Birmingham, Alabama’s cae is carving out a lane entirely his own. The experimental rap and bedroom pop artist — already boasting over 50,000 listeners across platforms and 15 million plays on breakout track “Crave You” — returns with “Alt Girl Encounters”, released February 23rd, 2026. A deeply personal, lo-fi, psychedelic journey through heartbreak, dissociation, and sonic reinvention, the nine-track EP was born from a period of transition, a breakup, and an obsessive deep-dive into electronic and rock influences that pushed cae’s production and vocals into bold new territory. Raw, futuristic, and willfully abstract, this is music that moves like a big cat through tall grass — and it’s just the beginning. We sat down with cae to talk about the EP, the process, and where he goes from here.
- “Alt Girl Encounters” was made during a breakup and a deliberate break from releasing music — you turned to skating, new electronic and rock influences, and production experimentation to get through it. Looking back now, do you think the album could only have been made in that specific headspace, or do you think you could have arrived here another way?
That’s a great question, I’m not really sure id like to think I’m some mega brain songwriting god that can create perspective and emotion from nothing but realistically no I don’t think i could’ve I think going through stuff while you’re in the moment unlocks something for us in our brains
- You’ve described this EP as the first of many releases incorporating a more raw rock-rap style — blending the fluidity and expression-driven quality of rock vocals with your rap foundation. What specifically did you hear in the rock and electronic music you were absorbing that made you want to bring it into your own sound?
I think the way people react to a hard bar or like a crazy flow in rap is how i react to some things in electronic music, the artist just does something and theres just like an inexplicable feeling thats just like hmm in your stomach. the main reason i started incorporating it into my personal music though was just to add more stuff that i liked into my diet and also im a producer first so i produce a bunch of genres already but rarely get to use them
- The tracklist — “b4u”, “dreamt abt u”, “ur my fav artist”, “r u ai”, “ihu” — reads almost like a stream-of-consciousness text thread. How much of the album’s emotional and stylistic language comes from the way this generation actually communicates, and is that intentional as part of the aesthetic?
Yes it is intentional, in my head theres an entire universe around this album and me being from this generation its obviously gonna be very modern and gen-z coded or whatever you will call it, but its definitely meant to tap into a more childlike state of myself while still talking about things that im going through
- You write, produce, and perform everything yourself. When you’re building a track that blends lo-fi textures, electronic soundscapes, melodic vocals, and whispers all at once, where does a song typically start — and how do you know when it’s finished?
People who’ve been watching my live streams for a while probably have seen the huge folder full of samples i want to try to use, typically it starts there. i listen to a bunch of music from different genres and whenever i hear something catchy and sampleable i just have like a song playing in my head of how i want to use it and add it to the folder sometimes i try to record voice memos and write notes just so i dont forget the ideas
- You have 15 million plays on “Crave You” and a growing platform — but “Alt Girl Encounters” feels like a deliberate artistic step sideways rather than a calculated follow-up. How do you think about the relationship between what your existing audience expects and where your creative instincts are taking you?
i agree there is definitely some whiplash there, i dont usually think about the relationship that much i believe it kind of all connects in a more fractal way. my music hasnt always tried to sound like this but the lyricals, style, voice, influences, etc have always been there even crave you follows the “text thread” like language that you mention and that was years before and it also talks about love and romance etc but it definitely does that in a much different way so i do see the point i just trust that the supporters can learn to appreciate that kind of thing and can connect the dots
- You’ve mentioned a deluxe edition with more polished versions of this style coming later this year. What does “more polished” mean to you in the context of music that thrives on rawness — and what else is in the creative pipeline for cae in 2026?
For me more polished means better mixing lol, im terrible at mixing and mastering my own projects its just something i’ve neglected so i want to get better at that and deliver the music how it deserves to be heard. im also working on music videos and still making more music for the next release album. thanks so much for the interview these were great questions.