Las Vegas native singer Shamir Bailey became an instant internet success in 2014 when he was just fresh out of high school. His debut electro pop Northtown EP helped land him a deal with XL Recordings. The label released Bailey's Ratchet album in 2014 and since then, he's seemed to fly comfortably under the radar. Until this morning, that is. The now 22-year-old singer released a new 35-minute-long project titled Hope from his Philadelphia bedroom early this morning with no prior announcements. That's because he started and completed the entire thing this past weekend."This album is kind of, I don't want to say a 'fuck you' to the industry, but also kind of. I really, really, really tried to work with the music machine and industry machine, but I think it was in the cards for me not to," he said in an interview with Out Magazine. "I think everyone was shocked—only my close friends knew—when they saw I was dropped from XL. This record is why, because this wouldn't have come out if I was still signed, right now, and I'd probably be super fucking miserable." Unlike his dance-leaning sounds of the past, Shamir adopted a lo-fi sound for Hope, revisiting the music that he fell in love with as a young kid in Vegas. "I've never done anything like this in my life and didn't know I was able to do it," he said of making the album so quickly. Listen to the album below.
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