Written by: Hunter Craighill
Rising from the depths of SoundCloud, South Carolina native Dro Kenji has found a home in the emo-trap world with his prolific library with Internet Money Records and 10K projects. His most recent album, Anywhere But Here, harnesses the emo-trap genre with his ability to deliver empathetic and emotionally sincere lyrics over expertly crafted trap beats courtesy of Internet Money’s magician, Nick Mira. Beyond the lyrical power of his music, Dro delivers beautiful soaring melodies that tap straight into the frontal lobe of the listeners, making it even easier to connect to his songs.
“I mean it’s music it’s really whatever you want,” Kenji told Nuance in a recent interview. “Shit, you can get into my world, like you are always welcome to my world with open arms.”
The hard hitting tracks of Anywhere But Here are nothing new to Dro Kenji fans, as he has released a whopping 7 full length albums since joining Internet Money and 10K in 2020, all produced by Nick Mira. Dro Kenji’s productivity is almost unparalleled, even in the fast paced rap game today. Just when you finally get a chance to fully appreciate his last album, he’s got another one dropping with another 10+ songs to sink your teeth into.
Dro Kenji hasn’t always had the pleasure of working with world class producers like Mira, but started making music with the stripped down recording set up of a teenager with a shitty laptop and an iPhone 6. When he started recording his music in high school, he didn’t even have a microphone, yet even with this janky set up, he was still able to create DIY hits that started gaining serious traction on SoundCloud. As his style developed, his set up improved, and the millions of plays on SoundCloud started to smell a lot like a record deal.
The record deal did come, as did the sold out shows and the constant onslaught of albums. And Kenji took each of those steps head on. “I was kind of just ready,” he told us about his first big show at Rolling Loud a couple of years back. “When things come up, I’m ready”
A lot of Dro Kenji’s success as a lyricist and a musician can be attributed to his wide array of influences. From the 90’s R&B and Hip Hop that his parents put him on, to the alt rock music he heard on his favorite video game RockBand, to the DIY rap that he heard on SoundCloud from the likes of XXXTentacion, Dro Kenji’s music combines elements of every genre under the sun. This versatility shines through in his songs, putting together melodies, lyrics, and all around soul that tickles the ear of any listener, regardless of the genre they think they like.
Photography by Slater Goodson of Nuance
For a better picture, we actually asked Dro Kenji himself how he would describe his music an alien, and he told us “positive feelings and vibrations… if you told them good vibes they’d get it.” We tend to think that captures it pretty well.
It’s hard to think that Dro Kenji can keep this kind of momentum going into 2023, but nothing suggests he has any plans of stopping. You might want to hurry up and catch up on his 7 albums and countless SoundCloud bangers before he drops something else on your head.