FearDorian beats are potent enough to leave you with a contact high. Their enveloping chaos feels structured, as if you synced playback on two completely different songs until they formed an alien vibe of their own. Like his stylistic forebears-turned-collaborators in Surf Gang—Dorian used to make dance videos set to the collective’s songs on Triller—rap, indie rock, and vaporwave are clear influences. Bending those sounds into different shapes and sizes is the 17-year-old rapper-producer’s default zone. This is a kid who’s sampled Amy Winehouse for a Milwaukee rap track, who pulls as much inspiration from Midwest emo records and James Ferraro as he does from Chicago rapper-producer Lucki. Take the droning guitars and booming trap drums that power Seattle rapper Ghoulaveli’s 2019 single “no!,” or how the addition of twinkling strings to the synthetic claps on AyooLii’s “Andele” makes it just a bit zanier. Dorian’s production reflects the borderless imagination of the postmodern rap internet while remaining solid enough to not dissolve in its own haze.
After years of offering up beats to his growing network, Dorian uses them to tell his own story on FearDorian, his self-titled solo debut. Unlike AyooLii or Florida rapper 454, whose pitch-shifted chortles tend to hover above the beat, Dorian’s whispered croak is nonchalant, always on the verge of being consumed by its surroundings. Even when he’s grappling with the ennui that plagues every teenager, he doesn’t necessarily sound timid or unsure. Early highlight “Acrid Taste” fishtails through emotional heel turns: Out-of-body experiences at parties and fears of turning into his father give way to cheeky second-wind optimism (“I feel like I’m dyin’, I tell bro to pass the water”). But what stands out most isn’t the melancholy lyrics or the silky beat—a sample from a song by Philly shoegaze band They Are Gutting a Body of Water combined with tinny, blown-out 808s—it’s Dorian broadcasting from the epicenter.
The songs on FearDorian aren’t as grandiose as the stadium-sized rock-rap of someone like Kenny Mason. They don’t fully fit the Hot Topic-by-way-of-Nike-tech aesthetic of evilgiane or Polo Perks either. Dorian’s percussion is warbly and busy but soft, more interested in setting a mood than inciting a mosh pit (not that that’s stopped anyone trying). The album’s harshest beat is “Raining in Brooklyn,” where chiptune-esque synths drape around thundering drums and non sequitur bars. Otherwise, the beats on FearDorian are post-Surf Gang wonders, pastel-pretty with just a touch of digital grime. Lead single “Highschool” pits skipping hi-hats against swelling keyboards, recalling SenseiATL’s work with Tony Shhnow if it were retrofitted into an HD remake of Nights Into Dreams, while “Virginia Hymn” suggests MexikoDro remixing Dirty Projectors.
Dorian has rapped before, but those earlier lyrics usually came in short bursts, serving more as set dressing for the beats. And while he doesn’t boast mind-bending couplets or breathless technical ability, the raps on FearDorian are poised and focused, stacking flexes, ruminations, and slice-of-life details in quick succession. On “What Happened,” he compresses every stage of a party, from the pre-game session to the stuck-in-bed malaise the morning after, into less than 10 seconds. The words themselves aren’t profound, but the way he skips over the chanting vocals and drum claps creates a gnawing anxiety. Bad thoughts loom on the margins of Dorian’s songs like scabs begging to be picked, but he’s locked in on racks, new love, and the occasional self-deprecating joke. “Don’t know what you see, girl, but I’m glad you see it/’Cause I ain’t slept in weeks,” he says on the otherwise gossamer “Still Here,” fighting off insomnia with affection.
What teenager doesn’t have days when they’re on top of the world and stuck in quicksand at the same time? In an interview with No Bells, Dorian mentioned rapping about things he wants—accolades, swag, money—as if each song were an act of manifestation. Buying a designer bag for a love interest is cool and all, but sometimes the most important goal is to make it through the day, or the depressive episode, in one piece. FearDorian doesn’t have cures for those loaded feelings, and it doesn’t ignore them, either. Dorian just invites you into their fidgety cores.
