Toosii has released Boys Don’t Cry: Men Do (Deluxe), just hours before he joins Rod Wave on his North American arena tour, which kicks off tonight (11/11) at Target Center in Minneapolis.
Released via South Coast Music Group/Capitol Records, the new edition of his acclaimed 2022 EP, Boys Don’t Cry, features five new soul-baring tracks. The expanded title underscores its central theme–that it’s time to question the deeply ingrained belief that boys need to stifle their emotions in order to be strong.
On the new songs, the 22-year-old artist is haunted yet informed by the past. Numbed by the pain of hard knocks and ill-fated romances, he nonetheless finds the courage to fall head over heels in love, as shown on tracks like “City Of Love.” Raised in Syracuse, New York, and Goose Creek, South Carolina, Toosii moved to Raleigh, North Carolina in his teens–and it’s there that he came into his own. He recorded the new material in neighboring Cary, NC.
As direct support on Rod Wave’s Beautiful Mind tour, Toosii will be playing for crowds across North America. The run includes shows at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY (November 23) and Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, NC (11/30). It will conclude at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, WA (December 21).
Toosii’s lyrics have always been personal, but on Boys Don’t Cry: Men Do he reveals how his journey of self-discovery was flipped on its head with the birth of his son–who can be heard on the closing bars of “Since 9th Grade.”
He’s begun to reexamine his own life lessons and approach the world differently. Yet, as he approached professional and personal milestones, Toosii found himself battling a depression so deep and disruptive that he went nearly a year between projects. The moving piano ballad “Last Song” takes fans inside that dark time. Dealing with his own mental health gave Toosii a fresh perspective on life.