Written by: Tingting Wu and Stanley Sutton
With upcoming releases planned with Christina Milian, Tyga and Waka Flocka Flame, Darko is the hot new team you should have your eye out for. This LA-based production, and DJ, collective is newly created, but not new to the music scene. They are creating some of the hottest tracks for 2019 and beyond.
Darko just released a new track with Destructo and Ice-T titled Hustler. This song will pump you up for the week. Make sure to take a listen if you have not already.
During Miami Music Week we had a chat with one member of the Darko team, and singer Mahkenna, the two recently collaborating on a track titled Ready For Love. See below to get to know Darko a little better, and about their insane upcoming projects.
DMNW: Darko: it’s one of the newer names in the scene. For those who might not know about you, how would you describe your style of music?
Darko: It’s dark, trap, heavy drops — that was the style I was going after. I wanted to have a trap, dirty kind of sound. What would you say Mahkenna?
Mahkenna: It’s almost an umbrella of its own genre because it’s not necessarily just trap. It darko-fies each individual artist that Darko picks up. They could be rappers, singers, whatever. You put them on the track, and they all sound the same genre. You, honestly, have to hear it to understand.
DMNW: It seems like you draw a lot of influence from hip-hop. You use a lot of hip-hop in your tracks, we’ve noticed…
Darko: The releases that are out right now: the record with Riff Raff, the one with Mozzi, the DMX rework, the record with Mahkenna- Ready for Love, which is not a rap record. I also dropped the record with Destructo, and Ice-T, the Hustler record- which is a G-House record.
The Hustler record is kind of out of the wheel house of the Darko sound. Ice-T is a friend of mine, and I thought it’d be pretty cool to have him on a dope dance record!
Because of the style of Ice-T, G-House just made sense. So when I hit up Destructo, I was like “hey, do you want to come on this record with Ice?” He was like “yeah, absolutely!”.
The stuff we’re putting out is the dark, downtempo, trap stuff. We have a record we’re putting out with Christina Milian in April. We have a handful of remixes for that too. Thats a little bit different. It’s probably the most pop record out of the group. The main version of the song is, like, 90’s house!
DMNW: You mentioned Ice-T, and how you’re a friend of his. Ice-T is a name that spans all genres of music. What’s he like in-person?
Darko: Ice is one of the coolest dudes; He’s so smart! He spits the craziest game. If you follow him on Twitter, his daily game posts, they’re all so dope! They’re all something you can relate to, and he’s like that. He’s super chill, super cool…
You have a conversation with him, and he puts you up on game.
Mahkenna: He’s like a motivational speaker, but he’s a rapper!
DMNW: We’re still in early 2019. What can fans expect from Darko this year, going forward?
Darko: A lot of music! Every month, we have a new release we’re dropping. Summer time, we’re going to start hitting the festival world, performing, and getting out there.
We’re doing a residency out in L.A. We just got a club that holds 3,000 people. We’ll do a monthly there, and kick off something cool-like a Darko themed night.
Mahkenna: I’ve been in the studio with Darko, just working on new stuff. So we have more stuff coming. It’s called Ready for Love. It’s out on all platforms. The next one we have…
Darko: It’s called Ready for Hugs. We’re doing the remix! It’s going to be called Ready for Hugs…
Mahkenna: Noooooo, Ready for Love!
Darko: No, the remix! Okay, I’m just kidding.
But yeah, we have a bunch of cool stuff happening. More music coming out with Mahkenna. The Christina Milian record, one with Waka Flocka. I have one with Juicy J, that I just wrapped up. It’s a grip of cool shit that’s coming!
Photo: Darko
What do you think about Darko’s new track? Let us know in our comments section on Facebook, and Twitter!
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