Skylar Grey Lays It All Down For Love With “Black N’ Blue”
Today (4.10), 5x-Grammy-nominated artist Skylar Grey shares her single “Black n’ Blue,” the latest preview from her upcoming album. Grey – the pop provocateur behind the haunting hooks of “Love the Way You Lie” and “Coming Home” and known for shaping tracks for heavyweights like Eminem, Dr. Dre, Rihanna, Macklemore and Zedd – will release her solo album WASTED POTENTIAL on May 22nd.
“Black n’ Blue” sinks into an infatuation that lures listeners into a hypnotic, pop spiral. With unabashedly blunt lines urging “don’t play nice” and instead “let me see your dark side,” the song captures the thrill of love that’s as addictive as it is volatile. The track was produced by Bryan Yepes (Drake, Latto), Danny Majic (G-Eazy, One Republic, Jelly Roll), Bangs (Doja Cat, Don Toliver) and Jonathan Hernandez. “It’s a song about me discovering what I was into romantically,” shares Grey. “I liked when it felt dangerous… coming home with hickeys to hide was thrilling.”
Listen to “Black n’ Blue” here
“Black n’ Blue” expands on the album’s themes of exploring her sexuality and leaning into teenage angst and urges, along with her March preview “Come” – her cheeky nod to the Spice Girls’ “2 Become 1.”
Written primarily by Grey, WASTED POTENTIAL is a nostalgic, coming-of-age story, with songs that read like diary entries from her working-class upbringing in Mazomanie, WI. What once felt like small-town dread – endless boredom and a desperate urge to escape a faceless future in her hometown – is now restitched with a newfound appreciation after decades of renouncing it.
Marrying emotional depth with undeniable hooks, the album revisits self-inflicted wounds, the restless energy of her youth, and the realization that those moments shaped her angst, identity and sexual awakening. Inspired by artists like Fiona Apple, Radiohead, and Massive Attack, Grey’s 90s influences are woven throughout the album through the sound she coined “bubblegrunge” – 90s grunge mixed with pop sensibilities.
The album also marks her first project signed with Casual Media Partners’ Heather Vassar for management.
Known for a voice like heaven and lyrics like bruises, Grey is one of the most influential voices in pop music, having collaborated with artists including Eminem, Macklemore, Jelly Roll, Rihanna, and Zedd. She has also contributed to films such as Venom 2, Aquaman, 50 Shades of Grey, and the Fast and Furious franchise. Her combined catalog has earned a staggering 19B+ total streams, plus she has a combined social following of more than 4M. Plus, Grey was recently announced as the voice of Fawn, an AI-powered comforting creature companion from Silicon Valley startup Fawn Friends.
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