iann dior

When iann dior dropped “Emotions” in 2019, the single announced the arrival of emo rap’s next big thing. The breakout hit certainly checks all the key boxes: a trap-style groove so slow it feels like a crawl; disarmingly honest meditations on sadness and isolation capable of piercing the heart of anybody within earshot; and, much like the late Juice WRLD, deliciously smooth hooks that demand endless plays. But dior (born Michael Ian Olmo in 1999) has bucked the emo-rap tag just as much as he’s exemplified it. Between his solo recordings and growing list of guest appearances (roughly two dozen between 2019 and 2020), the Puerto Rico-born rapper has steered his sound into rap rock (“Sick and Tired”, featuring his pals Machine Gun Kelly and Travis Barker), summer pop jams full of bounce (24kGoldn’s viral smash “Mood”) and hazy R&B perfect for chilling poolside (“Pretty Girls”). And then there are his full-lengths, each one growing progressively more sonically diverse, especially the genre-hopping I’m Gone, released in 2020. Still, dior always manages to return to those dark, lonely feelings deep in his bones. As he reveals on “Gone Girl”, an absolutely bittersweet ballad featuring Trippie Redd: “I fell in love, same time that you’re falling apart.” It’s a line that succinctly reflects dior’s understanding that for every party, there must be a comedown; with every romance, heartache will surely follow.