Finding Sanctuary: An Interview with diegointhedark

I first encountered diegointhedark on a random video, recommended to me by the Youtube algorithm. I was immediately awestruck by this random guy rapping his ass off, wearing a Dortmund jersey, over an Imogen Heap sample. There was plenty more where that came from, as diegointhedark began posting consistently, almost every week. Through the months since, diegointhedark has created a unique musical style and aesthetic, whilst also not allowing himself to get boxed in by venturing out into different sounds. Witnessing his evolution in real time has been a joy to watch. I had the pleasure of speaking to him about his process, the connections he has made through his art and more.

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For someone who had never heard your music, how would you describe it?

Going by categorization of genre it’s really just cloud rap, I’m not entirely sure about how I feel regarding everyone feeling the need to put music into super niche subgenres/labels. To me all of this shit is mostly cloud rap or cloud rap adjacent. But to answer your question I would categorize my music mostly as cloud rap and or alternative rap music.

What inspired you to first start making music?

I was raised in a semi-religious household to two Christian parents and one older brother (8 years apart). My parents basically enforced very early on that I can’t listen to rap music because of what it promotes lyrically but later on in 2013 my brother turned 16 and got his license. Upon receiving his license we’d go everywhere together and not only did it mend our relationship together a lot, it also exposed me to rap at last and my brother eventually told me to pursue my love for rap music, which I did. At the age of 13, I lied to my parents about wanting to make Youtube videos so they could buy me a mic. On my birthday (13th) I received that microphone and began recording unmixed music on Audacity and posting it under the alias “diegointhedark” on Soundcloud.

Your most recent EP seems to get a lot of inspiration from electronic music (the house-like chords on “notice”, some more uptempo beats etc). Where did this interest in a more electronic sound stem from?

When my brother turned 16 and got his license aforementioned, he also showed me a lot of EDM music outside of just rap. I was heavily influenced not only by rap but also EDM artists like Porter Robinson/Virtual Self, shibo, Excision, and of course Skrillex. I also fell really hard into Vocaloid when I was like 10 years old back in 2015, so that definitely held a lot of influence over me too. My older music which is mostly archived from 2021/2022 is also very inspired by electronic music too.

Going from a run of singles and videos for several months to a complete EP, what differences were there when you made a complete project?

I wanted to create a very dramatic change in sound/creative direction for my project. I dropped ShldveKn2wnn and everyone was in my ear telling me that Yandere and I made a new sound and that I should run with that shit so I did even despite feeling unsure about it initially because THAT in and of itself was already a huge change in style for me. Once the thought of dropping an EP came into fruition, I wanted to experiment as much as possible. I make music for the fans but I also make music for me, I love it and I want to have fun.

On that topic, what first inspired you to release a new song and video every week or so? It almost feels like a project in of itself.

My brain blooms with creativity at such a consistent rate. Every day I make music and if I abstain from making music I get this looming disarray, almost a lack of sense of self.

In July of 2022, I did my first show that was hosted by chrisegv , we ended up becoming friends briefly after the show ended and only a few months later we started working on videos. He displayed unwavering interest and support towards my work and upon realizing his work ethic ran just adjacent in consistency to my own, we just got shit rolling.

After ShldveKn2wnn dropped we kinda shit a brick, I know I’m gonna make it, its my life goal to reach generational wealth off of my talent, but I’ve always been content with the thought of success, nothing is stopping me. but ShldveKn2wnn was soooo unforeseeable, after that song n video blew up we really realized we could do this shit.

Also I want to clarify very carefully that money doesn’t EVER overlap with my love for art. However I want my kids and the rest of my bloodline to have perpetual wealth, than I could die happy.

You mentioned it a little anyway with chrisegv and yandere, but it seems as if you have a very close-knit crew. What is it like to work together to create your music and videos?

It’s just some real life shit man, no budget for videos other than gas money lol.

Sam (chrise) and I really just link up and scout locations that suit whatever song we’re filming for and drive, once we get there we plot visual ideas. It’s no different than going on a road trip with your friends.

