Metamorphosis in Tulsa: YUNGxHALLOWEEN's New Album Redefines Community

Those who have kept an ear to the Tulsa music scene may already be familiar with YUNGxHALLOWEEN, as the local rapper has been releasing music and playing shows for the better part of a decade. The East Tulsan’s style was a product of the online rap sound that came to define hip-hop in the 2010s. However, with the release of two singles and the upcoming album No Such Thing as Tulsa Famous, YUNGxHALLOWEEN has reinvented both his sound and himself. 

A quick look at YUNGxHALLOWEEN’s Instagram page (@yungxhalloween) reveals his potent visual aesthetic: insects of all kinds, all washed in shades of green. Amazingly, YUNGxHALLOWEEN has captured this look in his musical style, which is ever-present in No Such Thing as Tulsa Famous. There are obvious examples: the sampling of crickets chirping, bees flying, and the references to insects in both lyrics and song titles. But YUNGxHALLOWEEN and his producer, Pink Onyx, take it a step further. The album seems to constantly buzz with energy, with beats skittering here and there. The music feels alive and as green as a beetle’s shell or a grove of trees, making for an enthralling listening experience. 

YUNGxHALLOWEEN’s evolution doesn’t stop there, to the point where calling him a “rapper” no longer seems sufficient. Sure, he still raps, and he does so with intensity. Songs like “Beekeeper/The Hive” and the semi-title track “Tulsa Famous” come out swinging, pummeling the listener with hard-hitting beats and even harder-hitting bars. Yet you’ll find flavors of emo, pop, and drum’n’bass blended together in the single “Isekai,” and this fusion of sounds is evident throughout the entire project. “I think with what the music soundscape is today, what I’ve gleaned is that you can use genres as instruments,” says YUNGxHALLOWEEN. “Like, I want to listen to Vince Staples, and I want to listen to Brakence at the same time, but there’s no music for that. So, I’ll just do it.” The result is a wonderful homage to genres and styles of all kinds, while still sounding completely fresh and new. No Such Thing as Tulsa Famous truly has something for everyone in its DNA. 

This encapsulation of a multitude of sounds ties into the album’s grander themes of community—specifically, community in Tulsa. YUNGxHALLOWEEN was born and raised in East Tulsa, with ties so deep that he says, “I plan on dying here.” He attributes this devotion to the strong sense of community in East Tulsa, as well as his Mexican-American roots. “It has, is, and always will be a pillar of my life,” he says. “Community just means so much to me.” No Such Thing as Tulsa Famous plays out almost as a love letter to Tulsa's communities while attempting to raise awareness and bring them closer together. His line in the single “Left Hand Suzuki Method” is no joke: “I got Tulsa in my pulse.” 

However, nothing in life is perfect, and Tulsa is no exception. YUNGxHALLOWEEN dissects the city’s shortcomings on the album in various ways. Referring again to the sense of community—or lack thereof—he says: “My goal with this album is to redefine what people mean when they say Tulsa. Because there’s Tulsa, the four hundred thousand of us who live here. And then there’s ‘Tulsa,’ when people mean them, their twelve friends, the three people they hate, and their job. When most people speak about Tulsa, they’re only talking about those fifteen people and not this whole other population that exists here. That’s always kind of bothered me.” 

And then there’s the album title itself: No Such Thing as Tulsa Famous. Continuing the community-first attitude that defines both him and the project, YUNGxHALLOWEEN seeks to denounce the term “Tulsa famous,” specifically the separation it can cause and the harm it can do to growing a community. “There are popular people, and there are the everyday people, and I think we’re giving a lot of power to ‘who’s the popular person?’” he says. “Putting fame into a mid-sized city has created a lot of toxicity. And if we’re operating on ‘I’m above this person, or they’re above me,’ we’re not going to get anything done.” 

It would be impossible to explore concepts so (literally) close to home without revealing yourself in the process. Listeners of YUNGxHALLOWEEN’s previous work will notice the much more intimate lyrics this time around, and that’s no accident. “I think before, I was kind of just making music to make music,” he admits. “But at some point between my last project and this one, I realized I wasn’t telling people about myself.” In an effort to ground his sentiments surrounding Tulsa and to help listeners understand him better, YUNGxHALLOWEEN says he “inject[s] Joseph into this.” As a result, you get songs like “Matcha Eternal,” a ballad interlaced with plucking guitar strings and shimmering 8-bit synths that showcases the profound impact of community on YUNGxHALLOWEEN’s life. Then there’s the truly beautiful “Moth,” a song that, in all its glowing, melancholic glory, highlights perseverance and growth. 

No Such Thing as Tulsa Famous is a gem of an album. From the crackling, raw energy surging through its tracks to the contemplative, atmospheric moments in between, YUNGxHALLOWEEN’s personal lyrics give the project its heart. When you consider the love and critiques of Tulsa that are woven in, the experience becomes even richer. Divulging more would rob you of that experience, so make sure to stream YUNGxHALLOWEEN’s No Such Thing as Tulsa Famous when it drops later this year. 

In the meantime, ASLUT is proud to present the newest single from the album, “Kiss Love Heart Baby,” an open, unapologetic look into who YUNGxHALLOWEEN is.

Listen to it on your favorite streaming platforms, and be sure to stream No Such Thing as Tulsa Famous when it drops later this year!