BAKAR

LIVE NATION PRESENTS

BAKAR

Bakar is quite simply one of the most exciting artists in Britain today. Resisting categorisation as he steadily moves into the spotlight, he offers all the lyrical power of a rapper, the virtuoso balance of a producer and the pop talent of a singer-songwriter. After two sensational mixtapes, signings by music royalty, modelling campaigns with Louis Vuitton and Prada, and a single that reached number one on the Billboard charts in the US, he is now preparing to send shockwaves around the world with the follow-up to his debut album Nobody's Home, released in 2022.

The son of a Tanzanian mother and a Yemeni father, Bakar - whose full name is Abubakar Baker Shariff-Farr - grew up in Camden, north London. His father was largely absent, leaving his mother to bring him and his younger brother up on Choice FM, R&B CDs and the Koran. During his travels in Tanzania, Bakar first set foot in a music studio thanks to his uncle, who ran a local record label. He describes these trips as a humbling experience, which gave him a new appreciation for his life in London. He began to study at state school, but his mother worried about his progress. "I wasn't getting so burnt out that I thought, 'He's got to go', but I think you could see that my trajectory wasn't extraordinary where I was," he explains. "And I think my mother just wanted me not to be distracted, because I was an easily distracted human being." So she sent him to boarding school, where he made new friends and broadened his horizons. From the age of 13, he was interested in Madlib's Quasimoto projects, J Dilla, Dipset and the first stirrings of the nascent London grime scene, but his new classmates introduced him to bands like the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and British indie acts like the Maccabees. Soon he was making his own music, cutting up samples of King Krule and Bombay Bicycle Club records on Garage Band and posting the results anonymously on Soundcloud.

He announced himself on the UK music scene in 2017, self-releasing his first official single 'Big Dreams' - a fast, driving post-punk work that sounded like nothing else. A string of singles followed, before 2018's BADKID mixtape, made with producer Zach Nahome in what would become a fruitful partnership. In 2019, Bakar released 'Hell N Back', an infectious and utterly irresistible single that reached number one on Billboard's Adult Alternative chart. The Will You Be My Yellow? EP was released shortly afterwards, showcasing a more varied and experimental sound and featuring a collaboration with Dominic Fike. Famous voices - Elton John, Virgil Abloh, Skepta - began to express their affection for Bakar's music. But that didn't bother him. "People act like they're the only three people who annoy me," he says. "It's nice to have artists you respect and who like your music, but that doesn't make you an artist. The fashion industry also appealed to him. Having worked as a model in his youth, Bakar was a natural when Virgil Abloh asked him to walk in his first Louis Vuitton show in 2018 and again in 2019 - alongside Kid Cudi, Playboi Carti and A$AP Nast. He also walked the catwalk for Prada's A Gift to Give campaign at the end of 2019, but once again remains down to earth, explaining that he has always felt "more about style than fashion".

In 2022, he released his debut album, Nobody's Home, a collection of darker meditations on Bakar's ever-evolving sound. Combining acoustic guitars and driving rhythms with lyrics about identity, politics and mental health, the album sees Bakar explore subjects close to his heart. But he never considered it a conscious decision. "I may reflect something in life that is intrinsically linked to politics, but I never wanted to be a political artist," he says. "I think the only responsibility I have is to be honest about what's going on, in and around me. I get messages from people who tell me that certain songs have helped them through difficult times or, in the most extreme cases, helped them out of a bad situation, so I'm really happy to be able to offer that service." In 2023, he plans to release his next album, Halo, the work of an adult who is no longer a bad boy. Bakar is very confident and his ambitions are even bigger. "I just want to become a big one," he says. "When it's all said and done, I want them to associate me with that conversation."