Whitearmor Explained

Whitearmor
Birth Name:Ludwig Tomas Walther Rosenberg
Birth Date:17 May 1993
Birth Place:Stockholm, Sweden
Occupation:Music producer, multi-instrumentalist, audio engineer, songwriter
Years Active:2010-present

Ludwig Rosenberg (born 17 May 1993), professionally known as Whitearmor (often stylized in lowercase or as White Armor), is a Swedish music producer, multi-instrumentalist, audio engineer and songwriter. He is best known for being a member of the Swedish music group and artist collective Drain Gang (along with Bladee, Ecco2K, Thaiboy Digital and Yung Sherman). His musical style has been described as softly textured and fluid.[1] [2]

Aside from producing a lot of Drain Gang's and adjacent artist Yung Lean's music he has released several solo singles and a full-length instrumental album in 2022, In the Abyss: Music for Weddings. He has also worked with musicians such as Gud, Mechatok, Xavier Wulf, Uli K, and Working on Dying.

He is also one half of music duo VilloVilduVeta together with Swedish musician Joakim Benon, a member of the Swedish band JJ.

Early life

Ludwig Tomas Walther Rosenberg was born on 17 May 1993 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden. He grew up listening to a wide range of artists including Bob Marley, Slipknot, and various Atlanta trap artists like Waka Flocka Flame. As a teenager, he began playing drums in an indie-rock band before becoming interested in and producing electronic and hip-hop music.

Music career

Rosenberg began uploading music to the internet in 2010 under the names DJ Creep and DJ Cannabiz[3] before adopting the name Whitearmor in 2012.[4] While most of his music from this time has since been removed from the internet, some tracks have survived, including "Tony Hawk" (with Ken Burns & Malcolm S.),[5] "THC Bliss",[6] "Enya #6",[7] and "Downer".[8] In 2011, he released Rippin Private Bowls, an instrumental hip-hop cassette under Nymph Tapes.[9] Thought to be lost to time, the tape was eventually ripped and uploaded to the internet on 6 May 2021.[10]

In 2013, Whitearmor co-founded the Swedish music collective Drain Gang along with fellow Swedish musicians Bladee, Ecco2K, Thaiboy Digital and Yung Sherman. Whitearmor's earliest publicly available collaboration with a fellow Drain Gang member was the 2012 single Oxygen, which he produced for Bladee. On 12 August 2013, the group released their debut compilation GTBSG Compilation, with Whitearmor working on 10 of the 12 songs featured.[11] In addition to his work with the rest of Drain Gang, Whitearmor is also a close collaborator of the Swedish music collective Sad Boys (who are close collaborators of Drain Gang), a group that consists of rapper and singer Yung Lean and producers Gud and Drain Gang member Yung Sherman.

In 2019, he formed the music duo VilloVilduVeta with Swedish musician Joakim Benon, with their debut song Nästan being used in the 2019 Sad Boys/Converse "One Wish" campaign.[12] They released their debut album Längtan får vingar on 2 July 2021. Whitearmor co-produced and wrote the entire album with Benon and also served as the project's mixing engineer.[13] Later that year in October, they released the single Nikita.[14]

In 2020, he worked with Yung Lean on Lean's side project Jonatan Leandoer96 (stylized in lowercase), contributing guitar, synthesizer and additional vocals to Leandoer96's single Evil from the album Blodhundar + Lullabies.[15]

In 2022, Whitearmor released his debut studio album In the Abyss: Music for Weddings. The album was composed, produced, performed, and mixed entirely by Rosenberg. Mastering of the album was handled by German mastering engineer Robin Schmidt, who often provides the mastering of Whitearmor and the rest of Drain Gang's music.[16] It contains elements of ambient and new age, being described as soothing, uplifting and accessible, likening to mid-80s Haruomi Hosono.[17]

He also took part in the 2022 Drain Gang tour that spanned 23 performances in North America and Europe, which included an additional performance at Primavera Sound in Barcelona, Spain.[18]

