A guest mix from the New Orleans rapper and producer who might be the best tastemaker on SoundCloud.
I half-jokingly tweeted once that there should be an NTS show that’s just the last 30 Dani Kiyoko reposts on SoundCloud. Nobody on that broken website shows love to sub-500-play songs like them, and nobody’s put me on to more good shit. Surely inspired by their voracious appetite for relatively unknown, cutting-edge music, the New Orleans rapper/producer has always moved a year or two ahead of the crowd. Their 2021 tape REAL $TREET RUNNA helped open the floodgates for what Jude Noel proclaimed a “return of the swag,” a meticulous and generative study of Soulja Boy and Rich Kidz, deep fried photos and “expertly perched snapbacks” in zoomer rap scenes. Now, Dani is looking just a hair past that era, creating a sound with producer chembloods they call #partymuzik. They’ve also been assembling a record label; you’ll hear music from the roster in the NTS show this evening.
Tracklist:
DANI KIYOKO:
Dani Kiyoko – where yo bag @ prod chemsblood
Dani Kiyoko – am I just a prize for show prod chemsblood
I$AIAX – dashaaa prod himself
I$AIAX – unreleased prod himself
Dani Kiyoko – Hendrix prod skrillex
Lin – conceited prod yuk1sx, cursedead, rubypearl
Lint – tiktok feat krby prod vile
Drezzo – clothes prod ejcertified
Chemsblood – party rock prod himself
Drezzo – crashedout prod madluvworld, 730hahah
Baddcitizen – death 2 all prod himself
Staywidow – btch i knoo prod purin2k14
Sicksninthlife – Gohan prod chemsblood
Chemsblood – secret prod himself
Mayxx – u alr knooo prod aizeks #k6mix
Scarletxweb – paranoiiia prod herself
Sedate – leech my humanity prod krxxk
Dior9k – thoughts of giving up/solace prod feardorian
777forevermore – flipping coin prod Dani kiyoko, yrcsi
777forevermore – SoldiersFromAbove my shooter baptists prod himself
Secre – Zzz prod chemsblood
Secre – hella drugz prod sedate
Baddcitizen – fool me once feat. Dani Kiyoko prod himself, 9lives
Novastein – badgirlshi prod jannah
Yujin – promise me prod marcy
Dani Kiyoko- #Scyth3 feat chemsblood prod himself
Metallica – battery
MANO:
DCG Brothers feat. 2Rare – On The Ground
Star Bandz – Yea Yea
Okaymar – Religion
Sherifflazone – White
Schmeichel & Shane Lizard – Daphne (Jana Rush Remix)
Knocca – Pay Ain’t Want Another Day
Big Wan – Eggshell
414bigfrank & J.P. – Fire Bittys Come
Izaya Tiji – Call of Duty
Texako – Never Drop
LAZER DIM 700 – xtras
Bankroll Fresh – The Truth
Lil Keed – Diamond Face
🔕🔕🔕🔕🔕🔕🔕🔕🔕🔕
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Mano: What’s the name of your label?
Dani Kiyoko: Sutetchi, it means “stitch” in Japanese. It’s also a clothing brand so I wanted to use that name.
What’s a day in the life?
Dani Kiyoko: Day in the life? I wake up, start my day, take care of things around the house, and after that, I’m locked in.
I’ve always felt that if I were an underground rapper, the first co-sign I’d want is a Dani Kiyoko repost.
Dani Kiyoko: [Laughs] Everybody says that.
Is it just you showing love?
Dani Kiyoko: Most of it just me showing love. Sometimes I’ll sell reposts but most of it just me showing love.
You’re not just a great artist but also a great tastemaker.
Dani Kiyoko: Yeah, I listen to anything to be honest. If it sounds good I’ll listen to it.
What’ve you been listening to of late?
Dani Kiyoko: Lately…honestly I’ve been listening to myself a lot, but I’m trying to start listening to my playlists again that I have, just to get inspiration for shit.
Like what artists?
Dani Kiyoko: To be honest, Japanese artists. One of them—I forgot their name—but they make jazz to the point where it sounds like it’s mixed with metal. I don’t know how to explain it but it’s dope.
A lot of people who read No Bells know you for the Streetrunnaz series, which we covered three years ago, where you were doing your take on late 2000s trap/Gucci Mane. Fast forward three years later, it feels like everyone is co-opting that era. It’s almost a fad. How do you feel about that?
Dani Kiyoko: I’ve definitely seen that happen, and a lot of people tell me that I kinda gave them the inspiration for that, but I feel like I don’t get credit for it. It doesn’t matter to me that I don’t, but it’s cool to see it happening, and I can tell that some of it is from me.
Where’s your head at these days?
Dani Kiyoko: Recently me and my bro chemsblood, we’ve been trying to make a sound where it’s party music but it’s in our style. We’re trying to base it off 2010s type of sound but with our own taste to it.
Which artists from that era inspired it?
Dani Kiyoko: Definitely Ke$ha, she’s fire. Dang, who else…Rae Sremmurd for sure. Soulja Boy, of course, Chief Keef. The rest of them would probably be producers. A lot of unknown producers, to be honest.
How did your recent album Welcome To The Party come together?
Dani Kiyoko: I started it last year. I just randomly got the idea in my head one day, and I was telling [chemsblood], we have to just do this. Just lock in, get a bunch of beats in, and then I’d start recording on his songs, see how they sound. And we went from there.
What’s the New Orleans scene like?
Dani Kiyoko: To be honest, it’s very, very, very, very dead. Like, it looks like a place to get inspiration and ideas from in any type of art, but when it comes down to having a community for that, it’s very…not there.
Where would you wanna move?
Dani Kiyoko: Definitely New York, Atlanta or Houston. I wanna go to New York but that’s a hefty move, so for now, probably Texas.
What can we expect from the mix?
Dani Kiyoko: Some of it is me, then the rest of it is friends from my label that have really good songs that you need to hear.