SCARLXRD

Marius Listhrop (born 19 June 1994), better known by his stage name Scarlxrd (pronounced "scarlord"), is an English rapper. He is known for his unusual musical style combining elements of trap music and heavy metal. Formerly a YouTube personality, Scarlxrd began a career in music as the lead vocalist for nu metal band Myth City, before debuting his Scarlxrd moniker. He rose to prominence after the music video of his single "Heart Attack" gained significant attention, holding over 30 million video views as of June 2018.

2013–2014: YouTube beginnings Before he started a career in music, Listhrop began uploading videos on YouTube as Mazzi Maz. His personality on the site was described as a "perky" and "super-smiley YouTuber" who recorded and published vlogs in his bedroom.[1][3] He often collaborated with friends and fellow YouTube personalities Sam Pepper and Caspar Lee.[1] From late-2013 to mid-2014, Listhrop and Pepper embarked on a worldwide comedy-music tour, "WDGAF Tour".[4][5] As of 2017, Listhrop has removed all of his Mazzi Maz videos from his YouTube channel and has since rebranded it to his Scarlxrd moniker. In a 2017 Interview, Listhrop described his time as a YouTube personality and posting videos on the site as "soul-destroying". 2014–2016: Myth City In 2014, Listhrop founded the nu metal/rap rock band Myth City, in which he performed as the lead vocalist.[1][3][6] Listhrop also described the band's sound as a fusion of rap music and grind metal.[3] The band's YouTube channel quickly gained a following mainly consisting of Mazzi Maz fans, who gave the group a mixed reception; fans responded positively to Listhrop's unclean vocals, but were confused on the contrast between the band's harsh musical style and Listhrop's "smiley" YouTube videos. Myth City released their self-titled debut EP on 28 February 2015. 2016–present: Debut and breakthrough[edit] In August 2016, Scarlxrd debuted his new moniker with the release of "Girlfriend". The music video depicts him unmasked and rapping over a "humid, tropical hip-hop track". By the end of 2016, he released two albums スカー藩主 and Rxse. After the release of two more albums, Cabin Fever and Chaxsthexry, in April 2017, Scarlxrd began wearing a black surgical mask in his music videos and released the video for "Chain$aw" on 31 May; a week later, he released the music video for "King, Scar".[9] On 23 June, he published the music video for "Heart Attack" and the video quickly gained popularity; he credits his consistency of releasing music videos, specifically the videos for "Chain$aw" and "King, Scar", for the video's popularity rise.On 29 September, he released his fifth studio album Lxrdszn. In February 2018, it was announced that Scarlxrd would perform at the 2018 Reading and Leeds Festivals.[11] In April, it was revealed that he would be featured on Carnage's second studio album, Battered Bruised & Bloody, released on 13 April; Scarlxrd performed on the song "Up Nxw".[12] On 4 May, he released his sixth studio album Dxxm.

Scarlxrd has described his music as "trap-metal" and is often associated with SoundCloud rap artists.NME described his style to include "screamed vocals, claustrophobic trap beats and ear-shredding bursts of distorted guitar". Scarlxrd grew up listening to heavy metal music and cites hip hop artists including Missy Elliott, Nelly and Eminem as influences. He also stated that he formed Myth City after being influenced by rock bands Linkin Park and Rage Against the Machine. His visual aesthetic within his music videos and clothing style is heavily influenced from Japanese culture, especially anime. His signature surgical mask, which he wears to distance himself from his YouTube image,[6] was inspired by the Japanese manga Tokyo Ghoul. Scarlxrd also cited American heavy metal band Slipknot as an inspiration towards his visuals.