6LACK Sets Release Date for ‘Love Is the New Gangsta,’ Shares ‘Bird Flu’

6LACK has announced his fourth album, Love is the New Gangsta, will arrive May 22 via LVRN/Interscope Records.

According to a press release, “The project finds the Atlanta artist peeling back every layer — examining love, identity, growth, and the quiet battles that shape who we become — as a person, as a father, and as a man.

It’s a record built on transparency and vulnerability, where every lyric feels like a conversation he’s finally ready to have, truthfully. The journey had led 6LACK to the album’s title: Love is the answer, love heals and unites, love is really the new cool, and as the title says, Love is the New Gangsta.”

News of the album’s release date follows his confirmation of its title in December. “I think it’s a good time to finally say… ‘LOVE IS THE NEW GANGSTA’ the next album, 2026,” he wrote on Instagram. 

Love is the New Gangsta will include the lead single, “Bird Flu,” available now, produced by Fwdslxsh, Malik95, Sucuki, and Loof.

Over a hip-hop soul backdrop, 6LACK contemplates accountability, maturity and commitment. He melodically raps in verse one: “Practice makes perfect, need my restitution / You see the leap from Boys to Men / Baby, this just my evolution.”

[embedded content]

Love is the New Gangsta will follow 2023’s Since I Have A Lover. The album featured tracks such as “Temporary” with Don Toliver, “Talkback” and “Inwood Hill Park.” It included additional collaborations with Wale and 6LACK’s partner QUIN, who welcomed their first child together last year. 

Regarding Since I Have A Lover, 6LACK said, “The album is a collection of songs about love, and learning through the pains that come with growth. It’s a reminder that regardless of the outcome, choosing to better yourself, and sharing that experience with the people around you, has a lasting effect.”

Since I Have A Lover was nominated Best Progressive R&B Album at the 66th Grammy Awards. He supported the album on his headlining Since I Have A Lover World Tour.