Atlanta rapper/producer Evian Luciani’s new Death-Con 03 EP plays like the soundtrack to a strip club in a dystopian wasteland. While its content might seem superficial or familiar to fan’s of Atlanta’s expected cast of characters, Death-Con 03‘s dedication to grim atmosphere and its general impenetrability put dark tweaks on concepts that have become rote. It dances somewhere between a party and a funeral, standouts like “Tucumcari” and “Millions” treading in familiar territory with eerie edge.
To get greater insight into a project that might otherwise be easy to write off, we had a brief conversation with Evian.
What do you want people to feel when listening to Death-Con 03?
Honestly, with Death-Con I wanted to create a post community or civilization feel. Kind of a mix between Mad Max and Mortal Kombat. A very deserted environment where there aren’t any rules.
Who were your biggest inspirations for the project?
Honestly during this project I was listening to a lot of Young Thug, old Sex Pistols demos, and hardcore punk [bands] which include Void & The Faith. Also a lot of Drake. But mostly punk music. I also finished half of this project after taking a road trip from Atlanta to LA which is where I wrote “Tucumcari” which was inspired by a small town in New Mexico where I stayed the night. There are also a lot of hollywood references in the project. I spent majority of my time in LA, in hollywood bars and met some famous people while getting shit faced.
What do you think people need from music right now?
I feel like there is so much music right now that the only thing people need from present music is a pushed envelope. Even internet music parasites (such as myself) create an idea to lead to better ideas with experimentation. Steven Spielberg said that one day an Oscar award winning movie will be won by a young kid who shot it in his garage. The same is true about music. A child will win a Grammy for a song he produced in his closet. The evolution of music is moving rapidly and all we can do is sit back and watch.
