Better Man

Vocal powerhouse Leon Bridges offers a primer on eye-catching retro style — and sounds off on his new album, his Texas roots and his definition of protest music

Leon Bridges opens his new album, Good Thing, with the deceptively simple line “I better slow down.” The 28-year-old Fort Worth native’s life has indeed been moving at a breakneck pace: In the span of two years he went from dishwasher to Grammy nominee. He kicked off his career — and a major-label bidding war — with the elegiac single “Coming Home.” His 2015 debut album of the same name reverently evokes Sam Cooke and Otis Redding, but his sophomore set, out May 4 on Columbia, is richer and more ambitious, full of musings on his parents’ migration across the South. Bridges conjures postwar American culture in his style as well as in the studio. He’s given to slim suits and polished leather shoes, even if he still harbours memories of the fitted-cap collection he amassed in high school. When PLAYBOY caught up with him, he was in Shreveport, Louisiana, preparing for a show — still for a moment.

What do you find so compelling about mid-century American style?

It’s a powerful statement to dress that way because it’s not common for a black man to do that kind of fashion. And for me, I think it was just a great time; I love the high-waisted pants. So much care went into certain styles back then.

Fashion-wise, what are people doing better today than back then?

I love that style, but I’m not stuck in the past. I’m also inspired by A$AP Rocky, Lil Uzi Vert and those guys. You can take stuff from the past but also combine it with modern things.

What kind of fashion phases did you go through in high school?