If you don’t know who Che Ecru is you are honestly missing out because he is turning the underground R&B music scene upside down. Ecru, a Boston native, is a singer and producer with over 60K followers on Instagram and over 50K on Soundcloud, respectively. He began to work on music full-time and built a buzz on his own after dropping out of college; early tracks like “2 A.M” gave him considerable buzz online, leading to his 2017 debut album Berries.
I was one of the many fans who were instantly captivated by his music; when I first came across his songs, I was taken aback by how unique yet commercial his instrumentals sounded. I was enamored with his R&B-induced synths along with pianos, and sometimes rock-inspired guitars above rhythmic hip-hop drums, basses, and 808’s. Even though the instrumentals were amazing what really had me hooked was his lyricism; Ecru doesn’t just talk about sex and parties as a lot of R&B and Hip-hop musicians often do, he also talks about heartbreak, loneliness, love, rejection, depression, sadness, anger, etc. He also has a sense of humor as he makes a lot of witty remarks in his music.
His music doesn’t just make you feel happy, it makes you feel seen and understood as it is extremely relatable. He reminded me a lot of Drake and Bryson Tiller as he is very good at tapping into his emotions (a trait that we don’t often see in a lot of male artists). You can listen to him when you’re feeling or going through literally anything under the sun: when you’re in love, happy, having a good time, lonely, sad, etc. Aside from experimenting with Rock instruments like electric guitar, he has also experimented with House, Rap/Hip-Hop, and even Bachata sounds as the lyrics of his “Para Ti” from his Till Death album are in Spanish. Ecru’s spacy and reverb-filled adlibs over his gorgeous-sounding synths and pianos create an unbelievable atmosphere and emotion when listened to. The experience of hearing his amazing instrumentals and relatable themes/lyrics is only amplified by his powerful and soulful voice.
