Description
Requiem is the culmination of a career on the brink -- of blockbuster success, arena-sized shows, and a powerful personal evolution, the moment when a rookie artist steps into his place as a fully formed adult one. He was once a kid from Texas wavering about quitting his job as a nurse to pursue his dreams as a musician, causing anxiety in his more traditional Vietnamese family who hoped he'd stay in medicine; now, he is a major label artist who has sold out Radio City (twice!), with a ravenous fan base who has stuck with him since his Soundcloud days. GABRIEL led to two, back-to-back headlining North American tours, one world tour, and one tour in China. It reached #4 on Billboard, which became the highest charting debut album from a new artist in 2022. And the singles, including "LIMBO," "UNDERSTAND," and "GET IT," became viral sensations. All of a sudden there were stakes to the game -- his life was serious business, his art listened to by millions of people. "I'm just hitting a turn in my life when it's not always just fun and games -- and I wanted to have a weight on the record in that sort of way," he says. "At a certain point in an artist's lifespan, there's room for evolution and growth. It doesn't mean that you leave everything behind. But it means that you take risks."