brakence

Born in Columbus, Ohio, in 2001, Randy Findell began releasing material under the name brakence by uploading tracks to SoundCloud in 2016. Early cuts like “fifthenigma” and “nervosa” fused arrhythmic beats, atmospheric samples, and light, airy vocals into highly distinctive forms. The music gradually adopted stronger melodies without shedding its quirks, a shift illustrated by the 2018 release hypnagogia, which added emo-style vocals and lo-fi hip-hop beats. Several singles followed before the 2019 EP bhavana steered the sound closer to alternative R&B. After a brief enrollment at Ohio State University, Findell wrote “dropout,” one of the most streamed songs on the 2020 album punk2. The record drew attention for its inventive production and confessional lyrics, prompting a Columbia signing that yielded a blackbear collaboration on “dropout” and a reissued punk2 featuring the additional track “sauceintherough.” The 2021 single “argyle” preceded the full-length hypochondriac at the close of 2022. An Ohio native, brakence creates wistful, confessional songs addressing mental health, heartbreak, and lived experience, with his style moving from the complex, abstract rhythms of those initial singles toward the tighter emo-rap of punk2 and hypochondriac.