100 Gecs is an American musical duo consisting of St. Louis natives Laura Les and Dylan Brady. Brady and Les met in high school in 2012, where they decided to collaborate on music and subsequently record in 2015. Within one year, their first EP, 100 gecs, was independently-released.
100 gecs received critical acclaim due to its original, unheard-of combination of emo, trap, and noise. As a result, it largely impacted underground and mainstream musical scenes worldwide, and it is considered to be one of the albums that signify the turning point of music in the mid-2010s. From 100 gecs, hyperpop was pushed to the forefront, and ultimately became a highly-influential subgenre. As a result, an overwhelming amount of music released since 2017 features audible references to hyperpop: high-pitched vocals, industrial noise, excessive compression and distortion, and angsty lyrics shrouded by irony.
Simply put, Brady and Les are geniuses of production, as both had successful independent side projects before the formation of 100 gecs. Les’ previous moniker was osno1, while Dylan Brady has always gone by his given name for his artistic pursuits. I myself have been fascinated with Brady’s work since I was in high school; his 2015 debut studio album, All I Ever Wanted, featured a sound that was also ahead of its time, though it sonically erred on the side of underground soundcloud rap instead of hyperpop (think Night Lovell, NOK From the Future, and Misogi). Seeing Brady and Les grow to a household name-basis amongst a gen-z audience is something I was pleasantly surprised to experience.
