Did Being Happy Ruin Ghostemane?

Ghostemane is a Rapper/Industrial/Noise Artist.

Actually, what he does is really hard to categorize.

Influenced by death metal, punk, and rap when he moved to Los Angeles at 24, he never slept. Self-produced LP's, EP's, and Collaborations seemingly came out monthly. Ghostemane set the template for an independent artist that was working the hustle.

Due to age and hearing issues, Ghostemane got on my radar very late in the game. I fell in love with the Nihil single and worked my way backwards through his discography.

But then, in the year 2021, his production just stopped.

His last single should have been a jumping off point, instead it was the end.

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It is hard to be cutting edge your whole life. It is hard when you're a starving artist and all the money you make goes into your next project. Lots of artists have phases in their careers.

But when you're the master of depression, self-loathing, and heavy/dark soundscapes, what do you do when you're happy?

That's not me speculating, about once a year now he posts pictures of his wife and young kids on social media.

Both of his last 2 albums were really good.

When Anti-Icon came out, I asked my son: Does anyone listen to Ghostemane at your school? He said, "yeah, wannabe 9th grade drug dealers who huff gasoline in their garage."

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Ghostemane's website, Instagram, and Facebook are all still active, which leads us down the dangerous road of conjecture.

Ghostemane is working on an epic project that is more accessible?

Ghostemane is done with music and moved onto other artistic ventures?

Ghostemane is taking a simple break?

Much of Ghostemane's output had a very distinctive thumbprint.

Or maybe what Ghostemane is up to is none of my business.