Lil Darkie
Lil Darkie | |
|---|---|
 Lil Darkie in 2020 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Joshua Jagan Hamilton |
| Also known as | Lil Dvrkie, Brahman, Small Dark One, Dvrkie, Darkie |
| Born | October 6, 1998 Los Angeles, California |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2016–present |
| Website | https://www.lildarkie.com/ |
Joshua Jagan Hamilton (born October 6, 1998), known professionally as Lil Darkie[1], or Brahman, is an American rapper, singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, artist, and animator from Long Beach, California.[2] He is one of the founders of Gunk Rock, The Faggets, and the leader of Spider Gang[3]. His music features a wide variety of genres, including country and experimental hip-hop music. His music is described as being inspired by the Soundcloud rap scene as well as artists such as Kanye West, Odd Future, and Kid Cudi.[4] He is often depicted as an animated character he created[5][6]
His other persona "Brahman" is known for a blue character, as he believed the Indian god Kali Ma was blue, after realizing that Kali Ma is portrayed with black skin, he created a new persona Lil Darkie and changed his sound alongside it.
He has generated some controversy for his image and lyrical contents, with some saying that his cartoon depiction has racist connotations due to bearing a resemblance to blackface.[7] However, he elaborated that the character is inspired by the Hindu goddess Kali and Brahma. Darkie is proud of his Indian heritage and shows that through his cartoon character.
"I can take something that is my culture and is beautiful to me because in Indian culture our gods are black skin in the text- I can take something that's my culture and make it beautiful and you can look at something that's been ugly, that's been evil, and like- I can take it away, and it's not fucked up anymore. I feel like there's nothing racist about this character. Like if you look at him and you're like 'that's like a black guy' then I feel like you're the one with the weird preconceived notion in your head-" - Lil Darkie on an interview with Kult Classic[8]
Lil Darkie also draws comics and art for his own merchandise. The character Lil Darkie represents a version of Joshua that is free to express himself, beliefs, and anything else.
"Everyone- identifies as this like weird arbitrary set of rules for for each person to like follow and it's like that's why Darkie is the way he is. It's like a way for me to not be confined to my skin" - Lil Darkie on an interview with The Mars Files.[9]
Career
Early years
He started in 2015 at 17, as "Brahman", which the name originated from a Hindu concept of the same name.[10] Originally active from 2015-2018, the Brahman persona is still used for features and producer tags on tracks under the Lil Darkie persona.
In 2021, Joshua started releasing music under the Brahman persona once again, starting with “invisibility cloak” on January 4, 2021.
Career as Lil Darkie
Hamilton released his debut album on July 31, 2016, which was available on his now-deleted SoundCloud. He stopped making music as Brahman, but again uses the Brahman persona since 2021.
He created his YouTube channel on June 13, 2019, and uploaded his first video, which was an audio track of his song, myparentsaresleepinginthenextroomandidontwantowakethemup. The song is on his SoundCloud.
His first-ever single released under his new alias "Lil Darkie" titled "No Hands" was released on April 4, 2018. Darkie has been releasing music pretty consistently, with some breaks to work on albums, mental health, etc.
On October 6, 2020, to celebrate his 22nd birthday he released the music video to his song titled "BATSHIT" on his YouTube channel.
Discography
References
- ↑ "Lil Darkie". Genius. Retrieved 2025-07-01.
- ↑ Parish, Ian (30 December 2020). "REVIEW: Lil Darkie - SWAMP". abovethebridgemusic.com. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
- ↑ "Spider Gang". Genius. Retrieved 2025-07-01.
- ↑ Brown, Kaeden (27 October 2022). "The Lost Songs: Lil Darkie Album Review". centrevillesentinel.com. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
- ↑ "lil darkie - to my friends, family, and supporters". 4 March 2020. Retrieved 2022-12-22 – via YouTube.
- ↑ "Lil Darkie Is the Most Controversial Rapper Alive". countere.com. 27 April 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
- ↑ Spence, Sade (10 June 2020). "Haha Lil Darkie TikTok Trend". stayhipp.com. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
- ↑ Kult Classic (2021-06-18). Lil Darkie's FIRST interview (2019)- Kult Classic Interview 0018 {REUPLOAD}. Retrieved 2025-07-13 – via YouTube.
- ↑ the mars files (2019-09-20). Lil Darkie Interview - The Mars Files. Retrieved 2025-07-13 – via YouTube.
- ↑ "Brahman". Genius. Retrieved 2025-07-01.
External links
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