FEATURE:
Modern-Day Queens
IN THIS PHOTO: IAMDDB at the Royal Albert Hall in London, October 2026/PHOTO CREDIT: radhika
where I am discussing an artists where there has not been a lot of recent activity in terms of interviews and new music. Even so, many are performing and making moves. That is the case with IAMDDB. I think, even though she is established and a hugely popular artist, next year is going to be one where she makes her next move. In terms of a mixtape, album or tour. She has been performing a lot this year, and people have got to witness her brilliance. I have been a fan of hers for years now. Her album, Hoodrich Vol. 3, turns ten next year. This is an artist whose latest album, LOVE Is WAR, Volume 6, came out in 2024. Since then, IAMDDB has been pretty busy. IAMDDB is the moniker of Diana De Brito, an Angolan-Portuguese artist. She was formerly based in Manchester, but I am sure if she is based in Manchester right now or whether she is in London. I am going to drop in some older interviews. There has not been a lot of press from the past couple of years or so, but this is such an incredible artist who everyone needs to know. Even though IAMDDB has a large fanbase around the world, there are those who may not know about her. In terms of this year, there have been some events that stood out. IAMDDB was on the Ivor Awards red carpet in June. She looked absolutely captivating. This is someone who stays unapologetically true to herself. In terms of the advice and wisdom offered to artists coming up: “Be yourself, be true to who you are, don't conform, be open to listening to people that have done more than you have done... have fun, don't be a square, be colourful”. IAMDDB has been busy on the road. She has performed far and wide this year, including stops at the The Live Jazz Experience in Brussels, and London’s Royal Albert Hall in October. It has been a massive year for a true original. One of the most amazing and fascinating artists I have ever known.
Whilst I have been a fan for almost a decade now, I feel that the best days still lie ahead. In terms of IAMDDB’s best work and most amazing gigs. I feel she is going to headline major festivals soon. Such is her talent, this will be rewarded with a major booking. That said, IAMDDB has played some amazing venues and worked tirelessly. She is putting herself out there, though many of her fans wonder if she will grace us with some new music next year. What her next chapter is. Many might have heard earlier in the year how she hit back at the Israeli government for using her in an A.I.-generated propaganda video. The now-deleted clip sparked rightful fury and condemnation. Resident Advisor provide more details:
“IAMDDB has condemned the unauthorised use of her likeness in an AI-generated propaganda video shared by Israel's official social media accounts, accusing the government of using her image without permission. The clip, posted last Thursday, October 15th, and since deleted, featured an AI-generated woman closely resembling the Manchester-based artist, reciting lines defending Jewish indigeneity, including: "Colonisers? Say the name. Jews from Judea, it's in the damn name." The video was captioned: "'GO BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM!' We did." Addressing the situation in a statement shared to Instagram yesterday, IAMDDB said: "I'm deeply concerned by the use of AI to create the appearance of an artist's involvement in something they never agreed to." She's now seeking advice on protecting her image, work and rights. "I stand for humanity" she continued. "I stand against the killing and suffering of innocent people. And I stand for every artist's right to decide what their name, face and work are associated with. FREE PALESTINE”.
I am absolutely love IAMDDB! I have been lucky enough to have been in a room where she was premiering a new music video a while back. Hearing her speak about it and interacting with the crowd, so is such a compelling human. So intelligent, funny, profound and instantly likeable, she is a very genuine artist who has been consistently putting out original and terrific music and delivering incredible performances. I have yet to see her live, though if there are dates next year, I will try and see her, as it has been a while since I have seen her.
