Exploding onto the hip-hop scene, Florida-based collective Barely Legal consists of 8 members whose energy and enthusiasm distinguishes them from other groups. Ranging from ages 19-22, the young group is working hard to make 2022 their year and further establish their place in the industry.
Barely Legal was founded by four artists: Chowder Band$ and JØ originally came together in summer of 2019, with Miguel Morales and Kid Dre joining soon after. Similar to BROCKHAMPTON, they also consider their creatives as part of the team: Devin, their 19 year old graphic designer, Ty, the video editor & designer, Laith, the manager of the group, and Danny. But Barely Legal is ready to do so much more than the former Texas-based boyband.
The group wasn’t yet fully assembled when they came up with their name. “We knew we wanted it to be two words and something that fit the description of our character,” Kid Dre explains. “The one thing we all had in common was that we were all very young. I just turned 19, Band$ was 17, and JØ was still 16 so we were all like we’re barely legal.”
Their first release as a group debuted in November of 2020. Titled “Money Where Your Mouth Is,” the song delivers a melodious and mellow chorus that’s easy to groove to. After that, the group infrequently released a couple singles (one eloquently titled “FUCK”) before dropping Barely Legal Tapes, Vol. 1 in 2021.
“We have like this dilemma where we drop something and then we just disappear for like a couple months” acknowledges Dre. With their latest release Daytona, they hope to change that.
Daytona is an EP featuring three songs: “DND,” “Dat Way,” and “Run it up.” JØ describes the motive for their latest drop: “Daytona was more so just like a sneak peek into the skill set that we established [and] connecting with our fans, we didn’t drop necessarily a project that was long… but it just was very dense and was exactly what our fans wanted so it worked out.” And for the fans it is. The EP’s consistent flow and energetic beats get you psyched up in seconds. To quote Dre, “[it’s] shit that you just want to punch a pedestrian with.” Hype!
The fan favorite from the project is “Dat Way,” with over 45,000 streams and a dynamic music video released on February 8th. However, everyone in the group collectively and enthusiastically agrees that they prefer “DND.”
When it comes to influences, the boys all shout out various artists that they look up to. Miguel shouts out Childish Gambino and Justin Timberlake, while Band$ gives kudos to Playboi Carti and Adele. Kid Dre jokingly names Frank Sinatra before stating that Tyler, the Creator is a major influence for him. This interesting mesh of names helps create the sound that Barely Legal has to offer.
For upcoming events, Laith hints at a future project soon to be released as well as a couple of booked shows. Barely Legal will be performing at Low Fest in New York this coming April, their first official booking. The group has cemented 2022 as their year and we can expect a lot from them in the coming months!
Follow Barely Legal on their Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok!
IG and TT: @barelylegalcollective
Twitter: @FuckBarelyLegal
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