Sound of the City: Hip-hop artist Boslen wants to bridge the gap between Vancouver and Toronto’s music scenes
With his debut album about to drop, the former Team Canada rugby player is took advantage of pandemic isolation to focus on songwriting
SOUND OF THE CITY is a series created in partnership by the City of Vancouver and Stir that showcases Vancouver’s diverse music scene, highlighting BIPOC and underrepresented artists and acts. Each edition features a Q&A and a Sound of the City playlist curated by the artist that features some of their favourite local musicians.
BOSLEN
BORN AND RAISED on the outskirts of Vancouver, 22-year old hip-hop artist Boslen is rapidly making a name for himself with a growing global fanbase. He excelled as a rugby player for Team Canada prior to facing the adversity of two career-shaking ACL injuries.
Find out what’s on Boslen’s mind these days below, and listen to his picks on his Sound of the City playlist, below.
Boslen’s Playlist
1. Post Malone - Hollywood’s Bleeding
2. Vory - You Got It
3. BEAM - 2X2 - A COLORS SHOW
4. Blaccmass - All Smiles Now
5. Boslen - TRIP
6 ILLYMINIACHI - COLD IN CANADA
7. Anklegod, SHARÚK - Ride
8. contradash - white lie
9. Zara Larsson - FFF
10. FRVRFRIDAY - 100 Rounds
11. ssgkobe - Again
12. Mac Miller - The Spins
13. Teshalé, Quintana Mills - Do Better
14. Night Lovell - Alone
15. The Weeknd - Too Late
16. Travis Scott - Impossible
17. MANILA GREY, Soliven - Deep Cut (Soliven’s Romance) [feat. Soliven]
18. Jack Harlow, EST Gee - Route 66 (feat. EST Gee)
19. Boslen - QUARTZ (feat. Charmaine)
How are you feeling about life right now?
I’m grateful. Recently I had a big wake-up call about my health and that put a lot of things in place for me. I'm excited for everyone to hear my new music I have been working on. I really think this is my best work to date.
How has the pandemic affected your work?
It gave me the opportunity to just focus on my upcoming album, DUSK to DAWN. The pandemic allowed me to not have any distractions, I was fortunate enough to live right by the studio. So every day I was just working/finding my sound.
What are you working on right now? Do you have any plans or projects lined up for 2021?
QUARTZ just dropped JUNE 18th!! AHHHH!! This song features Charmaine, a female hip-hop artist from Toronto. I really wanted to showcase Vancouver in the visuals and the lyrics with this single and bridge the gap between Vancouver and Toronto's music scene. Other than that, I got my debut album dropping soon.
Where are you finding solace and comfort?
Creating. I think with what's going on in the world right now, a lot of people need an outlet to express themselves. Mine has been writing music, doing research, and becoming in love with trying new genres and pushing myself. If I'm not doing that, I love watching movies with my friends, catching up with my mom and dad, and playing ball.
What are you most looking forward to once the pandemic passes?
Performing. I was just talking to my friend about this the other day. It's hard to explain, but social media doesn't fill the void. For example, getting, let’s say, a certain amount of likes or comments on a post when you release a song is completely different than seeing a supporter at a show screaming the lyrics back to you. I think the pandemic gave me the chance to focus on my work, but now that it's about to end, I'm ready to meet the people who've been supporting me this whole time and show them love back.
What song or album has been in your heavy rotation recently and why?
Literally yesterday I stumbled across the song "The Spins" by Mac Miller. I instantly got a wave of nostalgia. I started reminiscing about when I was a kid in Chilliwack, after class with my friends running around doing dumb stuff. After that I dived into his catalogue again and pulled a lot of inspiration from it. Mac Miller was one of the first artists who really moved me and helped me with his music. Finding that again helped me take a step back and appreciate things.
Can you give a shoutout to one of your favourite Vancouver musicians or artists? What about them inspires you?
The Rascalz, they really helped lay the foundation of the hip-hop scene in Vancouver, and I don't think they get enough credit for that. Without the ones before us there is nothing to be inspired from. I think the Rascalz were trailblazers on how they pulled national attention on our city, and I just hope to do the same one day.
What would you like to see change in Vancouver?
The comparison to Toronto. Don't get me wrong, Toronto is and will be the city that inspires and pushes the music industry further with how many top-level artists and teams they produce and continue to produce. However, I think Vancouver is and will be its own ecosystem, it's just very early. I see hundreds of kids copying Toronto's sound, but that will ultimately not help Vancouver or change it for the better. I don't think it takes one individual to do it for the city, it takes a team and the ones who want it most to help push the culture here and inspire.
You’re writing to us from 2055...what does the future hold?
What does the future hold? Boslen sold out Rogers Arena.
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