Genre-bending artist, vocalist, and rapper Ryan Oakes built his career on relentless consistency, turning a $20 Best Buy microphone and small-town Virginia ambition into more than 300 released songs, over half a billion global streams, viral moments, sold-out shows, and a catalog that moves between hip-hop, pop-punk, rock, and alternative with ease. On his forthcoming album Scary Stories After Dark, his first release with Nettwerk, Oakes channels that range into his most cohesive and autobiographical work yet.
Across 12 tracks, Scary Stories After Dark pulls listeners into the darker corners of Oakes’ mind, pairing booming 808s, eerie synths, razor-sharp hooks, and horror-inspired atmosphere with candid reflections on anxiety, depression, self-worth, dissociation, isolation, industry pressure, and the emotional weight of being seen online but not always understood. The title arrived before the album was fully formed and helped shape its shadowy world, drawing from Oakes’ fascination with horror, strange imagery, and the feeling of late-night introspection.
Created with longtime producer and collaborator Jordan Seeley, the album also highlights Oakes’ strength as a genre-blurring collaborator, featuring MISSIO on “SUPERNATURAL,” Cody Carson of Set It Off on “LIGHTS OUT,” and Jon Lundin of Point North on “THIS LIFE OR THE NEXT.” Following 2025’s OPUS, Scary Stories After Dark marks a new chapter for Ryan Oakes: ambitious, emotionally raw, and built with the same drive that has carried him from underground grind to global momentum.
