Urban. Another good example would be “Praise the Lord”, which incorporates the typical clapping that you would hear at a southern Baptist church and gradually sneaks in a hip-hop beat. The clap and the hip-hop beat take turns being in the foreground and background. It’s amazing how multiple music genres that have been thought to have been different in terms of the types of messages being spread can work together like this.

Breland touches on his shyness and sense of direction in Cross Country. In an interview with Rolling Stone, he admitted that he was a shy kid growing up and wasn’t naturally inclined toward performing. He also said that he doesn’t know exactly where he belongs in the music industry, but he isn’t worried about it. He mentioned in this same interview that he identifies the term “cross country” as a sub-genre of music that intersects country music with other genres of music (Freeman). This is an idea that I can get behind because I believe that it makes for an even more powerful way to tell a story. It can potentially get listeners behind an artist and respect them. I look forward to this idea being expanded.

References

Edwards, Clayton. “Breland Tells Outsider He is ‘In Service to the Song’ – Marty Smith Podcast”. Outsider.com, 15 November 2021. https://outsider.com/podcasts/breland-tells-outsider-he-service-song-marty-smith-podcast/

Freeman, J. (2021, February 26). Breland on the Country Vibes of His New Song ‘Cross Country’: ‘This Is Where I Belong’. Rolling Stone. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/breland-cross-country-my-truck-1133958/