On paper, you may be confused as to what LA artist Oliver Tree does. The 27-year-old viral sensation is a sketch comedian and musician who makes music that finds a sweet spot somewhere in between indie-pop, hip-hop, rock and dance.
Right now, if you flick through his Instagram you'll see him promoting the deluxe version of his debut album, Ugly Is Beautiful: Shorter, Thicker & Uglier, alongside videos of Tree smoking a half-pound joint, copying Tyler The Creator's IGOR wig and recreating the last supper. You may come for the LOLs but you'll stay for the music. His four-year deep discography is a collection of anxious, honest, disruptive and sometimes humorous music. In many ways, he reminds us of an early blink-182 bringing the laughs but also making art about traversing your 20-somethings.
Tree started his music career back in 2013 but put it on hold to head to the California Institute of Arts. He returned in 2016 and almost instantly spread around the internet with his Whethan-featuring single When I'm Down. From there, he signed to Atlantic Records and began making music as well as making sketch videos with FuckJerry and WorldStarHipHop. Tree's Instagram is a wonderland of weird and wild videos that have helped him amass almost close to one million followers.
Over the past few years, he's released an EP Alien Boy and toured with The Chainsmokers, Zedd and Louis The Child. This year he made his debut appearance at Coachella. Most artists follow that with thank you tweets and videos but Tree followed it with a video captioned, "COACHELLA WAS A NIGHTMARE." He reportedly took a spill during NGHTMRE's set and rolled his ankle while also giving himself a potential concussion. Of course, we're dealing with Tree so it may or may not have actually happened. His fans aren't really sure.
Head over to his YouTube channel and it's more laughs and anarchy. He's amassed over 1.6 million subscribers on his channel, peppering it with fake MTV skits and pro scooter videos. His most watched video is the visual for 2018 single Hurt that sees him rise from the dead to create more chaos.
2019 has seen him create more viral magic, most recently appearing on the H3 Podcast for a giant vape-off and one of the strangest 90 minutes of audio you will ever listen to. He's also performed Hurt on The Late Late Show With James Corden, a debut appearance which he called "a disaster". Obviously.
Following his 2019 EP Do You Feel Me? featuring big singles Hurt and Miracle Man, he's dropped the deluxe version of his debut album Ugly Is Beautiful, full of the anarchic, youthful fuzz that we've come to expect from him.
You can enter the world of the deluxe version of Ugly Is Beautiful below and if you dare, venture over to his YouTube and Instagram channels afterwards. It's a wild ride.
