Equally moody and expressive—and unafraid to swing between those states—Yung Bans is an atypical but necessary talent in hip-hop’s new school. Born Vas Coleman in 1999 in St. Louis and raised in metropolitan Atlanta, the MC first gained popularity as a frontrunner in the SoundCloud rap scene, focusing on an edgy punk aesthetic and a spacey delivery. By the mid-2010s, Bans began independently releasing a series of self-titled EPs, finding success with Yung Bans, Vol. 2 in 2017, which was led by the revelatory “Lonely,” featuring fellow emo rap specialist Lil Skies. The following year, Bans would hold his own among hip-hop’s elite on the braggadocious “Different” from the joint Future and Juice WRLD mixtape, WRLD ON DRUGS. Bans released his debut album, MISUNDERSTOOD, in 2019; an exercise in introspective trap, the album sees Bans exploring the circumstances and experiences that have led to his current standing as an artist and human. Bans told Apple Music he recorded hundreds of songs over the course of a year, recording up to 10 songs a night in pursuit of the perfect introduction to the masses. “The project is exactly what I wanted,” he said. “I really took this project and I wanted to put a piece of me out into the world.” By consistently leaning into raw self-reflection, Yung Bans continues on the path that drew us to him in the first place.