I do want to go back a bit to the earlier years. Even if her career and life has moved since then, it is worth revisiting some early interviews. I do hope that there are some new chats coming soon, as I feel IAMDDB has a lot to say, and next year is primed to be a phenomenal one for her. I will drop in one interview from 2018 and one from 2020 before wrapping up. I wonder if IAMDDB thinks about her earliest interviews and sees how far she has come. Her life has undergone changes and her music has evolved through the years, yet we do get a sense of who she is and why she is so special from these interviews. In 2018, CRACK focused on this stunning young artist who you could tell then that she was going to endure for years. Six years later, and this must-hear queen continues to excel. I do feel like next year will be her biggest in terms of success and quality. She gets better with every release. I think I first heard her music played on BBC Radio 6 Music. Mary Anne Hobbs playing a track of hers. It was a big moment where I instantly connected with IAMDDB:
“IAMDDB has achieved a great deal in a short time. Her come-up has been, in her own words, a “crazy journey. I’m just trying to keep up with the pace.” Having studied performing arts at college, she took a series of retail jobs before focusing seriously on music just two years ago. Last year finished with a string of accolades – from the BBC Sound of 2018 longlist, to support slots for Bryson Tiller alongside headline dates across Europe. At the age of 21, IAMDDB is a force to be reckoned with.
In terms of genre, IAMDDB has described her debut EP Waeveybby Volume 1, as “urban jazz”; songs with a spiritual leaning that you can jam at home and smoke a joint with your friends to. But many of the songs on 2017’s Hoodrich Vol 3 – including breakthrough single Shade – had trappier leaning for the turn-up. “I wanted to make something that the mandem can feel it, the girls can feel it, but it has to be… not mainstream, but for the club, for the hood.” What inspired the switch in vibe? “I just reached a point in life where I had had enough, and I was like ‘if one more thing falls apart I’m gonna fall apart, then we’ve got a real problem!’ It wasn’t a nice time in life so instead of just wallowing and feeling sorry for myself I was like ‘nah, you’re gonna use this, you’re gonna talk about it, you’re gonna manipulate it into something positive’, and here we are.”
IAMDDB grew up listening to a lot of Afro-soul, Afro-jazz and kizomba – her dad is also a musician and is in a band in Angola – along with the likes of Nat King Cole and Whitney Houston. Now, she mostly listens to US rap, citing Jay Critch, Future and Rich the Kid as current playlist favourites. Her musical hero, however, is somewhat unexpected. “Bob Marley was my inspiration,” she reveals. “Lyrically, in harmonies, in rhythm, in everything he did and represented. His music to me is almost higher powers saying it’s fine to have emotions, it’s fine to be emotional, it’s fine to fall apart but you’ve gotta forget about that and come back stronger.” And although their music might be worlds apart – “Bob Marley weren’t out here shouting ‘bad bitch no underwear’,” she laughs – IAMDDB hopes her fans will have the same soul-stirring feeling she experienced when listening to her biggest influence”.
I’ll finish with The Line of Best Fit and their 2020 interview. Despite it being six years ago now, it is useful for those new to IAMDDB. I must also see if I can interview her too, as this is an artist near the top of my list. I would love to ask what her dream collaboration is and whether she will try and manifest that. You wouldn’t bet against her being able to achieve anything she wants:
“A passionate yet serene energy encompasses Debrito when we speak: it’s the day after the announcement that Boris Johnson is set to become the UK Prime Minister for the next four years. A crushing defeat for Labour, much of the UK was left in despair at the outcome, questioning the future of the country, with Brexit now a solidified fact. When I ask DD her thoughts, she answers breezily: “You know what, at the end of the day, they’re gonna do what they wanna do. Everyone should just focus on building their own ecosystem and we’ll be cool.” It’s clearly not in Debrito’s vocabulary to dwell on the negatives.
This resilience has surrounded IAMDDB’s aura ever since she emerged on the scene. In 2015, she announced herself with a hazy and pure Fly-Lo re-work on Soundcloud, followed by a string of addictive jazzy and trap fusion EPs, most recently, Swervvvvv.5 – an R&B hybrid released via Union V records. Each record featured no-one but the woman herself.
Despite her music generating over 1 million listens on Spotify a month, it becomes clear in talking to her that Debrito is not one to be clouded by cosmically generated numbers. Speaking candidly of the often skin-deep nature of the industry, which she seems to glide seamlessly through, she tells me: “Music has evolved so much from the time when we had ‘real’ artists. Music nowadays can be so microwavable, here today, gone tomorrow.” Particularly, in the genres of R&B, jazz and trap in which IAMDDB traverses, it could be argued that since it gains so much traffic and has such a high turnover, there is a temptation for artists to succumb to a certain style in order to make bank.
