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Blackbear may be a well-known name in the pop and hip-hop worlds, but he's an emo kid at heart (just look at his Machine Gun Kelly and All Time Low collabs). For his upcoming album, In Loving Memory, the singer/producer is going back to his "roots" and recruited some of the biggest names in pop punk to help him out.
"I came from emo, spot on," blackbear told AltPress in a new interview. "My new album is very alternative and pop punk. I am doing it with [blink-182's] Travis Barker, and it’s called In Loving Memory. The whole idea behind the album is [a] letter to my father who passed away, and I never got to say goodbye. I’m making this music that is true to my roots, and I’m bringing out guest stars like Jordan Pundik from New Found Glory and Bert McCracken from the Used. I’m paying homage to the bands I grew up listening to with this album."
Blackbear has yet to reveal the release date for In Loving Memory, but it's slated to come out some time this year.
Speaking of blackbear's pop punk collabs, "Monsters" (his song with All Time Low) was nominated for Best Alternative Song of the Year at the 2021 iHeartRadio Music Awards, and "my ex's best friend" (his song with MGK) is up for the same category this year. See a full list of nominees here.