About a week after Beleaf’s new single “No Chill” had listeners anticipating his next album, he made a big announcement about it.
“I’m not putting out any more albums after I drop this album. This is the last one,” Beleaf said. “It’s bittersweet. Because I know that there’s a lot of people out there who are doing hip hop that aren’t really good or representing well, and I know that I could represent well, but that’s not really the point. The point is that if I travel around the country and tell people to put their hands up for 20 minutes on a stage, that’s still many hours that I’m missing outside of my home, where I’m supposed to be most present.”
Listeners can help send Beleaf out with a bang by pre-ordering his album at kingsdreament.com, which he said — with his third child due in two months — would help him purchase a vehicle with enough space for a third car seat. Fans can also support Beleaf on Patreon, where he plans to make new singles available in the future.
“Basically, what I’m going to be doing is, I’m going to be doing Beleaf in Fatherhood, and when I get inspired, I’ll just go ahead and make these records for Patreon, and send them out to a bunch of people, and just songwrite for people.”
Beleaf’s YouTube channel Beleaf in Fatherhood has ballooned to over 18,000 subscribers to date.
Beleaf got his hip-hop start with theBREAX, a group made up of him and Ruslan, and their emceeing ability earned Christian hip hop’s respect over the course of a handful of projects. Then Beleaf and Ruslan went solo, and Beleaf’s projects Theo’s Gift and Red Pills + Black Sugar became fan favorites in 2013 and 2014. He will also be remembered for his performances on two celebrated albums with the collective that he and Ruslan formed with John Givez, the Dream Junkies.
Fans expressed their disappointment over Beleaf’s announcement on social media, but it’s fitting that his reason for retirement was as refreshing as his artistry.
