{"id":273338,"date":"2026-01-08T02:43:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T02:43:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/273338\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T02:43:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T02:43:20","slug":"quadeca-is-on-the-road-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/273338\/","title":{"rendered":"Quadeca Is On The Road Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

\"Quadeca<\/p>\n

The pathway from internet personality to critically acclaimed creative is becoming more common \u2013 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what is so impressive about Quadeca \u2013 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\u2019s busiest music nerds\u2019 favourite artists. \u201cTo be honest, I\u2019m supposed to be a YouTuber,\u201d he quips. \u201cThis whole artsy shit was a joke and everyone fell for it like a fucking idiot.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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. \u00a0<\/p>\n

A handful of albums \u2013 each one growing in acclaim \u2013 a recent headline show at London\u2019s Heaven, and a summer appearance alongside Tyler, the Creator and many more at the British capital\u2019s must-attend festival, All Points East. Quadeca\u2019s days as a FIFA-playing YouTube rapper are a distant memory \u2013 not to say he doesn\u2019t 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Listen to Vanisher, Horizon Scraper\u2026<\/p>\n

Read the exclusive interview\u2026<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your opinion on the modern influencer and content creation culture?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know if I\u2019m really familiar with current \u201cinfluencers\u201d at all, but I\u2019ve 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\u2019s gonna be really great.<\/p>\n

Your\u00a0game of choice was FIFA. Is that still the case? What do you think of the direction of FC26?<\/strong><\/p>\n

FIFA is awesome. I don\u2019t play ultimate team cause they ruined it, but when we were on the road, I couldn\u2019t help but download it to the Switch and beg everyone to play me (nobody wanted to).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u2019s like my cold beer.<\/p>\n

You played at London\u2019s Heaven last week. How was that? Is live performance something that comes naturally for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Heaven show was top tier. The crowds over here are the best. This tour taught me how to love doing shows. Like I\u2019m going on stage to turn up with my friends and make them laugh, there\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

The shows have forced me to become a way better singer. Before the tour started, we filmed a COLORS performance for the song \u201cMONDAY\u201d, and even though it came out and was ultimately cool, I can\u2019t 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\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Quadeca<\/p>\n

\"Quadeca<\/p>\n

You\u2019re coming back to London for Tyler, the Creator\u2019s Headline at All Points East. The line-up is stacked \u2013 who are you looking forward to checking out?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jim Legxacy is a new goat. I really wanna say hi in person. Also, I\u2019m curious about Baby Keem\u2019s set. I hope he has new music. Danny is on the same stage right after me, so I will chop it up with him.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve worked with an incredible array of talent, from Kevin Abstract to Danny Brown . What do you look for in a collaborator?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0My best collaborative experiences are with people who are confident in their gift, but are open to channelling it in a new way. If it\u2019s chasing something they\u2019ve already done or had success with, it\u2019s gonna be mid. I wanna make their favourite song and have it be some shit they wouldn\u2019t have thought to do.<\/p>\n

Has someone you\u2019ve collaborated with stood out as the most impressive?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u2019s a true artist<\/p>\n

Kevin, as a curator, there\u2019s no one else like him. Working with him in Romil\u2019s studio was the most fun I\u2019ve had.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re in that select category of artists that feels hugely popular yet mysterious and cult favourite like. Do you think that\u2019s a fair assessment? Do you think you are underrated on a wider scale?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Haha, I don\u2019t think I\u2019m mysterious at all. I\u2019m like the least mysterious person ever. But sometimes I don\u2019t 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 \u2014 and then use that time to let yourself forget about them.<\/p>\n

The idea of underrated and overrated is swinging on a pendulum that moves at the speed of light, so it\u2019s not worth engaging with the thought and the ego behind it. What I will say is I don\u2019t like it when people try to reduce who I am as an artist and what I\u2019m 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\u2019s why they all keep fighting. That\u2019s why if you\u2019re an artist who cares about adjusting to the narrative that other people craft for you, you\u2019ll 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\u2019s all that matters.<\/p>\n

\"Quadeca<\/p>\n

\"Quadeca<\/p>\n

Do you think Anthony Fantano is your biggest fan?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No, he\u2019s probably not even in the top three.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What is the boldest thing you\u2019ve done in your career?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

What I\u2019m about to do.<\/p>\n

How do you reflect on your latest albums, Vanisher, Horizon Scraper? What stage of your artistic development does it find you at?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I just listened back to [Vanisher, Horizon Scraper] on this flight. Extremely weird and intense, very all-encompassing. It\u2019s a bit more impersonal than the new music I\u2019m making right now. It feels like it\u2019s coming from a more universal\/spiritual perspective, which is interesting, and it\u2019s toying with sooo many things\u2014 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\u2019m 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\u2019s leading to my most addictive music<\/p>\n

What is 2026 looking like for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Album city\u2026<\/p>\n

Words \u2013 Ben Tibbits<\/a><\/p>\n

Photography \u2013 Jack Balaban<\/a><\/p>\n