Marius Lucas Antonio Listhrop (born 19 June 1994), better known as Scarlxrd (pronounced "Scarlord"), is an English rapper and former
YouTuber. He is known for his unique musical style combining elements of
trap music and
heavy metal, and is considered a pioneer of the
trap metal genre. Formerly known under his YouTube moniker Mazzi Maz, he began a career in music as the vocalist for
nu metal
Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, sometimes called aggro-metal) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu met ...
band Myth City before debuting as a rapper under the Scarlxrd name.
He rose to prominence after the music video for his single "Heart Attack" which gained significant attention, gaining over 99 million views on YouTube as of November 2022. He has since released other successful songs, namely "King, Scar", "6 Feet", "Berzerk", and "Head Gxne".
Early life
Marius Lucas Antonio Listhrop
was born in
Wolverhampton on 19 June 1994.
YouTube career
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.
He often collaborated with friends and fellow YouTube personalities
Sam Pepper and
Caspar Lee.
From late-2013 to mid-2014, Listhrop and Pepper embarked on a worldwide comedy-music tour, "WDGAF Tour". By February 2017, Listhrop removed all of his Mazzi Maz videos from his YouTube channel and has since rebranded it to his Scarlxrd moniker. In a 2018 Interview, Listhrop described his time as a YouTube personality and posting videos on the site as "soul-destroying".
Music career
2014–2016: Myth City
In 2014, Listhrop founded the
nu metal
Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, sometimes called aggro-metal) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu met ...
/
rap rock
Rap rock is a fusion genre that fuses vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop with various forms of rock. Rap rock's most popular subgenres include rap metal and rapcore, which include heavy metal and hardcore punk-oriented influences, resp ...
band Myth City, in which he performed as the vocalist.
Listhrop also described the band's sound as a fusion of
rap music
Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...
and
grindcore
Grindcore is an extreme fusion genre of heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, extreme metal, and industrial. G ...
.
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
screamed vocals
Screaming is an extended vocal technique that is popular in "aggressive" music genres such as heavy metal, punk rock, and noise music and others. It is common in the more extreme subgenres of heavy metal, such as death and black metal as wel ...
, 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.
2016–2018: Early albums and breakthrough
Listhrop performing in 2018
Listhrop performing in 2018
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, his self-titled album (stylised in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese characters as ''スカー藩主'') and ''Rxse''. After the release of two more albums, ''Cabin Fever'' and ''Chaxsthexry'', in April 2017, Scarlxrd released the video for "Chain$aw" on 31 May; a week later, he released the music video for "King, Scar".
On 23 June, he published the music video for "Heart Attack" and the video quickly gained popularity; he credits his consistency of releasing music videos, specifically the videos for "Chain$aw" and "King, Scar", for the video's popularity rise.
On 29 September, he released his fifth studio album ''Lxrdszn''. "King, Scar" and "Chain$aw" were also released as music kits in ''
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive''.
In February 2018, it was announced that Scarlxrd would perform at the
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
Reading and Leeds Festivals. In April, it was revealed that he would be featured on
Carnage's second studio album, ''
Battered Bruised & Bloody
''Battered Bruised & Bloody'' is the second studio album by Guatemalan-American DJ and record producer Carnage. It was released on April 13, 2018 through Heavyweight Records. The album features guest appearances by Migos, Lil Pump, Mac Miller, K ...
'', released on 13 April; Scarlxrd performed on the song "Up Nxw". On 4 May, he released his sixth studio album and major label debut ''Dxxm'' via
Island Records
Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...
.
2018–2020: Continued major label releases
After releasing singles from mid-2018 to early-2019 in anticipation of an upcoming album, including "Hxw They Judge", "Berzerk", "Sx Sad", and "Head Gxne", Scarlxrd announced his seventh studio album, ''Infinity'', which was released on 15 March 2019. He was a nominee in the 2019
Kerrang! Award
The Kerrang! Awards are an annual music awards show in the United Kingdom, founded by the music magazine ''Kerrang!'' and focusing primarily on rock music. The annual awards features performances by prominent artists, and some of the awards of mo ...
s for
Best British Breakthrough.
Later that year, "The Purge" was featured on the first season of the
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
television series ''
Euphoria
Euphoria ( ) is the experience (or affect) of pleasure or excitement and intense feelings of well-being and happiness. Certain natural rewards and social activities, such as aerobic exercise, laughter, listening to or making music and da ...
''. Scarlxrd released his second album of 2019 titled ''Immxrtalisatixn'' on 4 October.
