When we first connected with SEB back in 2021, the songwriter told us he had TikTok to thank for the viral success of his track “seaside_demo,” as well as a mashup of Harry Styles’ “Watermelon Sugar.” Fast-forward to 2023 and the LA-based musician is releasing his first new music of the year with the vibed-out singles “sugarhoneyiceicetea” and “moving on,” the latter of which features guest vocals from Rhode Island emcee Khary.
While both singles exhibit growth as a songwriter, SEB shared in a press statement that one impetus for releasing the songs was his concern that his growing public image was becoming more tied to being perceived as an influencer rather than as a musician. “Recently on social media, I’ve been putting more focus on showing myself as a producer,” he shared. “For a while, I felt like I was being perceived as an influencer first. That became tough just ’cause of how much time and care I put into my music. Once the focus of my videos changed, I also felt like people started connecting me to my music more.”
The amount of care put into both new tracks is pretty evident in their cozy layers of dreamy guitar, hard-hitting beats, and backing ambiance. “I wanted it to play out like an episode of Atlanta, where things feel surreal, mostly because of the absurdity of certain situations,” he continued. “But really, that’s just what I think it feels like to be Black anywhere in the world.”
Check out both songs below.
