Even as TikTok’s algorithm “has the power to elevate talent from obscurity”, Awkward Dreadhead is charting his own course. His new single “Late Nights” isn’t engineered for 15-second virality – it was born on late-night drives and introspection. The track “floats” into the stereo with a smooth, slow sung groove, built on trap drums, 90s R&B synths and a Zapp’s funk bassline that sits atmospheric the mix, giving the song a warm, nostalgic bounce that’s impossible to swipe past. In short, this is music made for city-lights and open roads, not the spreadsheet of streaming metrics.
On the track itself, Dreadhead juggles genres in the palm of his hand. It “shares DNA” with the moody R&B of Bryson Tiller, early Weeknd – melodic and vulnerable – but also nods to trap and soul in its production. The result is a spacey, languid vibe: nothing in “Late Nights” feels rushed. It’s melodic yet not fully sung, moody yet groove-oriented – the perfect soundtrack for a 2:00 a.m. ride home. The emotional weight of the song sneaks in under the cover of chill; as one reviewer put it, the performance is “melodic, moody, emotionally locked-in. In other words, this artist is building a late-night movie in sound, one that drifts and breathes instead of clattering for attention.
Awkward Dreadhead finds the sweet spot between swagger and soul. He’s never shy about his skills – lines like “Cold world, you gotta go all the way” flex confidence – but he pairs those bars with hard-won wisdom.” It’s a bravado-tinged mantra: in this cold world, you either push on your own terms or you stay put. Dreadhead delivers it laid-back but with real feeling, so you hear the pride and the pain together. This duality – tough talk with a tender undercurrent – is what gives Late Nights its emotional kick. It’s the kind of mix found in alt-R&B and boundary-pushing hip-hop: a little like Bryson Tiller meets PARTYNEXTDOOR. The effect is raw and real; as another review notes, the song “doesn’t fight for definition – it just is.” It’s “raw”, the sound of an artist refusing to color inside the lines. In short, Awkward Dreadhead brags, but he does it with heart. He’s as comfortable spotlighting his hustle as he is pondering why he hustles.
Above all, Late Nights is a manifesto against making music for the machine. Dreadhead even acknowledges: “I didn’t choose the algorithm – the algorithm chose me. I’m part of the machine, whether I like it or not.”
He knows he lives in a streaming age, but he isn’t going to let an unseen program write his story. He’s in good company. As electronic artist Ta-ku puts it bluntly, “I’m not going to make music for the playlists…for the algorithm. And the great Adele — who famously ignored her label’s pressure to pander to teens on TikTok — once replied “Tik-a-Tok-a-Who?” when asked to chase viral trends. “If everyone was focusing on making music for TikTok,” she asked, “who’s making the music for my generation?That question could be Awkward Dreadhead’s own.
Critics have pointed out how brutal the algorithmic crunch can be. Music journalist Liz Pelly calls it a “ghost business”, where producers essentially make music for playlists that [Spotify] prioritizes instead of people. BuzzMusic’s analysis cuts to the chase: in the TikTok era “the chorus needs to hit by the 15-second mark…tailoring your creative process to match what the algorithm favors — not what your artistry demands. Hooks are written for clips, bridges disappear, intros vanish; storytelling takes a back seat to scroll-stopping. Dreadhead isn’t eager to join that game. His track was structured in analog time, not thirty-second jumps.
Instead of serving the formula, he serves the art. In fact, BuzzMusic reminds musicians of a mantra: “you’re not here to serve an algorithm — you’re here to create. Whether Late Nights racks up clicks or quietly seeps into playlists, Awkward Dreadhead has already won by that standard. He’s made the music he loves — a defiantly slow-burning, genre-mixing trip that says more about him than any spreadsheet ever could.
Late Nights stands as proof that some artists still put depth over dopamine. It’s a track for fans who crave mood and meaning – those who live for the mix of hip-hop brio and R&B soul, rather than the latest trend. Awkward Dreadhead isn’t gonna chase the algorithm’s tail. On this track (and no doubt the ones to come) he’s reminding us that the best music emerges when artists follow their own north star, not a chart.
The first single to his comic book soundtrack The Siege Of Hollowborns drops June 19th. Check it out at www.awkwardreadheadcomics.com
You can also check out what I am working musically at https://awkwarddreadhead.com/
.png)
