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Photo: Hope Obadan

At the humble age of 17, David Anthony Burke, professionally known as d4vd, hasn’t been in the industry for even a year, yet he already has his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100. And while it has yet to be verified, I’d take a fair guess and say it’s the only charting song right now fully recorded on an iPhone.

The Houston native is a bit out of reach, but his distance adds to his allure. He has a love for anime and Fortnite, so much so that he’d make compilation videos of his gameplay, only starting to make original music to avoid copyright strikes. What happened next was an overnight explosion, yet one that was seemingly inevitable. 

His breakout track, “Romantic Homicide,” is an oil spill of emotion. With lines like “I’m sick of waiting patiently for someone that won’t even arrive,” it’s garnered a cult-like following with how freely it allows you to seep into not just d4vd's detached heartbreak but your own essence. People have soundtracked it to coping with every shape loss takes, from familial and tactile, to romantic and deluded.

Usually, when songs go viral, there’s a repetitive hook or uptempo beat that’s too entrancing to not fall victim to. It’s rare that a song so somber is able to catch fire, which is indicative of just how piercing “Romantic Homicide” is. Currently, it’s the backdrop of 160k+ TikToks and has tens of millions of streams, and this is only the beginning.

As the singer-songwriter burgeons, he’s perfecting his emotive concoction of indie, R&B, and soft indie rock, or what he would prefer to dub as genre dysphoria. His music creeps up the back of your neck with a soft sense of comfort, like you’re being held by the arms of his disdain. He makes weighty emotions palatable while accentuating their nuances.

Other songs, like the love-stained “Here With Me” further showcase d4vd’s musical versatility, only exciting us for what a cohesive body of work could possibly sound like. And while he’s certainly sitting at the cool kids' table, finding a home at Interscope Record's Darkroom, d4vd is no passing moment; he is an artist ready to stand the test of time.