Toro Y Moi’s Clout Builds with Contemporary Visuals, Gangster-ish Mixtapes, and Another Classic Album.
The Toro Y Moi legacy begins in 2010 with his seminal debut, Causers Of This, a defining album for the infamous Chillwave genre. Chillwave is characterized by faded, dreamy-psych vibes, but Toro, a.k.a. Chaz Bear, brought an R&B-influenced touch to the budding genre. And while his work on Causers Of This may seem like he was limited by lo-fi production skills, Chaz had already proved he could master more streamlined electronic music. “Eden” is proof, a demo he released prior to Causers Of This. Back then, Chaz was nowhere near the cultural force he is today, and what’s helped him reach his current status probably has just as much to do with his personality and art as it does with his actual music.
Chaz fills a cultural void for people. For music fans who want soft-core rap and trap beats without crass rhymes, Chaz stands ready to deliver a multi-racial, suburbanite perspective on the the most dominant force in music today. And if that doesn’t make him accessible enough, he’s an actual designer too, sporting some of the most hipster art and clothing ideas you’ll find on social media. He’s kind of everything cool rolled into one adorable package – a hip teen’s dream. Yes, the Chaz Bear brand is strong, and Chaz is taking advantage of his influence more than ever.
Now, you never know when that cool factor can go to an artist’s head. Take Drake for example, and this amazing quote about him from prolific outsider artist Dean Blunt, “Craig David is the original Drake, everything about him. The mixed-race thing; he’s not sure if he can be gangsta enough, he’s quite a nice boy, but then he gets popular and he gets really arrogant, and starts to believe he’s this thing that he’s not. It’s amazing.”
Chaz is too sweet (re: shy and awkward) to ever match Blunt’s description of Drake, but I see some positive similarities between him and the actor turned rapper. From adopting a Travis Scott like flow on Boo Boo after featuring on Scott’s debut album, to dropping the ambient-trap mixtape, Samantha, and now the Soul Trash mixtape, Toro has become the style imitating, taste-making Drake, or (considering his constant artistic evolution) the A$AP Rocky of Indie music.
With lines like “wasn’t wishing to be known world-wide, figured it was better than the southern life,” from Boo Boo or “I’m done with the bridges, I made enough to live with,” from Outer Peace or even “got the fans, I don’t need reviews/got the bands, get my momma food” from Soul Trash, it’s entertaining to watch Chaz dip his toes into the waters of self-realized internet rappers. And while his rapping isn’t 5 mics worthy just yet, his beat-making abilities are another story.
Take “Windows” from Boo Boo for example. Its wandering intro comes to a bridge at the 1:30 mark as subtle arpeggio synths pulse to a crescendo. The last phrase spoken, “out my window”, fades into an echo chamber and crisp auto-tune vocals join in, “this is not fantasy, this is as real as me”. It’s an understated moment of pure euphoria. And almost reminiscent of the effect Kanye’s epic bridges provide on “New Slaves” and “Bound 2”. There’s an abrupt shift in emotion that’s instantly palpable but also beautiful. And more recently, the outro on Soul Trash samples a soul cut paired with boom bap drums to a level of bliss that you might expect from renowned hip-hop producer, Knxwledge. Whether it’s a mixtape or an official release, Chaz is showing us he has mad skills in the stu.
And all this leads us to his most recent album, Outer Peace, which will be one of the most intriguing releases of 2019 and a classic in the Toro canon. Outer Peace is a lot of things, but it’s definitely Chaz at the peak of his game. From his ode to aging millennials (‘New House’), one of his best ambient-trap productions, to his nuanced take on dance music with “Freelance” and “Who I Am”, Outer Peace shows Chaz flexing all of his creative muscles to make his most tantalizing record to date.
OP also gives us his most brash or sarcastic flash of confidence thus far in his career with the meta reference on “Laws of the Universe.” After the first verse ends, Chaz says, in a deadpan, very James Murphy tone, “James Murphy is playing at my house, I met him at Coachella, spinning all rare sh*t from Flying Dutchman.” It’s a twist on a classic LCD Soundsystem (Murphy’s band) song, “Daft Punk Is Playing At My House”. As an LCD Soundsystem fan, I was shook when I heard Chaz flip the reference. It was the perfect insider quip and done tastefully while still getting a laugh. It felt like Chaz Bear solidified his iconic status in the Indie world with that one line.
Now with six official albums under his belt, Chaz has displayed diversity in his musical catalog that’s truly unique and frankly astonishing (from chillwave and hypnagogic pop to power pop, disco and house, and psychedelic jazz). Like someone as talented, withdrawn, and influenced by hip-hop culture as Post Malone, Toro Y Moi is one of the finer musical products of growing up in the internet age. Just a kid willing to blend any genre he finds interesting to his own will, whether he "belongs there or not,” and somehow make it catchy enough for us all to enjoy. While he’s already built a singular musical legacy, there’s no telling where he’ll go next, but it’s certain he’ll keep changing for the better with every record — and that’s what makes him one of the best of his time.