In 2018, a young and talented man stole hearts and attention with his feel-good music. Two years later, he's still at it and is only moving up the charts henceforth.
Bazzi, a 22-year-old multi-platinum singer/songwriter, brings more to a listener's ears than nice tunes and catchy lyrics. His altruistic side wants to take people on a trip of emotions, romance, and a lot of energy; the same trip he's undertaking throughout his music making.
Michigan-born, Los Angeles-based, and with a pinch of Lebanese genes in him, Bazzi embodies all what the word talent holds in meaning. He plays the guitar and piano while having previously dabbled in Oud at the age of four, writes songs, and has a modern feel to his voice. Combine all these skills and you'll easily - or maybe not that easily, according to Bazzi - get a song in one day. That's how I Got You saw light mid-April.
A hit-to-be, I Got You is the brainchild of a Monday morning challenge Bazzi set up for himself.
"I woke up today & decided i would make a song and put it online no matter what... i think it actually turned out kinda hard lol TWITTER WHAT DO WE THINK?" he tweeted on April 14.
What did Twitter think? Tweets like "bad songs? he doesn't know them" and "DROP IT DROP IT DROP IT" overtook the comments section.
But one song during quarantine isn't enough for Bazzi's fans.
Take a step back to a week prior to I Got You and you'll find Young & Alive. Described by Z100 radio as the outdoor jam we're all craving for during these tough times, Young & Alive is here to blow life and optimism into people's minds.
"This song was about the freedom to be able to go outside [...] It's so crazy and what everything has turned into. I'm glad I created an energy of a song, for people to maybe escape. To feel that youthful outdoor energy," Bazzi said in his interview with the radio station.
Though recorded pre-pandemic with summer adventures in mind, the single still captures the same feeling of youth and "present-ness," as Bazzi describes it.
Born to a Lebanese father and American mother, Bazzi - full name Andrew Bazzi - keeps his Lebanese roots close to his heart ... and body. In a 2019 interview with GQ magazine, he dissected the meaning behind his tattoos, starting with his first one: Three Arabic sentences on his right arm.
His father, just like most Arab men, never wanted him to get tattoos, and so Bazzi struck a deal with him: The first tattoo would be written by his father.
"This is three life affirmations. I'm Lebanese so my dad wrote them out for me in Arabic. One says 'I'm the child of the universe and I'm infinitely creative,' the other one says 'I will live to bring understanding and beauty to the world,' and the third 'I will not live in the past or future, but I will always stay present,'" he explained.
The young artist is coming back with a new album this summer - and probably a lot of new tattoos - almost a year after the release of his mixtape Soul Searching in August 2019.
With romance in mind and heart, presented clear and loud in I Got You, Young & Alive, and Renee's Song - a ballad gifted to his girlfriend for their two-year anniversary - Bazzi's upcoming album will revive summer and love regardless of where the listener is.