Alex Fleming, known professionally as Black Atlass, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and producer. Black Atlass is well known for his single "Sacrifice" with Jessie Reyez which was featured on the Fifty Shades Freed soundtrackreceived 1.7 million views on YouTube. His breakout single "Paris", from 2013, was featured in short films and advertisements by Louis Vuitton and Saint Laurent. ^[1] [📁][5][📁]

Black Atlass was born in Montreal, Quebec and moved to London, Ontario with his family at the age of six. Fleming’s musical education was shaped by his father, a social worker for Children's Aid Society, and his mother, a researcher at the University of Western Ontario. Their combined music library included albums by Lou Reed, The Rolling Stones and Stevie Wonder, which Black Atlass considers his building blocks.

“I was always interested in learning and experimenting with art in general, and music was a big part of that from my parents and the influences they passed down to me,” said Fleming in an interview with WWD. He learned to play the piano at age seven. From there, he picked up the bass guitar and drums but thought he’d one day become a photographer or a graphic designer. His great-grandmother was head buyer for the Montreal department store Ogilvy and his grandmother was a model, so fashion figured into his family.

“But I found that making music was a good outlet for my energy as a kid,” he said, noting that London, Ontario, was “a small community where there wasn’t a lot going on besides people playing sports.”

When Black Atlass discovered hip hop, he also became interested in producing, taking cues from artists such as Kanye West, who combined several artistic mediums into single projects, all of which count fashion as both inspiration and aesthetic.

“With fashion, I look at it as just a part of my performance as an artist.

It has to represent my personality and Black Atlass as a character also.”

Of his recording name, Black Atlass has said, “It just subconsciously was created and has taken on meaning over time.

I’m super interested in the interconnectedness of life the universe and even just on the planet earth, so that’s represented in the word atlas.

There’s always been a darker side, and black has an interesting energy to it as a word, as a color and as a vibe overall, so that’s a tone I try to create within all my work.”

When discussing his passion for fashion and music, Black Atlass said, “I want to be regarded as an artist overall in the same way Prince was, so fashion is just as important as the music.

The aura that you create when you walk into a room is a big part of an artist’s performance.

As corny as it sounds, my art and my vision is my life.

I can’t really separate the two—it’s all one thing.”

In 2011, Black Atlass released first recording a self-titled six-track EP which helped him build a fan base.

Critics described the EP as an adventurous mix of hip-hop bass lines, abrasive electronics and airy vocals.

Black Atlass ’s first big break came when Louis Vuitton contacted him to license his single, "Paris". The song—which blends classical piano, electronics and ethereal soul—was used by Louis Vuitton to score a film made for the launch of a fashion exhibit at the Musées des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. The exposure from the film created new opportunities for Black Atlass. Vogue has praised his sleek approach in and out of the studio (his black-and-white video for Paris takes a page out of Antonioni’s stylish film of 1961, La Notte). The song was also featured in a Saint Laurent fragrance ad. Fleming was later invited by Kris Van Assche, Christian Dior's, menswear designer, to sit front row at their fashion shows. The fashion house flew Black Atlass to Paris, dressed him and sat him front-row for its Dior Homme spring/summer 2014 show. In an interview with Maclean's“They said they appreciate what I’m doing and talked about potentially making me be a part of what they’re doing, as well.”

In March 2017, Alexander Wang featured Black Atlass in a fashion campaign alongside Kylie Jenner, Vince Staples, Lexi Boling and Zoe Kravitz. In 2018, Black Atlass was signed to The Weeknd's record label XO. He was previously signed to Fool's Gold Records. His song "Sacrifice" with Jessie Reyez was also featured on the Fifty Shades Freed soundtrack received 1.7 million views on YouTube. In July 2018, he released an eight track album titled Pain and Pleasure. In the album, Black Atlass signs about his love life and dreams of making it big. The Musical Hype described Pain and Pleasureas a, "terrific set of moody, alt-, electro-tinged R&B, chocked-full of masterfully sweet falsetto." In 2018, Black Atlass' music received 23 million streams on Spotify with one million hours of listens by four million fans in 65 countries. ^[12]