Dazed Faves is the series where we talk all things online – that surreal meme account you’re obsessed with, weird conspiracy theory subreddits, ASMR YouTubes, or slime Instagrams.

At just 20 years old, midwxst (real name Edgar Nathaniel Sarratt) has already lived multiple musical lives. The chameleonic artist blew up at the height of the hyperpop boom in 2020 with a slew of angst-ridden tracks uploaded straight onto SoundCloud, before making it big in the internet mainstream. “If I didn’t have the internet, I wouldn’t be midwxst,” he tells Dazed. “I wouldn’t be making music, just straight up. My career started from a community of people I was introduced to online during the pandemic, and even earlier on in my life.”

With sonics that sit somewhere in between glitch pop and post-emo, the LA-based artist is preparing for the release of his debut album, E3. Drawing inspiration from the likes of Kanye West and Travis Scott, early 2000s R&B and Dominic Fike, the record tells the story of a character named E3, narrated by midwxst, and grapples with internal challenges from relationships to identity and the internet.

“The internet provided a pathway to many of my close relationships and close friends I am blessed to have by my side. It was an accepting place for me when I didn’t feel accepted or welcomed for who I was,” he shares. “I felt like Edgar when I was online. I was prideful in myself and I wasn’t afraid to embrace the things that made me different because I had such a positive space to hang in, especially on Discord and Twitter. So shout out to everyone who helped me with that and so much more. I wouldn’t be where I am today without y’all.”

Below, the rapper takes us down his prized internet rabbit holes, from Druski memes to his favourite Tyler, the Creator tweet and The Amazing World of Gumball.

FAVE TWEET: @tylerthecreator

midwxst: It’s just a real, honest tweet. Often people read too much into things and this is just an honest response.

FAVE INSTAGRAM: @hidden.ny

midwxst: The page is just a really good source for inspiration from everything from clothes to fun facts about albums I didn’t know. I also find the mysterious nature and curation/the presentation of the page too, it gives more of that cool factor.

FAVE YOUTUBE: @LEMMiNO 

midwxst: This channel is my go-to for whenever I want to watch a really good documentary. The quality of each one of their videos is insane and the way they depict and talk about the topics of choice is really well-written and presented.

FAVE MEME: DRUSKI HANDS UP 

midwxst: I use this image more than ten times a day if I’m being honest. It’s a great reaction photo to a lot of my friends’ conversations whenever I feel like trolling. In all honesty, my camera roll is filled with memes every time I open it but I feel like that’s the best type of camera roll.

FAVE TV SHOW: THE AMAZING WORLD OF GUMBALL

midwxst: This has been my sister and I’s favourite TV show ever since middle school. We would watch it every day before our dad dropped us off and I even got a Gumball and Darwin shirt custom-made for myself by my friend Lain because of the love I have for the show. It's just one of those cartoons that brought me and my sister closer in high school and turned into our comfort show. Cartoon Network clears every other channel in my opinion because of this.

E3 is out on September 1