Reo Cragun blends R&B, hip-hop and electro-pop on new album Diary Of A Loner

REO CRAGUN NEW ALBUM: DIARY OF A LONER

COLLABORATIONS WITH KID INK, WHETHAN, JONAH LENOX, CLEAR EYES AND MARIAN HILL

Today, Washington-born artist, producer and multi-instrumentalist Reo Cragun releases his 12-track album Diary Of A Loner. Co-produced by Clear Eyes [Jeremy Lloyd of Marian Hill], the project blends hip-hop and electro-pop sounds while Cragun survey’s life’s ups and downs, trials and tribulations, and losses and victories without filter or fear. After amassing hundreds of millions of streams, selling out shows, and inciting critical applause, he opens up like never before on his first independent full-length album.

“It resembles a collection of really personal notes,” Cragun reveals. “I tell my story about a lot of the events in my life. These are my journal entries. I’m such an introvert by nature. I always feel as if I’m on the journey by myself. However, I tried to express those feelings on the project. For the first time, I really talk about what happened growing up and what’s going on now.”

Cragun teased the album with lead single “My Life” where he confronts moments of mistrust over a clean guitar loop laden with finger snaps. The album opener and title track “Diary of a Loner” layers warped strings with shaky 808s as his voice flutters from energetic verses into a woozy high-register confession. On the other end of the spectrum, he locks into sultry and soulful feels with Marian Hill on “crazy4u.” Warbling vocal samples entwine in an off-kilter harmony as the bass thumps, teeming with emotion as vocalist Samantha Gongol’s lush delivery provides a perfectly blissful counterpoint. While her spacey vocals echo between delicate piano on the finale “Mile High,” climaxing on a towering hook.

Cragun initially invited audiences into his world on the 2017 mixtape Growing Pains highlighted by fan favorites such as “Inconsiderate,” “On My Way,” and “Trap Music.” Billie Eilish notably invited him to open her “Where’s My Mind” Tour, while Flume recruited him for a series of impactful genre-busting collaborations. 2019 single “Friends” with Flume tallied north of 45 million Spotify streams, and they joined forces again on the Quits EP. Reo also lent his voice to Flume’s Hi This Is Flume, which garnered a GRAMMY® Award nomination in the category of “Best Dance/Electronic Album.” Cragun has received widespread acclaim from Paper, UPROXX, Hypebeast, Consequence of Sound, Pigeons & Planes, Earmilk, Complex, Office, OnesToWatch, and more.