In this FRONTPAGE story, we caught up with the extremely hard-to-pin-down artist behind the TikTok smash “Romantic Homicide.” We get his thoughts on viral fame, Timothée Chalamet, and the Grammys.
David Anthony Burke, the Queens-born, Texas-raised musician better known as d4vd, was not the easiest person to locate. In fact, while trying to get him into the Spring issue of Highsnobiety, I searched the depths of TikTok and Instagram, then Fortnite and Reddit, and eventually heard rumblings of a rumored record deal with Interscope Records. The label has been pretty quiet about signing the mysterious young artist behind the catchy viral hit "Romantic Homicide" (which began charting on the Billboard Hot 100 within hours of its release) and "Here With Me" (which blew up overnight in Indonesia) until announcing his EP Petals to Thorns, which was announced Monday and due out on May 26.
Across from me in the West Village, d4vd is noticeably shy but highly articulate. He is hyper-aware of how the internet has disproportionately sped up his presence in the music industry and helped him secure a place in it. He attributes his stardom to his writing: "I see every TikTok as a short film that tells a story, and a song soundtracks all of those stories," he explains, before going on a self-aware tangent about poetry and falling in love. I'm actually only aware of his age when he sporadically defers our conversation to point out that he's only 17 years old and that this is his first magazine story, ever. Nevertheless, it's refreshing to share an afternoon with someone who has succeeded in something they only started nine months ago. Even though his fans act like they've known him for decades, they still connect with him on Fortnite, make remixes of his songs on TikTok, and even stop him in the Prada store, where we naturally make our way after sharing two orders of french fries.
Below, d4vd opens up about love, “Romantic Homicide,” and his new EP.
I couldn’t find you for a few months. When I was building this issue, I couldn’t figure out how to get in contact with the teenager behind “Romantic Homicide.”
I'm pretty hard to reach. People don’t realize I'm only nine months into this whole career thing. I started playing Fortnite when I was 12 years old and eventually switched to YouTube. My friends and I had this game growing up – it was to see who could grow the fastest on YouTube and get the richest quickest. I started my YouTube channel in 2018 and got 1,000 subscribers before everybody else. But none of this was supposed to happen. I didn’t have a label for so long, I still don’t know what it means to have a label.
Here’s what happened: I was making around $1,000, $2,000 a month from the YouTube thing, but suddenly out of nowhere my views were going down. I asked my mom about it; I think it was October or November of the year. I was like, "I'm not making my money. What should I do?" She was like, "Make your own music." I took her advice and searched how to make music and found this app, BandLab. I started using this app, and making music in my little sister's closet (because she's the only one in the house with a walk-in closet). I didn't use YouTube tutorials or have any formal training. I'd just mess around in my sister's closet. I made “Runaway” – my first song – pretty soon after. It's still up!
After that, I started posting more. It wasn't until I released “Breathe Out” that I started taking it seriously. I moved to TikTok around that time too, and released “Never Again.” Where did you first discover my music?
I heard “Romantic Homicide” on TikTok.
Those snippets were pretty viral. I posted it at 6:15 in the morning, which is usually the best time to post on TikTok, and woke up the following day to 50 million listens. I reached a whole different audience with that song. It's one long poem.
Were you going through a breakup at the time?
No, but it's about love. When I'm writing about love, I try to capture new sides to it, because so many people write about love. When I wrote “Here With Me,” I tried to harness the parts of love that no one writes about. That's why many people saw the passion in “Romantic Homicide.” It was the other side of what happens if you never grow old together. Most songs now are about heartbreak and hating the person you once dated. I wanted to write about that!
I’ve always thought that you write about resentment pretty well. What does resentment feel like for you?
To me, resentment feels like suffocation. It feels like having so many things to say but not being able to say it. It causes you to overthink and over analyze every situation.
What are other feelings that come up for you when you're falling for someone?
Instant regret.
Have you ever been in love?
No. I don't know how I feel about my own emotions sometimes. I am trying to remember the last time I got excited about something for the sake of this interview, but I actually can’t. Love is one of the strongest emotions humans have. From birth, most of us are greeted with an “I love you” and are taught to cater to love and kindness as opposed to hate. So writing about it comes very easily, even though I haven’t necessarily been in love. Doesn’t everybody have their own perception of love anyway? Isn’t that beautiful in itself? I can write about a view of love that is different from my own. It opens the door for me, as an artist, to craft a plethora of stories which resonate with not just one type of lover.
How have you changed since being signed?
I've been the same since I was 15. I haven't changed at all. I'm making a lot of pop music right now. Not like “Romantic Homicide” necessarily, but similar to Travis Scott. I have a little bit of Justin Bieber and Billie Eilish in there too.
I'm used to making music alone in my bedroom, so the process of making music with a label is new for me. And I’m more aware of the internet. I’m aware of what’s trending on TikTok.
What side of TikTok are you on?
I'm on the slideshow TikTok. Are you on slideshow TikTok? I try to listen to music on all platforms so I cover my digital real estate, and I can't stand silence. But I don’t think of my music as “successful” as related to how it does on TikTok.
What would make you feel like you succeeded in music?
A Grammy.
I feel like young people don't care about the Grammys anymore.
They don't? I'm so new to it that I don't even know what the standards are for this kind of stuff.
What would you wear to the Grammys?
I’d dress like Timothée Chalamet.
Is there anyone else you want to dress like?
Timothée Chalamet.
What are some brands you’re interested in right now?
I love Acne Studios and Chopova Lowena. I love the material they use and I love that everything is silky and not too rough. I love Gucci because it’s iconic; whenever I think of high class, top quality clothing, I think of Gucci. It’s an all around amazing brand.
I honestly just wear whatever is visually appealing to me. I have on a Batman sweater with brown, staycoolNYC sweats and green Billie Eilish Nikes. The brown in the Batman sweater complements the pants and the green in the pants logo complements the shoes.
By the way, can I write you a poem right now?
Yes, for the magazine.
I'll write one and DM it to you tonight. Will you put it in the magazine?
Obviously.
Falling In Love.
falling in love,
what an effortless fall,
but an even easier break
unless i fall into you
emotions collapsing
flowing as water
in perfect harmony
as a hopak-kolo dance
controlled chaos
revolting beauty
living decay
why can't i have a love such as this?
am i unable to fall in the direction meant for me?
i long for a synergistic collapse into another's soul
but have yet to understand my own
the conflict of self
not external but internal
the dissonance of heart and mind
the silence that begins and ends with the words "I love you"
such an empty sentiment
but i long for it still
i see it now
i see "her"
shall i open my heart this time?
once, only once
as i approach her in this seemingly empty space
i call out to her
swelling, filling.
she looks at me
space no longer empty
no key to these souls of ours
only locked eyes
inch by inch my soul crawls to you
bruised and battered
you pick me up
with a single "hello"
your voice calms me like the autumn breeze
breathe on me.
to feel the air from your lungs grace my skin
entering my pores
incapsulating my very being
is this love?
if so i do not want it
i cannot handle this weight
of another spirit on my own
for if i fall she falls with me
and we both break
i would rather destroy myself
To keep her whole.