“A lot of people have one smash hit and think that’s it, and they’re good for life. But when you really examine this industry and this game, you realise that just because you’ve overcome one obstacle doesn’t mean there isn’t 100 to go. So staying humble, staying level-headed, and always remembering why you began this to begin with, is super important, in a level of consistency and quality, in the way you work and the way you carry yourself. Girl, it’s like a whole matrix.”
Within this vulnerability in her music, Debrito’s honesty is palpable, her songs almost always beginning with an exclamatory shout of ‘IAMDDB’ – a message that this is her, and you can take it or leave it.
Debrito’s personal style emulates this off-kilter sincerity, her lyrics transmitting a message to be yourself, and to always work for what you want. This is especially poignant given that navigating the industry as a woman can be so difficult. It would be amiss to not cite one of the most exciting points in IAMDDB’s journey last year, where her talent was recognised by the legendary Lauryn Hill – so much that she was chosen to accompany her as support on the The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill tour through Amsterdam and Scandinavia to London’s SSE Arena. She performed alongside Nas, M.I.A. and A$AP ROCKY. Reflecting on the whole experience, Debrito says, “I know! I still can’t believe I did that. It was so humbling to have such a legendary Black female recognise what I do – when I got the call I was like, ‘This is wild’. Someone I’d looked up to for so long was recognising the light within me.
“[Touring with Lauryn] was true motivation to just continue pushing towards being as true and as strong within myself as I can be. Even when I spoke to her, she gave me some advice and it was to stay true to myself, to make sure the team that I have believe and never try to make me conform.” Debrito has gone on to collaborate on tour with artists such as Bryson Tiller and Jhene Aiko. “It’s so humbling, the reception with the audience... for them to take me in with open arms. It gives me the sensation that, if I really hone in to my artistry, I can take it as far as I can.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Matilda Hill-Jenkins
Debrito’s sound has never followed a strict pattern or focus, but the importance of connectivity with her audience has always been at the forefront of her style. We reflect on one of her first gigs as IAMDDB, at the beginning of her journey, in Hoxton Square in 2016: “There were maybe 20-50 people in the audience, and it was one of my very first shows in London. And honestly, just having the opportunity to be on the stage and be able to express myself, have an audience that was so engaged, it was so humbling for me.”. The energy of Debrito’s first gig inspired her to never let the background noise of the negative cogs in the industry affect her: “It taught me you can never lose this passion and fire inside of you, that motivates you to produce, that motivates you to dig into your emotions and express to people. It’s so powerful, it’s something that people need, as a listener and a consumer. They need somebody who’s fearless and somebody who’s going to say the things people are afraid to say.”
Similarly, on her debut EP Waeveybby Vol 1, the palpable energy that comes through is that Debrito wants her audience to feel what she is feeling, to form a collective consciousness. On the first track "Ease", her lyrics echo this positivity and self-confidence: “Lost something from underneath / I can see my enemy, I’m free / Oh, I think I like what I see, yeah / The best of me”.
Debrito’s musical inspirations also echo this self-assuredness. “Some people who have inspired me here from the beginning: Lianne La Havas. She’s one of my favourites. And Gretchen Parlato. With these females, they stay so true to their own genre and their own style of doing things. I’m never one to follow the main structures, I have a very unorthodox way of being. It’s like when I buy a piece of furniture, I never read the instructions. I never read the terms and conditions with my phone! I base everything more off feeling. I really gravitate towards anyone who portrays that– who goes off feelings rather than, you know. Anyone that thinks outside of the box is an inspiration to me”.
Go and follow the brilliant IAMDDB. In spite of that horrible situation with the Israeli government and how damaging and upsetting it would have been, IAMDDB has had a really good year. I look at her Instagram feed, and I can see how much joy she is bringing to people. How happy she seems too. I hope that she has time to chill as we head to Christmas, and it will be interesting to see what next year holds. The exceptional IAMDDB is going to be in the industry for so long to come. Someone who is born to make music and touch people. In a music world where there is a lot of same-sounding artists and it can be quite hard to distinguish the amazing from the average, it is clear IAMDDB is in a league of her own. Look out into the world of music and there is…
NOBODY quite like her.
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