The internet kid turned sonic swashbuckler is in constant creative transit. Entering his most consequential year yet, Quadeca talks Anthony Fantano, video games, and getting bolder.
The pathway from internet personality to critically acclaimed creative is becoming more common – and accepted. But looking back 10, even five, years, an attempt at making that leap would be met with little more than a chuckle, or a shrug.
That’s what is so impressive about Quadeca – an influencer before the term became so unavoidable. A paradigm of positive progression. He did it before it became a trend, augmenting his reputation from rap battles with KSI to be crowned as one of the internet’s busiest music nerds’ favourite artists. “To be honest, I’m supposed to be a YouTuber,” he quips. “This whole artsy shit was a joke and everyone fell for it like a fucking idiot.”
Across the past five years, Quadeca has developed a body of music that has evolved from fractured promise to vast artistic craft. His latest, Vanisher, Horizon Scraper, shared in July 2025, is undoubtedly his best. A vision unique to itself alone, the record tells a sprawling story of a man setting sail for freedom amidst the backdrop of a modern apocalypse.
Global turmoil has never sounded so idyllic. The bossa nova influences add rhythmic depth, the hazy, winding musical palettes merge an evidently increasingly wide-spanning tapestry of style and sound. The songwriting is ambitious, sweeping, depicting his barren but beautiful wasteland with vocals that are sometimes grounded, other times otherworldly.
A handful of albums – each one growing in acclaim – a recent headline show at London’s Heaven, and a summer appearance alongside Tyler, the Creator and many more at the British capital’s must-attend festival, All Points East. Quadeca’s days as a FIFA-playing YouTube rapper are a distant memory – not to say he doesn’t enjoy the odd game to wind down. Speaking with Wonderland, the producer, rapper, singer and visual artist reflects on his unique pathway, defines the brilliance of frequent collaborator Danny Brown, and looks ahead to 2026.
Listen to Vanisher, Horizon Scraper…
Read the exclusive interview…
What’s your opinion on the modern influencer and content creation culture?
I don’t know if I’m really familiar with current “influencers” at all, but I’ve been seeing a lot of amazing Instagram reels. I know they have to lock in before all the content is just AI people making AI videos trained on other AI videos trained on other AI videos fully optimised for our viewing pleasure cause that’s gonna be really great.
Your game of choice was FIFA. Is that still the case? What do you think of the direction of FC26?
FIFA is awesome. I don’t play ultimate team cause they ruined it, but when we were on the road, I couldn’t help but download it to the Switch and beg everyone to play me (nobody wanted to).
Also, a perfect thing to do in the background while listening to albums. Long studio day, come home, online seasons and an album or two, that’s like my cold beer.
You played at London’s Heaven last week. How was that? Is live performance something that comes naturally for you?
The Heaven show was top tier. The crowds over here are the best. This tour taught me how to love doing shows. Like I’m going on stage to turn up with my friends and make them laugh, there’s no fear or doubt. If I have as much fun as I can and laugh as much as I can, then the show was a banger. I used to always have an underlying thought that the master versions of my songs were their peak state, and the live versions could only dream of scratching at their level. But with the Vanisher tour, the songs ended up being so much better live that it made me think damn I need to go back and fix that haha.
The shows have forced me to become a way better singer. Before the tour started, we filmed a COLORS performance for the song “MONDAY”, and even though it came out and was ultimately cool, I can’t help but have a pit in my stomach when I watch it cause I learned how to SING sing it only after doing these shows. Always room to improve
You’re coming back to London for Tyler, the Creator’s Headline at All Points East. The line-up is stacked – who are you looking forward to checking out?
Jim Legxacy is a new goat. I really wanna say hi in person. Also, I’m curious about Baby Keem’s set. I hope he has new music. Danny is on the same stage right after me, so I will chop it up with him.
You’ve worked with an incredible array of talent, from Kevin Abstract to Danny Brown . What do you look for in a collaborator?
My best collaborative experiences are with people who are confident in their gift, but are open to channelling it in a new way. If it’s chasing something they’ve already done or had success with, it’s gonna be mid. I wanna make their favourite song and have it be some shit they wouldn’t have thought to do.
Has someone you’ve collaborated with stood out as the most impressive?
I was super impressed by Danny as a writer. His process was inspiring: go to sleep with the beat, wake up first thing in the morning, write the song. He did it for all three songs we put out this year. Three days in a row, all at the highest quality. And that was his first period of making music sober, so the fact that he had the drive to actually figure this process out and stick to it with no excuses is motivating just from a human perspective. That’s a true artist
Kevin, as a curator, there’s no one else like him. Working with him in Romil’s studio was the most fun I’ve had.
Sky Ferreira, as a vocalist, straight up, every take she did was beautiful and full of emotion. I would love to work with her again one day, but I may have fumbled by being annoying.
You’re in that select category of artists that feels hugely popular yet mysterious and cult favourite like. Do you think that’s a fair assessment? Do you think you are underrated on a wider scale?
Haha, I don’t think I’m mysterious at all. I’m like the least mysterious person ever. But sometimes I don’t want attention when I have nothing to offer. One of the best things you can do as an artist is let people forget about you — and then use that time to let yourself forget about them.
The idea of underrated and overrated is swinging on a pendulum that moves at the speed of light, so it’s not worth engaging with the thought and the ego behind it. What I will say is I don’t like it when people try to reduce who I am as an artist and what I’m capable of. None of my albums are alike, and neither are most of my songs in general. A lot of people act like all you are is the one thing they know you for. Everybody who talks about me is having a different conversation about a different guy, and that’s why they all keep fighting. That’s why if you’re an artist who cares about adjusting to the narrative that other people craft for you, you’ll end up tripping on your old shoelaces and not make any progress. The best thing you can do is get rid of the damn phone and lock in on the next thing. That’s all that matters.
Do you think Anthony Fantano is your biggest fan?
No, he’s probably not even in the top three.
What is the boldest thing you’ve done in your career?
What I’m about to do.
How do you reflect on your latest albums, Vanisher, Horizon Scraper? What stage of your artistic development does it find you at?
I just listened back to [Vanisher, Horizon Scraper] on this flight. Extremely weird and intense, very all-encompassing. It’s a bit more impersonal than the new music I’m making right now. It feels like it’s coming from a more universal/spiritual perspective, which is interesting, and it’s toying with sooo many things— surreal, whimsical, existential. If you really listen to that album all the way through, by the end of it you have gone on a journey whether you like it or not. When the intro refrain hits on Casper again, you reflect on all the songs that took you there, and you think damn we just went through a lot. I appreciate that about the experience. But I think I’m done with concept albums for a while. I wanna be the most direct version of myself and see where that goes. I wanna have whatever the opposite of aura is and take it all the way. I can be small and out there and embarrassed. It’s leading to my most addictive music
What is 2026 looking like for you?
Album city…
Words – Ben Tibbits
Photography – Jack Balaban