What happens when you go viral on TikTok, sign a record deal, release four studio albums, and tour the world, but no one knows your true identity?
For Charley Yang, the 22-year-old behind once-masked phenomenon BoyWithUke, it led to Burnout — his fifth and last studio album under the moniker, out now. Coupled with a four-year relationship breakup and parting ways with his label, Burnout is more like Yang's rebirth from the ashes.
"This album is the most Charley Yang that BoyWithUke could do," he tells GRAMMY.com over a video call. Laid-back and messy-haired, Yang doesn't try to conceal himself anymore, in any aspects. "But I'm still changing, so some of these songs may have reflected who I was at the time when I created them, and some still hold true to who I am now."
Born in Daegu, South Korea but raised in Boston, Massachusetts, Yang was an introverted 18-year-old when he started sharing ukulele compositions on TikTok. Worried about what his friends might say, he came up with the online persona of BoyWithUke — while his offline life stayed largely the same.
Anonymity also proved to be beneficial to Yang's creativity. People resonated with his bare melodies and gloomy lyrics about anxiety and loneliness, and in 2021, BoyWithUke went viral with "Toxic." The deceivingly upbeat single was featured in more than 69,000 TikTok videos, and reached No.1 on Billboard's Alternative Airplay Chart.
But while BoyWithUke continued to rise — releasing three EPs and a four-LP series he's referred to as the "Dreams saga," collaborating with Oliver Tree and blackbear, supporting AJR on tour, and reaching nearly eight million followers on TikTok — living like Hannah Montana was taking its toll.
"Over the past few years, I've come to realize that the mask has actually been negatively affecting my personal life, my creativity, and my mental and physical health," Yang shared on a now-deleted Instagram post at the end of 2023. "I feel now that I've outgrown the mask and I want to be more authentic to myself."
Hence, he put the ukulele to rest, and distilled all the pain and pleasure of the past few years into 14 multifaceted tracks. Gone are the no-frills, iPad-made productions that characterized BoyWithUke — Charley Yang has stepped onto the stage, and his new creations reflect a meticulous and dexterous artist. From the bossa nova beats of "Coffee" to shoegaze guitars in "Easier," Burnout opens up a daring, promising new era.
Yang sat down with GRAMMY.com to discuss saying goodbye to BoyWithUke, how it's helped him find self-acceptance, and the name he plans to adopt for his next chapter.
There's sort of a metaphoric storyline to your Dreams album series. The titles show a journey from deep sleep in Melatonin Dreams, to being awake within a dream in Lucid Dreams, as if you were waking up to reality. Now, this story culminates in Burnout. For how long did you know you would put an end to BoyWithUke?
Honestly, the decision wasn't made very long ago. In hindsight it's very easy to say, but I think the trajectory of the project was always going to end.
It was a bunch of little things. It's hard to quantify, but I remember on the Lucid Dreams tour, or the tour before — I forgot which one — I was on the tour bus with some of my friends. We were talking, and I was just so unhappy. My friends were asking why, and I realized I wasn't happy with BoyWithUke, and I wasn't happy wearing the mask… Then I decided, life's too short, I'm gonna stop using the mask.
Why did you feel that it was important to release a final album as BoyWithUke, instead of just releasing it as Charley Yang?
We actually debated starting a new project and releasing Burnout with it, but [because] I was a little unhappy with Lucid Dreams, I [thought that] I could do better for BoyWithUke before I ended it, and that's what Burnout is. It's almost a last-ditch effort of like, This is what I can do, this is what you can expect from me in the future.
From what I understood, this album has been done and ready for some time now. How do you feel releasing stuff that is so personal, but that happened when you were in a different headspace?
Yeah, some of the songs, like "Pitfall," I had pretty much 75 percent there one year ago. A lot of the songs were written about a breakup I went through, the good and the bad.
There's a few songs, like "Love Lost" or "Easier," that represent how I felt in the moment and in the healing of that. Definitely not anymore; I'm not upset about the breakup. But yeah, it's interesting to look back, and see my slightly younger self and the emotions that I was going through in the moment.
I feel like there are two halves in the album, connected by the interlude, "Petrichor." The first half is more agitated and "I want to burn everything and have fun," and the other one is more emotional and reflective of your doubts and worries. Does that make sense?
The way I ordered it reflects how I reacted to the breakup, which is like… I went through a bit of a hoe phase. [Laughs.] I don't think it's the best way to do it, but it was what I needed at the time.
But the way I had [the track list] organized was like, anger, hoe phase, hoe phase, and then around "Coffee," "Paper Planes," is when I was starting to get sick of it. And then in track nine, "Petrichor," is where I went like, Okay, I'm sad.
In "Can You Feel It," you sing, "If I'm alive at 24, my life is a dichotomy." What do you mean by that?
