Yungblud - 21st Century Liability

Released on July 6, 2018 through Locomotion Recordings, Geffen, and Interscope, 21st Century Liability is the debut album from British singer-songwriter Dominic Harrison, better known as Yungblud. Harrison had already dropped out of school at 16 to chase music in London, and by 2017 his early singles were drawing comparisons to a younger Arctic Monkeys and Jamie T filtered through ska and hip hop, the spitfire suburban poetry of an artist clearly building his own lane rather than following one.

That approach crystallizes across the album. The title track, the first song released from the record, was described by Yungblud himself as a song for misunderstood youth growing up in a world of anxiety, confusion, and fear, and that theme runs through the rest of the record's genre-bending protest songs. "Psychotic Kids," "California," and "Medicine" round out the singles, each leaning into Yungblud's self-described identity as a socially conscious artist unafraid to blend styles in service of a message rather than a sound.

While the album made a solid chart showing in Australia and Belgium at release, its impact built steadily over time rather than arriving all at once, eventually earning BRIT Silver certification in 2020 and Gold in 2023. It laid the groundwork for the UK chart-topping success of his follow-up, weird!, establishing Yungblud's voice and persona well before mainstream success caught up with him.