Hailing from British Columbia, this rapper ditched a career in professional rugby to reach hip-hop stardom, sharing the stage with icons such as A$AP Rocky, Rae Sremmurd, and Young Thug in front of over 100,000 fans.
His latest album Black Lotus is out now.
Growing up on the outskirts of Chilliwack, surrounded bypoverty, life wasn’t always easy for Boslen, but it was always musical. Raisedby a single mother, his mom consistently played songs throughout the day forhim and his sisters, sparking a deep relationship with music that has transformedinto a passion and a career. After his mother remarried, he was part of a large,virtuosic family in which almost every person played an instrument, giving theyoung rapper a sense of security and motivation, to the point where in highschool, he would listen to music in the locker room before a big game tomentally prepare.
Although he was writing music on the side, rugby was Boslen’s center of attention until college – and for good reason. He received a scholarship from the University of Victoria and hoped to eventually play professionally. During his time with Team Canada, Boslen tore his ACL, forcing him to step aside from rugby to recover. While immobile, he turned to music to ease the feelings of depression and anxiety. After his second ACL injury, he decided to set down his rugby jersey for good and pursue music full-time. His compositions soon matched the calibre of his athleticism, and by 2018 he had traded frat party gigs for main stages, began working with a manager he met on campus, and released an album: “Motionless II.”
“Boslen comes from a background of playing sports at a national level, it’s no surprise his music would pair well with anything that gets the heart pumping.”
Brodie Harvey, Lyrical Lemonade
Boslen’s natural ability to blend catchy hooks with street soul excited the well-known duo, Manila Grey, who would eventually go on to remix Boslen’s track, “Eye For An Eye,” earning him over a million streams. This success made his latest project, Black Lotus, highly anticipated, in part thanks to production credits from London Cyr, who worked with Travis Scott on the Grammy-nominated album ASTROWORLD.
The day after its release, Black Lotus topped the Canadian Apple Music Charts. The project has been widely praised for its personal lyrics about family and growth, which is paralleled by the album’s name; Boslen was inspired by a black lotus, since the flowers bloom from the mud, representing his journey from the valley and poverty to his success in the hip-hop scene as a self-made artist. His whole family have been touched by the the lotus imagery, and his sisters have all since inked a lotus flower tattoo.
With gritty lyrics and 808s that build momentum, Boslen keeps his audience captivated from start to finish, displaying stylistic and musical growth from first album. Perhaps the reason his flow sound so smooth and natural is because he reportedly comes up with the rhythms first, before filling them in with his lyrics. When his producers send him a track to work with, he spits gibberish to establish hook-based phrasing, and then eventually fills out the meaning with words. This unusual creative process is the mark of an innovative artist with a unique and contemporary sound.
Boslen’s boundless energy and talent will undoubtedly help his career rise even further from the mud. Known for his high-voltage live performances, he once jumped over a flight of stairs on stage, injuring his torn ACL further, still finishing his performance while limping. This is the type of passion and work ethic that leads a rapper to years of success, which Boslen has himself predicted: “If I don’t believe [that I’ll make it] then no one else will.”
“In some of his more intimate tracks, Boslen showcases his ability to convey pure emotion while using an intricate, calculated vocal delivery. It’s hard to resist coming back to music so deep with such emotive content.”
Graduation Music