When I was younger, I was a little bit angsty. I don't know how to put it lightly… I had some suicidal thoughts, and I felt like, if I'm still alive at 24, my life is a dichotomy. Everything that I believed in, Oh, I'm not gonna be alive, or whatever, being alive at 24 would be the complete opposite of [that].
I hope you don't feel that way anymore. As you mentioned, you went through a lot of personal things, like your breakup and becoming an independent artist. How did you balance it all while creating new music?
Yeah, I'm a lot better. I'm one of the people that believe good music is made through intense emotions. So, feeling really bad, or sad, or upset, actually helps me.
As for the balance thing, I'm just so lucky to have good friends, my little brother, my little sister. The way I split it up is like, I have my music world, and I have my personal world, and I'm very fortunate to say that I have very supportive people in my career. It keeps me grounded.
And I run every single day. Run away from the demons. [Laughs.] It's kind of a joke, but also it helps you clear your head and get the body moving.
Now that you aren't anonymous anymore, how have you been dealing with being recognized and with fame, in general?
It doesn't bother me that much. First of all, I don't really go outside a lot. [Laughs.] I'm just naturally introverted, so I don't interact with a lot of people. Sometimes it'll happen at the airport, but yeah, it's a pretty quiet life.
What are some things that you didn't expect to deal with, after BoyWithUke became popular?
The way some people will treat you. I mean, this was always the case, even before the face reveal, but I definitely notice a difference in demeanor towards me between whether they know who I am, versus when they don't.
I try not to tell people what I do, because if I do it too early, there's always that thing in the back of my mind — Are they only friends with me because of what I do versus who I am? That was something I didn't expect to be so prevalent in my friendships and relationships.
Do you think you're a perfectionist?
In some things, yeah. I'm very sensitive to music, especially now. Vocals just have to be perfect. Not autotuned, but perfect, you know? So I gotta do like, 50 takes. That's funny, you'd think that after 50 takes I'd remember my lyrics, but I'm so bad with that.
How do you remember the lyrics when you're on stage?
During rehearsals and like, a week before, I have a playlist that I listen to a few times a day and try to remember. It's a lot easier when you're doing actions, like, during this song I do this, so the lyrics are gonna be so and so.
You will soon embark on your last world tour as BoyWithUke. How are the preparations going?
I'm super excited about it, because this will be the first time I'm working with a band. Of all things in this project, that has been the most exciting for me — to go out and play songs live in front of people.
As an introvert, what do you feel when you're on stage and everyone's paying attention to you?
It's weird, I don't know. A lot of people probably say this, but it just feels different, like I'm a different person. Like, I was BoyWithUke on stage.
Also, whenever I performed with the mask, I couldn't see anything, so it doesn't feel like there's people there. I can't see. I'm just glad I didn't get hurt.
Are you excited to perform without the mask?
I'm so excited. I did a little bit last tour, only for the second half of the show, but yeah, it felt really good to just play music without suffocating.
You used to do everything by yourself. How is working with other musicians changing the way you make music?
I think it's helping me to be more open-minded. When I was younger, I was using f—ng GarageBand on my iPad for the longest time, and part of it was because it was so easy, but a lot of it was because I didn't want to change. I didn't want to learn how to use other stuff and work with people. I'm getting better at that.
Is there anything you haven't told anyone about this album? Some Easter egg or so?
I've said up until this point that there is no ukulele in this album, but there is one song that has it. I wasn't even thinking about it, there was just a sound that I wanted to make, and I knew how to make it with the ukulele. So, I just added some filters, and yeah, somewhere in "Ghost," there is a distorted ukulele.
Since you like to plan ahead, you are probably already thinking about your next project, right?
I've been working on a lot of music. I have almost 20 demos that I'm working on, but nothing's set in stone. I do have a name for the next project — it's going to be Chandol, which was my Korean name when I moved to the United States.
It was my legal name, but I changed it when I was 7, because being in America it's weird to have an unorthodox name, and people definitely let it be known that they thought it was weird. So I changed it, but I thought it was fitting to have the new project be that name.
Does that mean you are reconnecting with your Korean roots?
It definitely opens that door. Not to say that it's the only reason, but I do feel like there is a disconnect between me and my ethnicity, because I didn't grow up in Korea. I was just born there.
All my extended family lives in Korea, and it's kind of sad, but I'm not really connected with them. Honestly, I don't even know their names. They're kind of strangers.
If anything, [Chandol] is more so an acceptance of who I am, even if it's a little embarrassing or weird.
It's not weird at all! What does this acceptance mean to you?
Appreciate that. I think it would mean the most authentic music that I can make. There are some songs I make that I listen to and like… I cringe whenever I listen to them. And then there are some songs that don't make me cringe, they have more shelf life in my head. That's what's more authentic to me.
Do any of your past songs make you cringe now?
"Toxic." [Laughs.] A lot of my music, actually. It's like, being the creator feels bad, but I'm glad that people are enjoying it.