In Pics: Lil Mosey
By the age of 18, very few have achieved as much as Lil Mosey; boasting ten million monthly listeners on Spotify, over 300 million streams on his standout single Noticed, touring with the late Juice WRLD and becoming a member of XXL's Freshman Class of 2019. The past two years have been nothing short of exciting for the young MC. Hailing from Seattle, Washington, Mosey achieved his first breakthrough hit back in 2017, Pull Up, this would go on to be the record that elevated the then 16-year-old into the industry's spotlight. From here, he quickly established his name within the rap scene by pairing his signature melodic sound with unique and immersive visuals, all with a little help from Lyrical Lemonade's Cole Bennett.
Lil Mosey entered a new chapter in his career just as 2019 began to close out, dropping his latest album, Certified Hitmaker; a 14-track project decked out with subdued and dreamy trap bangers such as Space Coupe, Stuck In A Dream and Live This Wild. With guest features from the likes of Trippie Redd, Gunna and AJ Tracey; Certified Hitmaker followed the same successful formula as its 2018 predecessor, Northsbest, an album in which Mosey had also centred much of his lyrical content around living life to its fullest, making money and of course, spending it.
Committing to a world tour for the first time is considered to be a leap of faith for any artist to take and, considering Mosey's age, you may expect that the prospect of having to sell tickets in volume outside of the US to be a daunting one. However, as the tour kicked off, it soon became clear that Mosey had very little to worry about. From Dublin to London, shows were selling out at a rapid pace. At each show, an entourage and management team comprised almost entirely of lifelong friends flocked around the rapper, for many, this had been their first time outside of America.
At every stop of the tour, there had been one common standout moment, Mosey playing his highly anticipated, and up until now, unreleased track, Blueberry Faygo. In spite of this cut having only ever existed online in the form of low quality leaks, it has still accumulated millions of streams, views and downloads across various platforms throughout the past year. The record's undeniable influence serves as a testament to the ways in which accessing an artist's music has shifted and evolved during the digital age. For many, this has made the roll out of new projects a challenging process, but for Mosey, the leaks are all taken in his stride. Whilst performing the track mid-set may have came as a surprise to some, one thing could not go unnoticed, each and every fan in attendance was entirely confident in reciting the track's infectious hook without hesitation.
Words & Photos by Archie Wells (www.archie-wells.co.uk @alfwp)