Haasan Barclay

Halloween 2015 has come and go but Boston-based artist Haasan Barclay, who has produced for the inimitable OG Swaggerdick, drops a new track, "The Exorcist." Fans of Kid Cudi's best work will gravitate towards the up-and-comer's polished and lush sounds on the song.

"The song toys with the idea of being attached to someone and revealing your true self," he told Complex over email. "It's really about putting all of your trust in one person and letting them see your vulnerability. I wrote a lot of it in 2010 when I was going through a tough time and needed someone to vent to, so I made someone up in the music."

Barclay's debut album, Heaven Is Your Last Dream, drops early next year. For now, stream "The Exorcist" below: - Lauren Nostro

Haasan Barclay – Heaven is Your Last Dream

“Heaven is Your Last Dream” is a gathered collective of synths and guitar riffs. This project made the list because it is that of early Kid Cudi. Throughout this magnificent “Mona Lisa” you’ll find a little bit of everything, but some songs that really caught my attention were “Get You, Right?” featuring Sarah Martin, “The Exorcist“, and “Yoshimitsu featuring Michael Christmas. Haasan Barclay is a reinvention and a reincarnation weather you like it or not, he’s going to make a mark on the music industry. You cannot deny his talent. - Demel Ferguson

Haasan Barclay is one of those local artists who does it all–plays his instruments, produces his stuff, knows his way around synth–and up to this point has yet to release anything big for himself. He’s produced and collaborated with favorites such as OG Swaggerdick and Michael Christmas, like some sort of unsung friend of Boston hip-hop. That said, we here at the Pudding are extremely excited to present Barclay’s debut album Heaven is Your Last Dream. Not only is it about him, it’s about every genre and every listener’s observation.

“Honestly, I write for anyone who’s listening,” says Barclay, real-life known as Chris Haasan Barclay Rogers. He wrote and self-produced most of the album’s tracks over a two year period, with the exception of “Exorcist” which was written back in 2010. Given the frame, Heaven is Your Last Dream casts a wide net from rock to rap to indie electronic. Barclay says the album’s original concept was to cover the range from heaven to hell, but that idea fell to impressionism. He wants listeners to go their own way with meaning, much like how the songs do the same with sound.“I’ve always been into bending genres,” Barclay says. “The beginning of the album is pretty much dream pop so once you pass through each song you really get into something else.”

And this variety provides a pretty good snapshot of Barclay as an artist. He’s unclassified. With influences from Stevie Wonder to Nine Inch Nails, how could a label even stick? Besides, as he put it “I wouldn’t really consider myself Boston rap. It just doesn’t feel like a rap album to me.”

Stream Heaven is Your Last Dream below. - Becca DeGregorio