Discography

Albums

Singles

Remixes

Production credits

!Release!Year!Artist(s)!Production Credits
Unknown Death 20022013Yung Lean
GTBSG CompilationDrain GangEntirely produced by Rosenberg except:
Gluee2014Bladee
Unknown MemoryYung Lean
Tiger (also known as )Thaiboy Digital
Warlord2016Yung Lean
EversinceBladeeEntirely produced by Rosenberg except:
AvPBladee & Thaiboy DigitalEntirely produced by Rosenberg.
Frost GodYung Lean
D&G2017Drain GangEntirely produced by Rosenberg except:
StrangerYung Lean
Red Light2018BladeeEntirely produced by Rosenberg except:
Sunset in Silver CityBladeeEntirely produced by Rosenberg.
ExileBladeeEntirely produced by Rosenberg.
Poison IvyYung LeanEntirely produced by Rosenberg.
IcedancerBladee
Trash Star2019BladeeSingle produced by Rosenberg.
Total EclipseYung Lean
AppleBladeeSingle produced by Rosenberg.
Trash IslandDrain GangEntirely produced by Rosenberg except:
Legendary MemberThaiboy Digital
EEcco2K
Starz2020Yung LeanEntirely produced by Rosenberg except:
Opium DreamsYung Lean & BladeeSingle produced by Rosenberg.
333BladeeEntirely produced by Rosenberg except:
Blodhundar & Lullabiesjonatan leandoer96
Crest2022Bladee & Ecco2KEntirely produced by Rosenberg.
StardustYung Lean
I'm FreshThaiboy DigitalSingle produced by Rosenberg.
SpiderrBladeeEntirely produced by Rosenberg except:
Back 2 LifeThaiboy Digital
Victorious // Bullets2023Bladee & Yung LeanEntirely produced by Rosenberg.
RequiemBladeeEntirely produced by Rosenberg.
TL;DR2024Bladee, Ecco2K, Thaiboy DigitalSingle produced by Rosenberg.
Cold VisionsBladee

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Yalcinkaya . Günseli . 13 June 2022 . Whitearmor: ‘Everything I’ve ever wanted to say has been in the melodies’ . 25 January 2024 . Dazed Digital.
  2. Web site: Crest. 3 January 2024. 23 March 2022. Nadine. Smith. Pitchfork.
  3. Web site: DJ CANNABIZ's sounds on SoundCloud . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20111111045843/https://soundcloud.com/djcreep . 2011-11-11 . 2024-07-30 . SoundCloud.
  4. BLADEE - OXYGEN . 2024-07-30 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140519054708/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIoK_aidP3I . 2014-05-19 . YouTube.
  5. Bladee - Tony Hawk ft.Ken Burns & Malcolm S. . 2024-07-30 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200617204247/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipMrg0edjBM . 2020-06-17 . YouTube.
  6. THC BLISS . 2011-04-07 . 2024-07-30 . YouTube.
  7. Web site: 2011-10-07 . DJ CANNABIZ- Enya #6 . 2024-07-30 . SoundCloud.
  8. (old whitearmor) DJ CANNABIZ - Downer - . 2024-07-30 . YouTube.
  9. Web site: 2012-03-14 . »Love knows no borders« (dagens outfit) . https://web.archive.org/web/20240730185300/https://nmfhu.wordpress.com/2012/03/14/love-knows-no-borders-dagens-outfit/ . 2024-07-30 . 2024-07-30 . Ny musik för hållbar utveckling . sv-SE.
  10. Web site: 2021-05-06 . DJ Cannabiz - Rippin Private Bowls (C30 Cassette rip) . https://web.archive.org/web/20210506182409/https://www.reddit.com/r/sadboys/comments/n6daze/dj_cannabiz_rippin_private_bowls_c30_cassette_rip/ . 2021-05-06 . 2024-07-30 . Reddit.
  11. Web site: 2013-08-12 . GTBSG compilation . https://web.archive.org/web/20201101022202/http://www.mediafire.com/file/a1cz27fwdrh7db2/GTBSG_compilation.zip/file . 2020-11-01 . 2024-07-30 . MediaFire . en-US.
  12. Web site: Dwyer . Ross . 2019-08-21 . Yung Lean's Sad Boys Has A Converse One Star Dropping Soon . https://web.archive.org/web/20191219214604/https://sneakernews.com/2019/08/21/yung-lean-converse-one-star-sad-boys-release-date/ . 2019-12-19 . 2024-07-30 . Sneaker News . en-US.
  13. Web site: 2 July 2021 . Längtan Får Vingar . 25 January 2024 . Bandcamp.
  14. Web site: VilloVilduVeta - Nikita YEAR0001 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211208084706/https://year0001.com/label/cases/yr0152 . 2021-12-08 . 2024-07-30 . Year0001.
  15. Web site: jonatan leandoer96 - Evil YEAR0001 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200523173757/https://year0001.com/label/cases/yr0108 . 2020-05-23 . 2024-07-30 . Year0001.
  16. Web site: Whitearmor - In the Abyss: Music for Weddings YEAR0001 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220614211113/https://year0001.com/label/cases/yr0160 . 2022-06-14 . 2024-07-30 . Year0001.
  17. Web site: Review Explosion: Post Malone, 070 Shake, Merzbow, & Whitearmor. Lui, Malachi. 15 June 2022. 2 June 2024. AnalogPlanet.com.
  18. Web site: Bladee, Ecco2k, Thaiboy Digital and Whitearmor announce Drain Gang world tour. The Fader. Salvatore. Maicki. 5 October 2021. 25 January 2024.
  19. Web site: Whitearmor's Croatian Amor Remix Is a Crushing Ambient Ballad. Joyce, Colin. 10 May 2017. 2 June 2024. Vice.