He released his third 2019 studio album on 13 December, titled ''Acquired Taste: Vxl 1''. On 19 December, "I Can Dx What I Want" was announced as the official theme song for the
WWE NXT UK event,
NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II. His first studio album of 2020, ''Scarhxurs'', was released on 28 February. The release of his next album, ''Fantasy Vxid'', was split into five EP's, with the full project being released on 12 June.
2021–present: Independent releases
On 14 January 2021, Scarlxrd released "Let the Wxrld Burn" via his independent label Lxrd Records, marking his first release since his departure from Island Records. On 5 February, Scarlxrd released his 12th studio album ''Dxxm II'', a sequel to his 2018 project ''Dxxm''. Later that year, he featured on "Dead Desert" by
Trippie Redd, which also featured
Zillakami. Scarlxrd also released a collaborative EP with
Ghostemane titled ''Lxrdmage''. On 29 October 2021, he released his second album of the year, ''DeadRising''. On 13 May 2022, Scarlxrd released his 14th studio album, ''Acquired Taste: Vxl. 2'', a sequel to his 2019 album ''Acquired Taste Vxl. 1.'' In August, he was featured on
Corpse Husband's single ''MISA MISA''. In October, he released the EP ''Psychx'' with Kordhell.
Artistry
Scarlxrd's combination of
trap music and
heavy metal has been dubbed "
trap metal", a style which multiple publications have described him as a pioneer of.
He is often associated with
SoundCloud rap artists. In a 2018 article, ''
NME'' described him as a "tormented outsider hip-hop artist".
They also called him a "
rap metal overlord" and his style to include "screamed vocals, claustrophobic trap beats and ear-shredding bursts of distorted guitar",
as well as calling it a fusion of metal and "
nihilistic
Nihilism (; ) is a philosophy, or family of views within philosophy, that rejects generally accepted or fundamental aspects of human existence, such as objective truth, knowledge, morality, values, or meaning of life, meaning. The term was pop ...
rap". Scarlxrd grew up listening to heavy metal music and cites hip hop artists including
Missy Elliott
Melissa Arnette Elliott (born July 1, 1971), better known as Missy Elliott or Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliot, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She embarked on her music career with R&B girl group Sista in the earl ...
,
Nelly
Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur. He embarked on his music career with the hip hop group St. Lunatics in 1993 and signed to Universal ...
and
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...
as influences.
He also stated that he formed Myth City after listening to
Linkin Park
Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. The band's current lineup comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn and drummer ...
,
Rage Against the Machine,
Incubus and
Deftones.
He is known to replace the letter "o" with "x", which is shown in his stage name and song titles. Scarlxrd's visual aesthetic within his music videos and clothing style is heavily influenced from
Japanese culture
The culture of Japan has changed greatly over the millennia, from the country's prehistoric Jōmon period, to its contemporary modern culture, which absorbs influences from Asia and other regions of the world.
Historical overview
The ance ...
, especially
anime. His signature
surgical mask
A surgical mask, also known by other names such as a medical face mask or procedure mask, is a personal protective equipment used by healthcare professionals that serves as a mechanical barrier that interferes with direct airflow in and out of re ...
, which he wears to distance himself from his YouTube image,
was inspired by the Japanese
manga
Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
''
Tokyo Ghoul''.
He began wearing the mask less often after the release of ''Infinity''. Scarlxrd also cited American heavy metal band
Slipknot as an inspiration towards his visuals.
Discography
Studio albums
Extended plays
* ''Thrxwaways As Prxmised '' (2019)
* ''FantasyVxid; Intrx'' (2020)
* ''FantasyVxid; Spring'' (2020)
* ''FantasyVxid; Autumn'' (2020)
* ''FantasyVxid; Winter'' (2020)
* ''FantasyVxid; Summer'' (2020)
* ''LXRDMAGE '' with
Ghostemane (2021)
* ''Atv2. Act I: Genesis'' (2022)
* ''Atv2. Act II: Severance'' (2022)
* ''Atv2. Act III: Cxnflict'' (2022)
* ''Atv2. Act IV: Prxmise'' (2022)
* ''Lxlwut?'' (2022)
* ''Psychx'' with Kordhell (2022)
Other releases
* ''Annx Dxmini'' (2016; only available on
SoundCloud)
* ''Practice'' (EP, as TAKA LXRD; 2021; only available on YouTube, Spotify and SoundCloud)
Guest appearances
References
External links
*
*
{{authority control
1994 births
Black British male rappers
English YouTubers
English male rappers
English people of Jamaican descent
Living people
Masked musicians
Musicians from the West Midlands (county)
Trap metal musicians
musicians from Wolverhampton
Rap metal musicians
British trap musicians
Music YouTubers