BIRMINGHAM, AL — Birmingham, Alabama experimental rap artist cae announces the release of his new EP, alt girl encounters, out February 23, 2026 — a nine-track, independently released collection that blurs the lines between lo-fi rap, bedroom pop, electronic experimentation, and raw rock energy into something genuinely singular and hard to place. Willfully abstract, emotionally honest, and built during one of the most personally turbulent periods of his life, it is the first release in what cae describes as an evolving new direction — and it sounds like proof that the direction is exactly right.
“This EP was made during a transitional period in my life,” cae says. “I was taking a break from releasing music and going through a breakup. I turned to music, skating — anything to keep my mind off things — and started investing my time in discovering new electronic and rock music influences and was listening non-stop. I started trying to sample and play around with it in my production as well as in my vocals. I admire the fluidity and expression-driven vocals that rock can give a song versus normal rap vocals. This EP is the first of many releases incorporating and evolving this more raw rock-rap style.”
alt girl encounters moves like a big cat through tall grass — creeping, flowing, and entirely unpredictable. Equal parts emotional passion, surrealism, dissociation, and psychedelic vision, cae’s unabashedly vulnerable melodic vocals, whispers, and panoramic atmospheres guide listeners through a mysterious world that belongs entirely to him. Lo-fi textures collide with technological soundscapes. Raw emotion bleeds into abstract construction. The result is a release that operates at the intersection of modern internet culture, emotional realism, and experimental sound — turning everyday feelings into immersive, cinematic experiences.
For fans of psychi and skaiwater, the nine tracks — b4u, dreamt abt u, ur my fav artist, usexual, her past’s ur present, ur slave, r u ai, y cant u, and ihu — form a cohesive emotional arc through longing, loss, obsession, and the particular dissociation that comes from trying to process a relationship’s end while the rest of the world keeps moving.
cae already arrives at this release with serious platform traction — over 50,000 listeners across platforms and 15 million plays on his breakout track “Crave You.” BeatCrave has called his music a blend of “introspective lyrics and atmospheric beats, capturing the complexities of longing and desire,” describing him as an artist carving out a unique space in the emotional hip-hop landscape.
alt girl encounters pushes that space into stranger, more textured territory — and a deluxe edition with more polished songs in the same style is already planned for later this year.