WHAT IT IS: A year ago, Houston native d4vd was writing and recording music in his sister’s closet in Houston; today, he’s on the cusp of stardom. The 17-year-old’s taste was shaped by exploring Internet wormholes and fan-made Fortnite videos on YouTube, which he started creating himself as a homeschooled teenager. An avid player with over 50k subscribers on his own gaming channel, d4vd noticed that songs in the montages were getting copyright strikes, so he started writing his own music, leading to a string of singles in 2021. He scored a breakout hit this summer with the indie-rock earworm “Romantic Homicide.” Recorded entirely on an iPhone, the track reached #1 on the Spotify U.S. Viral chart and is nearing 200m global streams across platforms.
SINGLE: “Romantic Homicide”
INTERNET: 17m+ monthly Spotify listeners; “Romantic Homicide” peaked at #1 on the U.S. Viral chart, #17 Global U.S. Top 50, #4 Hot Rock & Alt chart; added to Spotify’s Today’s Top Hits, Pop Rising, big on the internet, Apple Music’s Today’s Hits, ALT CTRL, Superbloom (cover), more; 35m+ combined YouTube video views
RADIO: “Romantic Homicide” #28 at Alt radio at presstime
PRESS: Complex, Pigeons & Planes (“Best New Artist” August), Lyrical Lemonade, NME, more
BOOKING: Sam Kirby Yoh/UTA
MANAGEMENT: Josh Marshall/Mogul Vision