Ryan Beatty - Boy in Jeans (2018)

Finding your identity as a young person is hard; when you’re gay and growing up in the public eye, it becomes even more complicated. Ryan Beatty, the 22-year-old BROCKHAMPTON collaborator (“BLEACH”) and R&B singer Billboard once called “Justin Bieber 2.0,” has crafted a debut full-length that’s part diary, part therapy session. “What’s gonna be my reputation?” he ponders over a Calvin Valentine beat on lead single “Camo,” before deciding to “keep my feelings hidden.” In “Bruise,” he feels guilty for ditching his female prom date to make out with a guy in the bathroom. The only consolation he finds is in the arms of a lover: “My love is my religion,” he declares in “God in Jeans,” proclaiming, “If I’m going to hell, I’m taking you with me.”