Alone At Prom

Alone at Prom, released on December 10, 2021, is Tory Lanez's homage to the synth-heavy pop and new wave sound of the 1980s. Following on from his previous R&B project PLAYBOY, which was released a few months earlier in March 2021, he fully immerses himself in retro production, mixing catchy synths, groovy basslines and nostalgic melodies to create a concept album inspired by the aesthetics of the era.

He also created his alter ego Ashton Rain for the album, whose story is told in the accompanying music videos for the songs Enchanted Waterfall (December 2021), Lady Of Namek (November 2021), '87 Stingray (December 2021), The Color Violet, Lavender Sunflower and Ballad of a Badman (all November 2023).

In the process of the album release, he explained to the media what this character stands for:

Ashton Rain is a mixture of Hall & Oates, Toto, Michael Jackson, Rick James and more. [...] Ashton Rain is today's last hope of getting a full catalog now and later of pure pop, R&B, alternative and 80's rock music and I'm excited for everyone to hear what I've poured my passion into with the Alone At Prom album.

The album was first announced on September 23, 2021, Tory wrote on Instagram: "ALONE AT PROM ... (1980's ALBUM)". At that time, the release was scheduled for December 1, 2021.

In another post, Tory, writing as Ashton Rain, explained the intention behind the album:

I wrote this project with every intent to make you sing , dance , and feel what we haven't felt in the last 35 years .... crazy ... cuz I'm not even 35 yet - ASHTON

On October 20, 2021, a first album trailer was released on YouTube, featuring an excerpt of the song '87 Stingray:

Another teaser followed on 25 October 2021, featuring the first 14 seconds of the intro to the cartoon series Speed Racer. It also features a song that has not yet been released. It is assumed that this was a song that did not make it onto the final album.

A final trailer was published on November 4, 2021, featuring a snippet of the song Pink Dolphin Sunset:

After the teasers, two singles were released: Lady Of Namek on November 15, 2021 and '87 Stingray on December 1, 2021.

After the release, some voices were raised claiming that Tory Lanez had taken too much inspiration from other artists. Both Madonna and George Michael' estate have accused him of stealing from them.

Madonna refers to the song "Pluto's Last Comet", which is strongly reminiscent of her single "Into The Groove" from 1985. She initially commented on an Instagram post by Tory Lanez with:

Read your messages tor illegal usage of my song get into the groove!

She later commented to Rolling Stone as follows:

I am tired of being taken advantage of and I mean business.

However, the song was never removed from the streaming platforms. It is not known whether an agreement has since been reached.

The estate of George Michael ensured that the song "Enchanted Waterfall" was removed from Spotify, as the chorus interpolates Michael's song "Careless Whisper" from 1984 without permission.

According to a statement from George Michael's estate, Lanez was previously denied permission to sample the song in June 2021.

Although the song was removed from Spotify, it was and still is available on other streaming services such as Apple Music, Deezer and YouTube.

The album cover was revealed by Tory Lanez in an Instagram post on December 7, 2021. It features Tory Lanez's '80s alter-ego Ashton Rain performing on stage at a prom.

The photo was shot by Jordan "Josh" Farias (aka MidJordan), who also took the majority of the promo photos shared by Tory on Instagram and other platforms prior to the release. He also directed the music videos for Enchanted Waterfall, Lady Of Namek and '87 Stingray.

Some of the well-known reaction channels have posted reactions to Alone At Prom by Tory Lanez. Among them Jon Denton, VibeVilla and Meami:

In his short review, AllMusic's Andy Kellmann wrote about the album:

It works to Tory's advantage that he sounds as if he's in character and (perhaps as a consequence) doesn't resort to self-pitying histrionics. This is all conducive to passive listening, a soundtrack to idly browsing racks of distressed jeans.

Although he didn't record a video review, music critic Anthony Fantano mentioned the album in a short video and said:

That album is disgustingly mid. [...] Like, why do people go so crazy over Tory Lanez [...] making just painfully average 80s music? There's like seriously something wrong with music fans and society if you're sitting here listening to him just make bad 80s stuff.