Up until three years ago, Vancouver-based artist Boslen imagined a very different future for himself. He was at the University of Victoria on a rugby scholarship and playing on Canada’s national rugby team when he tore his ACL, an injury that ended his dreams of becoming a professional rugby player. While he was stuck in his dorm during the long recovery, he started seriously thinking about what he was going to do with his life.
“Music really aided my mental health. It helped me from not caving in or imploding,” says Boslen. “[That time] really pushed me, and gave me the inspiration to shift my focus towards music.”
Boslen’s transition into rap and R&B wasn’t entirely unexpected. At 13 years old in his hometown of Chilliwack, B.C., he started writing his first songs – rapping about average kid stuff, like getting grounded or doing the dishes. “It was the cringiest,” he laughs. “Now, I have life experience and can say things that really resonate with people, and hopefully make them feel inspired.”
Boslen has pursued music with the same determination and prowess that he did rugby. Since releasing his his debut EP Motionless in 2018, he’s performed alongside Rae Sremmurd, A$AP Rocky, and Young Thug, and opened for Cypress Hill in Vancouver, to a crowd of more than 100,000. Now, he’s ready to release his debut full length and “put on for Vancouver.”
To be released this summer via Capitol Records/Universal Music Canada, DUSK to DAWN solidifies Boslen as a genre-less artist whose sonic environments range from hard-hitting rap and soulful R&B to emotional pop. Lyrically, he digs into the personal, exploring themes like vulnerability and self-empowerment, toxic relationships, and feeling like the underdog.
“Being a young Black, and Indigenous man, and growing up with a single mother, I felt like I had to be the man of the house, always had to be strong and not show my emotional side, because I felt like it was looked upon as weak,” says Boslen. “But I think with this album, expressing myself through my weaknesses is the strongest thing I can do. My main goal is for other people to feel empowered.”