Bathe: Breaking Barriers With Surf R&B
Up-and-coming Brooklyn-based duo Bathe is breaking barriers with music that balances sunny and easygoing melodies with socially-conscious and profoundly introspective lyrics. The group is comprised of producer Corey Smith-West and singer Devin Hobdy. While we found that their talents and intelligence are striking, they remain humble, making for a lighthearted and fun interview that felt like a conversation with friends.
The group describes their sound as Surf R&B as a way to reclaim leisure music for the Black community. While describing what the term means to him, Smith-West said, “If Black people had been able to participate in surf culture when it was the popping thing to do, I think our music right now would not be unique. There are some artists who make very similar music from that time period; it’s just that they didn’t get any attention.”
While Bathe’s music sounds carefree, it reflects upon moments from their experiences as Black men living in the United States and touches upon topics that artists often refrain from making music about. For example, while describing his song “Kimmi,” Hobdy said, “Getting ghosted as two Black men who are supposed to ooze masculinity is kind of strange, but Corey and I love telling stories and we really love these sort of micro-moments that you wouldn’t think are important.”
Bathe is also not afraid to discuss more complex, nuanced issues that the Black community is facing. In the group’s music video for its debut single “Sure Shot,” the video features a group of young Black boys playing in the park. However, the video quickly takes a darker turn towards the end when the boys begin to pretend to shoot each other in a game of cops and robbers in a manner that parallels the struggles that many minority communities are currently facing. While describing the thought process behind this song, Hobdy said, “The goal wasn’t to write a treatise on toxic masculinity in Black communities. That wasn’t the goal at all. Corey and I were talking about our respective experiences with our father figures and how certain systems forced them into roles that they had to contend with for their entire lives.”
Though they only began to make music together during their time in college at the University of Pennsylvania, the chemistry within the group is palpable. During the interview, the two would continuously supplement each other’s responses in a way that mimics their creative process. As Smith-West said while talking about their method of songwriting, “You know, sometimes we’re just playing video games or walking to a friend’s house or something and Dev will be like, ‘I’ve been thinking about how it feels to be ghosted,’ or ‘I’ve been thinking about toxic masculinity.’ And we just talk for 30 minutes and Devin comes back and that conversation has turned into a song.”
Bathe is truly one of the most innovative, exciting music groups we are listening to right now, and we can’t wait for their next project which is coming soon.