Yandere who is another one of my best friends, love him, lives in Toronto so I have yet to link with him but we have some plans in store i.e. traveling to Tokyo and doing shows together in the future. Eventually we’ll all be so successful we can just mob out together every other day and for real live shit down.

Your music is incredibly melodic with earworm hooks (I’m thinking especially of your recent song “cuts”). What’s your process behind making these melodies and your song making in general?

I think one of the only things I have a natural talent for is lyricism. I never really had to practice writing when I first started which was when I was 11 years old. When I write it’s indescribable, the process is very linear for me and ideas sort of just spawn in my head left and right and once I piece together either a chorus, or the first few bars in general, I usually can build off of that.

Clarifying that of course I improved at writing not only as I matured and as time passed, but also with the sole practice of writing lyrics did I improve at it.

From a Polish pop song to Katy Perry and more, do you have a certain thing you look for in a sample?

Not really, sometimes I completely disregard samples and just seek beats that are just melodies especially considering you have to clear samples which is a bitch majority of the time. The only thing I struggle with sometimes is certain keys of beats, like I can’t fuck with D major sometimes, that shit be annoying.

However the Polish sample/beat was made by a good friend of mine named Mei (angelicxmei) who also happens to be Polish. That song was dedicated to my Polish fanbase which is very, very strong and if you are a fan of my music you probably know the Polish listeners make their presence known.

I had heard in another interview that you wanted to one day move to Eastern Europe?

Definitely Europe, not too firm on Eastern Europe but definitely somewhere. I love America, I just hate the way its governed. I also feel like Europeans are so much nicer, not generalizing them because people are hella mean no matter where you go but that’s just speaking from my personal experience.

Speaking as someone from Ireland, I would agree with you on the people side but probably not on the government side…

Yeah, the world can be terrifying.

Crazy transition, but I wanted to ask because it’s become a staple of your videos - how many jerseys do you own?

I currently bear a small collection of 14 jerseys. More to be added soon. That’s only football by the way, I own a handful of basketball jerseys and baseball jerseys too. I love football, the sport, the fashion statement it appears to have left on the entire world too, but I want to break out of the box of “oh this guy isn’t wearing a jersey naaaa!!!”. I have so many clothes I really like, another one of my big passions is clothing, since I fell in love with music I’ve also loved fashion and dressing myself up. So the stranglehold of “ohh u can only wear jerseys” is a bit asinine.

I also found somewhere that the tattoo across your neck says “sanctuary” in Russian. Could you explain what that tattoo means to you?

People made fun of me, people embraced the tattoo, people were confused by the meaning. To me святилище means my body is a sanctuary, pure, rid of evil, that is my eternity and something I want to live by. The tattoo was heavily inspired by my drug addiction too. Staying sober is difficult, sometimes it’s hard to keep a good head on my shoulders, but the tattoo is something I see in every photo, every time I look in the mirror, whether I’m brushing my teeth, washing my hands, or just basking in vanity, it’s a constant reminder to stay true. I also love Russian culture so much and Cyrillic so fuck it, I had to get it in that language.

Has the music been a respite for your drug addiction?

Absolutely. I speak a lot about drugs, sometimes even in a way that almost promotes it conceptually but I never advise that behavior, I actually condemn it.

Where do you see yourself in ten years?

Rich as fuck with a beautiful Slavic woman on a yacht drinking strawberry daiquiris. Seriously though I see myself in a decade presumably beginning to start a family, by then I’d likely have a few big projects released and career wise I’d hopefully be able to settle down. But you never know, even if I’m not where I see myself now I’ll always keep working toward my goal, no matter what amount of time it takes me.

Lastly, what words of motivation do you live by?

Live and love, you can die tomorrow so assess what it is you want to be remembered by. If I’m nothing but a mound of flesh 10ft beneath graveyard soil at least my music will outlive me, and hopefully inspire others. Me personally, I just wish to leave an impact, a positive one at that, regardless of my ambitions with MY life, if I can motivate another person to do something good for themselves or just in general whether its creative or not, I’m happy.

That is my eternity, more than music.