The smooth alt-R&B track premieres exclusively on Rolling Stone
The 23-year-old artist Greek got his start writing and producing for rappers like J.I.D and
SoFaygo, but eventually, he began unspooling his own self-produced alt-R&B experiments as a solo act. Quickly, his EP EXTC got tons of buzz, and even loving words from Elton John (“One hell of a good record,” the superstar said). Now, Greek is back with “2:35 AM,” a track that puts his genre-agnostic sound and ultra-smooth voice on display.
The track, which premieres exclusively on Rolling Stone today, stemmed from thoughts about love distance relationships and loneliness. “‘2:35 AM’ is a love song that I wrote initially about the idea of being away from the person you love for a while,” he tells Rolling Stone. “It romanticizes the moment you get to head straight to them from the airport, while simultaneously exploring the collapsing of independent identity in realizing that you need someone in a way you never have before.”
As he put the song together, he made it sound uniquely his. I wanted this song to feel romantic, but in tone I really tried to make it feel like what I’ve called my own version of ‘stadium music,’” he explains. “For one of my longest songs I’ve made, I actually found it to be one of the quickest ideas I’ve put together.”The song comes alongside a video the artist shot at a NASCAR track in Martinsville, Virginia, where he grew up. Greek sings the lyrics in between shots of the racecourse and between footage of cars colliding into each other.
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“2:35 AM” ended up being the last song of a project Greek is putting together called Cedar’s Tape. ” I had committed to being finished, but I guess I had one more in me that ended up being one of my favorite songs I’ve ever made,” he says.
“2:35 AM” is his first offering of 2025, but Cedar’s Tape is expected out on Aug. 1.