If somehow you've managed to remain woefully unaware of the tremendous talent that is Manchester's Dario Darnell, aka Youngr, I'm here to set you straight. Quite simply put Youngr has been on a hot streak all year. In January he authored a 10 track album of originals in Memories and recently followed that with a brilliant bootleg project in which he takes on the likes of Lifelike x Kris Menace, Autoerotique, Phats & Small and several others. While listening to the productions themselves is a fun experience, the best way to witness Youngr's brilliance is through his live performances. Just as he shared a full live version of his Bootleg Mixtape, Vol. 01 (here), last week he appeared on ORLOVE's weekly series "Under The Covers" with a take on Caribou's "Never Come Back" (below).
Starting right from the opening vocal chops, Youngr covers the Caribou track in real-time. As you can hear in the Soundcloud version below, this is a rehearsed routine but one that still takes incredible skill, concentration and flexibility. Watching Youngr command countless instruments so seamlessly, and then play with their layering, is all kinds of awesome. The cover, which begins as a simple rebuild, quickly becomes a jam session as Darnell caresses the keys before firing off a flurry of fills on the drum kit. Sadly, it all ends quite quickly, inevitably leaving us hungry for more of his fabulously fun energy. So this is where I again recommend Youngr's incredible live performance of his Bootleg Mixtape, Vol. 01 (here), a tremendous feat by not just him but the camera crew, production team and other behind the scenes entities. An equally talented producer and performer, Youngr is undeniably one to watch going forward, especially as it seems like he's already working towards a follow-up to his Bootleg Mixtape with a new take on classic "2 People." Find Youngr's socials linked below and enjoy the ride!