Producer Evilgiane crafts a pioneering sound in the spaces between 2020s rap sonics with his ethereal, bouncy, and pocket-laden beats. The magnetic presence at the origin of N.Y.C.-based collective Surf Gang, his unique sound saw him land work alongside industry veterans like Kendrick Lamar and Earl Sweatshirt and with frequent collaborators such as Harto Falión, Eera, and K$upreme.
Born to two musical parents -- a songwriter and a producer -- New York City’s Evilgiane made his first beats during his teenage years, citing early influences from MexikoDro to Shield Gang as he began releasing material on platforms like SoundCloud. A diehard skater, the young producer soon found himself at the core of a collective of young skaters and musicians forming around N.Y.C.’s LES skatepark; the since-coined Surf Gang began as a loose gathering of Giane’s associates, playing early home to the likes of Caspr, Eera, Harrison, Pasto Flocco, and Moh Baretta. By 2017, Giane was forging early collaborations with artists like Summrs! (“Goin Out Bad!”), Caspr (“ParisHilton”), and BBYGOYARD (“Get Well”), producing variations on contemporary trap styles amid a constant stream of experimental ideas and snippets.
It would be the early 2020s when Evilgiane’s signature sound would begin to coalesce. Surf Gang issued their first two projects, 2021’s SGB and SGV1, in quick succession: the former acted as a 35-track compilation of some of the early members’ strongest material, while SGV1 pared things down to a more focused 15-track mixtape. Giane’s early productions here anchored bright, ethereal sonics to variations on trap and drill drum patterns, a style he continued to hone on collaborative tapes Im_my_worst_enemy (with Harto Falión), Surf Da World (with K$upreme), and Dr. Phil (with RealYungPhil), all released the same year. Though Giane had already released several unofficial EPs through online platforms, he also made an intentional solo debut with 2022’s 4-track instrumental project, Glane.
Having reorganized Surf Gang into a producer collective and record label, Evilgiane continued to innovate his sound in a period of constant productivity. A second Harto Falión link-up arrived with 2023 mixtape Im_my_best_friend, which was accented that year by the Smoove Dinero collab EP Eviltwinski and a continual string of singles. Other ventures included heavy work across Surf Gang mixtapes At Least We Tried and SGPM (with Serane), along with contributing substantially to 454’s Fast 5 and Harto Falión’s Poor Rich. After landing the Earl Sweatshirt collaboration “Making the Band (Danity Kane)” in December 2022, 2023 marked his full emergence into mainstream hip-hop, with him producing “The Hillbillies” for Kendrick Lamar and Baby Keem. With this momentum, Evilgiane pulled together a plethora of collaborators for his first solo mixtape, 2024’s #HEAVENSGATE VOL.1: the 23-track set, littered with frequent collaborators, Surf Gang colleagues, and localized musicians, offered the most comprehensive take on the Evilgiane sound yet. ~ David Crone
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