Based out of the Bay Area in California, Darilø has been making waves with his unique blend of underground hip-hop and indie R&B. With recent songs like “Dazed”," “Bounty," and “Next To You” doing numbers on TikTok and other platforms, Darilø is slowly becoming a must-watch for the rest of 2024. I sat down with Darilø to talk more about his influences, collaborations, and recent tracks.

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Your music covers a wide variety of genres and sounds. Who are some of the biggest influences on your music?

In terms of rap, I'm very inspired by J Cole, Aaron May, Drake, etc. I also listen to trap shit like Lil Baby and Youngboy. For R&B, I listen to everyone: Lauryn Hill, Keyshia Cole, Alicia Keys, Jordan Ward. Even coming from the Bay Area I grew up listening to E40, Mac Dre, all of them. All these different influences kind of came together to influence my sound in different ways.

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What was it like growing up around the bay area and how has that influenced your sound?

I was born in Walnut Creek near San Francisco, moved to Fremont, CA in first grade and ended up growing up there for most of my life. Just being around the Bay Area, all the bay parties had every type of music you can think of. Everyone always played a ton of 90s hip-hop, 90s R&B, early 2000s, and I fell in love with how everything came together in front of everyone. It was from watching music documentaries on YouTube where I was like “what if I could be the one to make the music?” and I kind of went from there.

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How did you first start making music and what was your process like back then?

I grew up with a single mom, so around 6 or 7 years old I got bored while she was at work and just started writing. I was first just recording raps on an iPod, but eventually I started using Garageband when I was around 9 or 10. Eventually I got a laptop, and I really got into making music when I was around 13. When COVID hit, I was inside all day with nothing to do, and so I really started going. At some point my laptop broke, so I saved up money to get a new computer and download Logic and FL Studio. I used to make more underground type music with Isaiah Rashad type beats before shifting and polishing my sound into what it is now.

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How has your sound been able to evolve since dropping Variety in October?

Right now, everythings a lot more how I want it to be. I feel like nothings forced, I get to make what I want to make, and only when I’m really inspired by something. The Variety album was just a bunch of random songs I made throughout last year, not really my best work. Now, I get to work with a group of producers to really bring my vision out. If it doesn’t fit the standard, it won’t be released. 

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Dazed is a track that has made a lot of waves since dropping in December. How did that song come to be and what was it like working in more of a traditional hip-hop lane?

For that song, I was messing around with a lot of conscious rap, J Cole, Earl, ovrkast. I was looking online and found an Earl type beat, so I reached out to the producer and he really rocked with my sound. I had an old TikTok account that I never used before so I recorded a quick video and posted it. Then, an account called @ibreathemusicallday posted it and the song just went up from there. 

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What was it like working with marQ on “Bounty”? How did you guys meet and how did the song come to be?

The hook on “Bounty” was basically a whole freestyle. I found that beat on YouTube as well and just sat there coming up with a flow for it. I ended up just pressing record and it sounded dope, so I kept it. I found marQ on TikTok and really liked his music so I reached out and asked if he wanted to work. I didn’t think he was gonna respond at first but he hit me back and ended up sending his part the next day. 

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Are there any other dream collaborators that you would like to work with in the near/far future?

In the far future, I really wanna work with Jordan Ward, Smino, Guapdad 4000, and Isaiah Rashad. In terms of right now, there's this one dude from Australia named Tec, he has a song called “angel number” that I really love and I think we would work super well together.

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What are your plans for the future? Anything you can hint at?

Next month I’m gonna be dropping a music video for my song “Next to You” with Dane Amar that I’m really excited about. I also have an EP in the works for the summer, but I’m not rushing anything right now. 

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