Album Review: Yung Lean Looks Ahead with 'Poison Ivy'

In his newly released EP Poison Ivy, Lean contemplates questions about his drug addiction while continuing to maintain his usual style.

Written by Aalap Diwanji

At the age of 22, Yung Lean has been a pioneer of the internet rap scene, releasing music since the age of 15 and trailblazing an entire genre of aesthetic sensibilities through his “s a d b o y” persona. It’s easy to see his influence on the current culture when examining some of the first music that he put out. The production is airy and ethereal, creating soundscapes that immerse you in the cold desolation of Yung Lean’s world. His flow is infectious, often times feeling off beat as he raps monotonously about his extensive drug use, weaving in cultural references with ease. The music videos for his earliest tracks are filled with imagery that draws from a wide array of cultural influences, including 90s video games, vaporwave, and anime.

Yung Lean, born Jonatan Leandoer Håstad (“Lean” referring to Leandoer and, well, the drug), often found himself in trouble for doing drugs and graffiti growing up in Stockholm. In 2012, he met like-minded producers Yung Gud and Yung Sherman and formed Sad Boys Entertainment. To the group, SBE is not just about sharing their melancholy, but about creating a space where artists and fans alike can feel comfortable sharing any emotion they feel. Fans on the internet — myself included — fell in love with the experimental vocals over instrumentals that often bounce between dizzying maximalism and restrained minimalism.

As SBE’s popularity grew, the group moved from Sweden to Miami to work on their next album, Warlord. During this time, Lean and his collaborators had the opportunity to work in a professional studio for the very first time. While continuing to grow as musicians and producers, adding influences from European electronic music, R&B, and metal, they found themselves completely inundated with the Miami lifestyle. But, the high could not last forever, and Lean suffered a mental breakdown due to the death of his manager Barron Machat and his addiction to Xanax, lean, and cocaine. On April 7, 2015, at the age of 18, Yung Lean overdosed and found himself institutionalized. He continued to suffer from hallucinations and paranoia as a result of the withdrawal and moved back to Sweden to recover from the incident.

That brings us to Yung Lean’s most recent EP, Poison Ivy, which dropped November 2. The 23 minute project is produced entirely by frequent collaborator Whitearmor. The production is the highlight throughout the EP, using airy instrumentals to build a canvas for Lean to explore his own thoughts and reflect on his own experiences with drug addiction and fragile mental health. Whitearmor’s work deftly covers for the occasional weak lyrics and allows Lean’s ear for melody to shine.

On the surface, it may seem like Lean has regressed thematically back to a detachment from his surroundings, finding solace only in drugs. However, a deeper listen reveals Lean at his most self-aware, acknowledging how his music and persona have catapulted him to a position of great cultural influence while still being uncertain of how to move forward as he continues recovering from the 2015 mental breakdown and overdose.

The first song on the EP, “Happy Feet”, sets up this state of existence when he proclaims “I am Lucifer, my universe won’t let me rest.” Lean is aware that the lifestyle that led to his fame is the same lifestyle trapping him into this platform of sadness and drug abuse. The album continues to describe the all-consuming presence that he feels conflict with, relishing in the notoriety and material possessions he has been able to attain while still feeling intense ambivalence that it almost took his life. “Ropeman”, while also extremely catchy, is the most explicit acknowledgement of the harm he is putting himself through to create influential art, analogizing his drug dealers to the “grim reaper.”

The full extent of the theme surrounding Poison Ivy comes in the last, most gut-wrenching song on the album, “bender++girlfriend.” The song starts with the “Futurama” reference, “Got robotic instincts like I’m bender” to describe his self-destructive behavior and transitions to the viewpoint of his girlfriend expressing her fears about Lean’s behavior in the second half of the song.

Lean has found himself at a crossroads, understanding that he has questions to answer surrounding the “poison ivy” in his life. Is he going to continue to scratch the itch at risk of destroying himself and those around him that love him? Or maybe he is asking himself a deeper question about his own artistry: if he does rid himself of this poison ivy, does he know if he can still create the innovative music he is known for?