EARLY LIFE CRISIS OUT NOW
LISTEN HERE
25 AUGUST 2026 (TORONTO, ON) — Today, 19-year-old Virginia rap phenom Nettspend opens up a brand-new chapter with “Sober.” He shares his ongoing journey through his artistry, the underground scene leader continues to build on his reputation for letting fans into his head as he navigates a chaotic world. Listen HERE, and watch the poignant music video HERE, which features appearances from Nettspend’s mother and his close friend and collaborator OsamaSon.
“Sober” feels different from the start, opening on a glowing organ that soon gets chopped into the beat courtesy of producer reklus1ve. Nettspend’s vulnerable voice cuts through the thick atmosphere like a beam of light as he lays out his current POV. “Every different day, I look outside, this s— changed,” he raps.
The video for “Sober” brings that feeling to life in cinematic black-and-white detail. Fresh off unveiling his newly buzzed head at his sold-out LA show at the Mayan Theater last week, Nettspend emerges from the ocean, looking into the sun. Waves crash around him, but he keeps his head above the water. He then skateboards through LA and at night he overlooks the city’s horizon.
The new track follows Nettspend’s appearance at the American Music Awards and his NYC Gucci Wooster store takeover chronicled by Teen Vogue.
These buzzy appearances came off the heels of gloriously chaotic coming-of-age album early life crisis, and the subsequent sold-out headline tour, which included massive sets at Lollapalooza and Rolling Loud. Fans braved torrential downpours at the latter and Nettspend returned the favor — watch HERE.
early life crisis burst onto the scene in March, soaring to #2 on both Spotify’s Global and U.S. Top Albums charts while amassing over 7 million streams within 24 hours of release. Launching singles like the unapologetically brash “who tf is u” and the explosive YoungBoy Never Broke Again collaboration “masked up,” the 21-song set reflects the pressure, anxiety, and angst of a generation being ushered into adulthood too quickly. All funneled through the perspective of a born rockstar who’s been alienating old folks and amassing a cult-like fandom since he was 16.
The album dropped in the wake of Nettspend’s huge Milan Fashion Week debut — where he walked for Gucci and made headlines in Teen Vogue (“Nettspend Delayed His Album, but His Gucci Walk Will Tide You Over”), Vogue (“Demna’s Next Generation of Gucci It Kids”), and GQ (“The Internet Rap Boys Enter the House of Gucci”), not to mention landed mentions and photos in countless other outlets including The New York Times, W Magazine, and Complex.
That followed an iconic moment captured by GQ and others, who caught Nettspend getting snowed on from his sun roof while trying to clear a path through fan-packed streets after an early life crisis listening party in New York. As Highsnobiety noted, “Nettspend has entered his rockstar era.” More recently, he covered Flaunt Magazine’s closely followed annual music issue.
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ABOUT NETTSPEND
The wild-eyed prince of the new rap underground, Nettspend is a generational force and a rockstar in the truest sense. Though he’s just 19, he’s been captivating critics for years while amassing a cult-like fandom that tracks his every move online and IRL. On any given night he might be reigning over a moshpit, walking the runway for Gucci or Miu Miu, or throwing a party at a skatepark in his native Richmond, VA. To say the artist born Gunner Shepardson has come far is both understatement and a lie — he’s the same kid who started flooding the internet with brash, explosive music at 15, using BandLab to turn random locations into hit factories for the extremely online. He made his viral 2023 breakout “Drankdrankdrank” in his mom’s car in 10 minutes. He was still 16 when Rolling Stone put him at “the vanguard of underground rap,” and his 2024 BAD ASS F*CKING KID mixtape debuted on the Billboard 200. But when you tune into his 2026 album, early life crisis, it’s clear that all the feverish attention has done nothing to round off his rough edges. A glorious mess of severe sounds, sneered lyrics, and magnetic charisma — with features from NBA YoungBoy and OsamaSon — the LP reflects the pressure, anxiety, and angst of a generation ushered into adulthood too soon, navigating a world that hits hard without warning. As New York Times declared, “Nettspend, despite all the pressures, all the opportunities, all the things that life is presenting to him… deep down, is still a badass kid.”
