Review: Forever Yung: A Night with Jonatan at The Anthem

The audience was reborn alongside Jonatan Hastad, better known as Yung Lean, this past Sunday at The Anthem. Yung Lean rounded out his Forever Yung tour in DC, bringing back some fan-favorite tracks alongside tracks from his latest album, Jonatan, released in May of this year. With this album, Yung Lean sought to merge his at-one-time disparate personas of the quintessential cloud rap paragon Yung Lean and jonatanleandoer96, the name he used to release his more emotionally raw indie-rock projects. This album is a memorial to his career so far, which started when he was just a teen in Sweden and has since involved many losses and struggles with mental health, drug addiction, and life in the spotlight. On stage at The Anthem, it was evident that Yung Lean had grown up, but that he still holds his past self in high esteem. And looking at the crowd of devoted fans, all singing along to the tracks that have shaped their lives since he first started releasing music in 2012, it was evident that his listeners have grown up alongside him. 

The show opened with graphics flashing across the screen, drawn by Yung Lean himself. They told a story, transporting the audience into a world of folklore that Yung Lean had created. He emerged from smoke dressed all in white, with an army-style jacket like one worn by Napoleon—Yung Lean truly appeared to be reborn. The white curtains behind him lowered to reveal a full band: guitarists, a bassist, drummer, and pianist. Just as quickly as they were revealed, the curtain went back up to leave Yung Lean alone once more on the stage. Yung Lean created a show that could be as genre-spanning and defying as he is. He alternated between rap back-tracks with bright flashing graphics projected behind him, and melodic crooning with a five piece band. The show spanned generations, with early hits like like “Ginseng Strip 2002” (2013) and “Afghanistan” (2016), to tracks from his 2020 album Starz like “Boylife in the EU,” to tracks like the namesake “Forever Yung” from the Jonatan album. Yung Lean was the general of his army of fans, leading them on a journey down memory lane. At the end of the night, it was clear that Yung Lean is an artist who defies labels and can do it all. In an interview with Interview magazine, Yung Lean said, “But then when you get a bit older, you realize what you are.” This tour is Yung Lean realizing what he is, honoring not only who he has become but also the part of him that will forever be the 16-year old SoundCloud rapper he once was—forever Yung Lean, Forever Yung.