“I make Queens look like Kyoto,” 19-year-old internet rap star kuru growls in new single “I saw it coming,” lifted off of sophomore album, Stay True Forever, released today. That line might be off-the-cuff, but it hints at the profound significance of the new wave of digital rap music that kuru finds themselves at the centre of. 

Born in Maryland and now based in New York, Kuru’s emerging digicore sound is woven into the pulsing mainframe of the internet, where time and space collapse into a torrent of information. Old school drum ‘n’ bass breaks rub shoulders with Carti-esque rage melodies, references to Ubers and “counting bands” stand alongside near-unintelligible Mandarin lyrics from rising Chinese star Jackzebra, and idle viewing of Serial Experiments: Lain and Gossip Girl are uttered in the same breath. It might be overwhelming to anyone born before the year 2000, but it’s hard to argue with kuru when they tell me that “music is getting more creative than ever nowadays”.

“I originally started because of a super random deep dive in 2019 that led me to this SoundCloud collective called Losersclub,” kuru explains of their entry point into music back when they were just 14 years old. They soon linked up with New York underground rage-plugg legend Xaviersobased through Discord, and Jackzebra during a chance trip to Tokyo, gradually joining the dots between other young Digi-Destined music-makers around the world.

As is characteristic of many of these artists, kuru takes their name from the online pseudonym he would use on these online platforms, during a childhood spent “on the game too much, especially during peak Minecraft and CSGO days”. They’re quick to point out that it has no connection to the infectious neurodegenerative disease of the same name –  “I only found out about the disease and shit after and it’s lowkey terrifying,” they sigh. “I guess I gotta fight with some cannibalistic stuff on the Google search engine now.” 

Suffice to say, kuru’s scene has deep roots in online circles, but this digital sound has crossed over into IRL space in recent years. Xaviersobased’s influence now extends far beyond niche Discord servers and, more distantly, artists like Snowstrippers and Nettspend are currently shutting down venues all over the world. “I think things are going really far right now because artists are actually developing images behind the sound,” kuru explains. “With previous ‘underground’ scenes you’d have a lot of people blow up here and there off a few songs but nobody would really stick because there wasn’t a face to the name.”

Still, despite this deeply online upbringing, kuru displays a surprising maturity for an artist of just 19 years of age. “I need to get the hell off my phone, shit is lowkey an energy leech,” they reflect on their free time outside of music. “Usually, I’m looking for more clothes or just hanging out with my friends, every day is just a random side quest. If you see me in Flushing, Queens, though, please don’t say hi. I probably lost like $70 to claw machines 30 minutes prior.” It seems that Queens really is turning into Kyoto, after all.

Below, breakout digicore star kuru shares their favourite internet obsessions, from fan-generated JRPG Yume 2kki, to Japanese math rock and Gossip Girl. 

FAVE NICHE MUSIC SCENE

kuru: Honestly, I’m a really big fan of Japanese math rock and have been for years. I feel like this is a common-ish answer right now, but it’s still perfect day-to-day task and walking around music because I feel like it makes me use my brain more because of the weird time signatures. Bands like Uchu Conbini and Paranoid Void are great.

FAVE GAME

Yume 2kki. By far. I really like the original Yume Nikki as well, and it’s one of the few games I feel like I’ve really resonated with because sometimes life feels like I’m still stuck in a dream. However, 2kki, even though it’s a fangame, just feels a lot more of an immersive visual experience. So much stuff in there is gorgeous, and the soundtrack is awesome. And I’m not just saying that because I have two songs on it. I’d been playing it for years before that.

FAVE TIKTOK

This might be the best video of all time, really I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I’ve been hanging out with people and just went ‘Yeah uhh huhhh yeah ha,’ over and over again and somehow people still know what the hell I’m talking about. I think this shit is a sign I really need to get off my phone.

FAVE INSTAGRAM

Me and Cranes really rock with @leanopop right now. That guy’s funny. I would usually put an animal account here because I really like sea otters, but sometimes I just like to laugh too. It’s funny as hell also because I met the guy like three times without knowing it was him.

FAVE TV SHOW

I don’t really watch TV like that. My mom didn’t even let me watch SpongeBob. Not really sure where to begin with this, but I really like Gossip Girl and Total Drama Island. Currently rewatching both of them.

kuru’s latest album, Stay True Forever, releases tomorrow.