dazeblog #5
What is “dazecore?”: A statement of influence & an explanation on my coinage of the term.
Over the past couple years, I’ve done a lot of interviews where I’ve been asked something along the lines of, “what influences you?” or “what are some things (songs, games, etc.) that inspire your music”, and my responses are usually consistent but they vary depending on where my head’s at at the moment.
So my main goal for this entry is to give a concise answer to every question like that, so I don’t give conflicting responses and I can cite this entry; and to answer these questions, I can explain what “dazecore” really is to me in the same breath.
So, what is “dazecore” exactly?
“dazecore”, simply put, is my identity. It’s the combination of musical genres, experiences & stylistic influences that makes up my sonic approaches, my appearance & my persona. It’s also when I put daze- as a prefix in front of nouns and verbs, its when I look at a cute or funny pic from a character in a game I like & i say “that’s so me”. It was a term I started using of convenience & jest, just put -core at the end of my nickname and now it’s just a thing. In the beginning, it was a response to “breakcore”, a sound identity that I was consistently lumped in to but didn’t really see myself in, deep down. “dazecore” is not a genre because dazecore is me; I am not a (or one) genre, I am an artist.
Music
The genres that make up what dazecore is were briefly touched up on in my interview with DJ Rennessy, but I’ll restate what they are.
Jungle & DnB, Breakbeat Hardcore, House, Garage, Trap ( + Plugg, Glo/Bop & Drill), R&B, J-Pop, 2010s US Pop, Acid & Trance are the main genres I’ve emulated in my discography up to this point, and they’re all integral to this concept. Most of these genres were mentioned in dazeblog #3, where I discussed my fascination with Digitally Imported radio as a kid. All my run-ins with these sounds shaped me and dazecore as a whole.
Media
Some stylistic influences that helped shape dazecore also came from a lot of the other media I enjoy & resonated with. Without going into too much detail, I’ll just list off the key ones: Jet Set Radio & Future, GTA 3 + SA, Midnight Club, the 6th Gen-Sonic Games, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, Pop Team Epic, No More Heroes 1-3, Killer7, and more of the games & anime that I was fascinated with as I grew up.
Sidenote: I don’t like going too much into words about how much video games shaped my sound; while it’s definitely true they played a role & opened the door, I feel like it reinforces the association between video games and the genres I make. It’s not a bad thing but to the average person that’s all they might end up seeing it as, video game music, and I don’t wanna feed into that any more. These are sounds of many people that have stood strong before they appeared in video games, I want to highlight that more than ever.
New York City & Living
NYC is essential to “dazecore”.
Ion wanna come off like the one type of nigga that doesn’t shut the fuck up about being from NYC but coming from Brooklyn has shaped me to be who I am. It’s shaped my sense of fashion, the way I talk, the way I even breathe and walk. This city made me, and in turn, dazecore. All my mainline releases since vKiSS have had an urban-esque cover and mindset going into the creative aspect. Whenever I work with Jesse on a project and I draft up a moodboard, I always put down a note that I want NYC to be represented in some aspect. It’s architecture, it’s atmosphere, just anything at all I can pin the music to home.
If I didn’t live in NYC, I might’ve never started making trap beats for my friends, the era of Daze’s Game 1-3 wouldn’t exist & I would’ve never produced the tracks that eventually led to where I’m at now, especially with vKiSS & dSX.fm.
Also no one wants to really admit this but living in NYC is a cheat code in advancing a creative career, just off how many opportunities happen to present themselves. But it’s also expensive as shit, please don’t move here rn Ion wanna make it worse. 😂
Heritage & Identity
I say this as much times as I can, but I’m Ghanian & Jamaican & I’ll rep both those countries even if they send me to hell for it. They’re in my blood and can’t be ripped outta me. My parents were really my main gateways into both of those countries’ distinct cultures & I try to show for it in my music, more on the Jamaican side atm. I’ve been incorporating more dancehall & reggae sounds. Stylistically my heavy use of ‘laser’ & explosion SFX comes from the Dancehall DJ mixes I heard as a kid runnin thru my mom & brother’s CD collections way b4 I got into electronic music. The Passa Passa Dance DVD I found from my momma collection when I was 5 was a real eye opener; I was like “damn these niggas get lit over there [not my xact wording but the sentiment still the same].”
I wish I could show more love to the Ghanaian side of my heritage musically, I’m still just racking in my brain on how I can do it effectively. I wanna make my Dad smile wide as fuck when he hears the way I do it. Same way my mom does. I like making my folks happy when I connect with them on that level.
This bootleg I did last year highlights what I’m getting at extremely well, cuz the Jah Cure track I flipped was my shit growing up & hearing my family play it here n there.
All Other Overarching Themes in Dazecore
This part will just outline some themes that’s been present in my music, I felt it’d b worth mentioning especially since the music is definitive of the term “dazecore”.
Love & Romance (Requited & Unrequited) - Seen in vKiSS (see dazeblog #1), Gospel Overture, emodaze3k & the “i like u” trilogy.
Releases with these themes usually use sweeter synths & vocals with lovey-dovey (or lovelorn) lyrics. They’re made in a self-reflective mind state of mine, almost purely motivated by just wanting to get the romantic feelings down on audio.
Aging & Growth - Seen in Daze’s Game 1, 2 & 3 + i guess im 20 now/i guess im 21 now.
The intent with the DG trilogy was to showcase what styles I can pull off & how much better I was getting with production with each passing year, each release on my birthday April 19, but after I started pivoting to full force albums & electronic music in general, that aspect was reserved to the big solo projects I do. The tradition’s still kept alive with the “i guess im x now” releases but the real deal nowadays is shit like vKiSS, with full campaigns & deeper artistic intent.
Angst & Ego - Seen in “how u hating? ”, dSX.fm, “i hate u”, “way 2 good (idc)” & “doin jus fine”.
These usually come in thru the production side, on a “IDGAF what niggas think, I’m better than whoever and I’m proving it” typa timing. The production is usually more in-your-face and clipping, with less polish. In some cases like “how u hating” or “#say #wassup” & “say so” off dSX.fm, that theme is reflected lyrically.
Mental Strife - Seen in “Mania”, “im fucking losing it.mp3 [throwaway]”, “i cant pay attention” , some scrapped songs.
You can tell from the titles what I was getting at. Tracks with this theme range in sound, from aggressive, fast & loud, to subdued, atmospheric & sometimes crestfallen. And while this is a wide range, they’re all bound together by one thing; my mental state being just generally #not #good.
On a personal note, I’ve got my mental health more together than ever nowadays but many of the tracks with these themes were really jus cries for help highkey. Majority of them ended up on my throwaway but I felt it was a theme worth discussing.
So yeah in essence, ‘dazecore’ is just me. Much like ‘dazegirl’ is just me. It’s a reflection of the person I’ve become but in a different medium. Like I said in the beginning, it’s my identity.
I hope I ain’t get too wordy, talking about something I made up that’s really just entirely abt myself is kinda hard to keep concise.
Entry’s over but I’d like to drop a link here: https://ceasefiretoday.com/
