Yung Bleu

Alabamian vocalist and MC Yung Bleu first drew notice through his brooding, atmospheric approach and steadily more elaborate delivery. Performing also as BLEU or, more casually, Bleu Vandross—an homage to the R&B icon Luther Vandross—he steadily climbed the commercial ladder via introspective ballads including the platinum-certified singles “Miss It” (2017), “Ice on My Baby” (2018), and “You’re Mines Still” (2020). A Drake-assisted remix of the latter delivered Bleu’s debut Billboard Hot 100 entry and lifted the deluxe edition of his EP Love Scars: The 5 Stages of Emotion (2020) onto the Billboard 200. His debut full-length, Moon Boy (2021), bowed at number 12 on the album chart, while Tantra (2022) and Jeremy (2024) likewise registered on the tally.

Raised in Mobile, Alabama, where he still resides, Jeremy Biddle began rapping at age eleven after observing his brother’s involvement in the city’s hip-hop scene. He stepped into the spotlight in his late teens via the self-released mixtape Hello World (2013) before aligning with Young Boss Entertainment. Over the following years he expanded his reach through the numbered Investments (or INV) series, each installment broadening his sonic palette, and simultaneously forged a partnership with Boosie Badazz that yielded multiple joint tracks and a Columbia-backed arrangement with the rapper’s Badazz Music Syndicate.

The 2017 release “Miss It” marked his first major breakthrough, after which further Investments volumes and streaming standouts such as “Unappreciated” (2018) and the Kevin Gates remix of “Ice on My Baby” kept his profile rising. He also launched the R&B-focused Bleu Vandross mixtape series under his secondary alias. His last Columbia-distributed projects, Bleu Vandross 2 and Investments 6, arrived in 2019. Launching Vandross Music Group independently the next year, Bleu issued Bleu Vandross 3 and Love Scars: The 5 Stages of Emotions. An expanded edition of the EP incorporated Drake’s guest verse on “You’re Mines Still,” sending the track onto the Hot 100 in October and carrying the project into the Billboard 200.

Early 2021 brought the Coi Leray collaboration “Thieves in Atlanta,” an amorous single signaling his shift from mixtapes to a proper studio album. The star-studded Moon Boy, released that July, featured Big Sean, Gunna, John Legend, and H.E.R.—whose Back of My Mind, containing their duet “Paradise,” earned a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. The set peaked at number six on the rap chart and number 12 on the Billboard 200, spawning the gold-certified single “Baddest.” After appearing on Gunna’s DS4EVER and Chris Brown’s Breezy, Bleu previewed his sophomore album in September 2022 with the Nicki Minaj duet “Love in the Way,” his fourth Hot 100 entry as lead artist. The introspective Tantra, boasting additional contributions from Ne-Yo, French Montana, and Lil Wayne, entered the Billboard 200 at number 99 upon its November arrival. Five months later came Love Scars II, a ballad-driven sequel that reached number 38 with guest spots from Brown, Ty Dolla $ign, and Tink; the unaccompanied single “Games Women Play” nevertheless drew the strongest initial response.

Closing out 2023 with “Confirmation” and “Vent,” Bleu returned in 2024 with a Lil Wayne remix of the former and the full-length Jeremy, which landed at number 51 on the Billboard 200 and was presented as his most autobiographical work to date.