BAKAR
Born on 12th February 1994, Bakar is an independent British musician and model who made his solo debut in 2018 with a mixtape called Badkid. He is famously known for his unique style where he experiments with indie rock. He belongs to Tanzanian and Yemeni descent and grew up in Camden, North London.
Bakar started his musical journey through an anonymous SoundCloud account in 2015. He would cut up samples of King Krule and Bombay Bicycle Club and upload them to his account. He continued the practice for quite some time before releasing his official debut single, "Big Dreams," in 2017.
The song gained a lot of momentum after it featured on the FIFA’19 official soundtrack. Moreover, having released non-album singles, "Something I Said" and "Small Town Girl," 2017 was a great year for Bakar.
At the beginning of 2018, Bakar released a single called “Million Miles," following which he announced the release of his full-length project called "Badkid." Several people described him as electrifying after his live performance at Leeds in May the same year.
In the year 2019, Bakar signed to September Management and Black Butter Records, and in the same year, he released "Sold Your Soul" and "Chill" before heading for his European tour, "Bakar & the bad kids."
However, one of the most notable albums Bakar released the same year was “Will You Be My Yellow?”. The single “Hell n Back” charted high on Billboard charts, becoming a huge hit across the United States.
"Will You Be My Yellow" was released under Black Butter Records and received critical acclaim. Recorded in only eight weeks, the project was produced by Matty Tavares and Zach Nahome. One of its tracks, "Stop Selling Her Drugs," also featured Dominic Fike, an American musician.
Later that same year, “Hell n Back” was performed for the second time on ColorsxStudos, a German music series. The track was used in the ad for Arsenal F.C. x Adidas's range of Bruised Banana, where Bakar sang the lyric “Will You Be My Yellow?” The song received over a million views on YouTube by July 2020.
In early 2020, “Hell n Back” was on the 62nd spot in Triple J’s Hottest 100, and in February the same year, Bakar paid tribute to Mac Miller by performing “Circles” on BBC Radio. Bakar mentioned Foals and Madlib as his influences, and his music was also described as a melting pot of rap, indie, punk, and rock by many.
With reference to his career in modeling, Bakar modeled for Louis Vuitton’s runway show in 2018 and then again in February 2019. In the same year, in November, he also modeled for Prada's campaign alongside models Sara Blomqvist and Pixie Geldof.
Bakar hopes to continue his journey as a musician after witnessing some humble beginnings and may release some new work soon.
