This story is taken from the summer 2026 issue of Dazed, which is on sale internationally now. Order a copy of the magazine here.

“I’m pretty seasoned with my digital footprint,” confesses DMV-bred rapper ERISTHEPLANET. It’s true. The 25-year-old first stepped into the spotlight via the popular fashion and beauty YouTube channel she started as a tween in 2017, a golden era of makeup tutorials and daily vlogs that laid the groundwork for much of the lifestyle content we consume today. These days, however, the most recent posts on Eris’ channel are not “get ready with me” videos, but smooth rap tracks like “345”, “PLENTY OF FISH”, and “2025LOVESTORY”, all products of her transition from creator to musician. 

It’s a transformation that, like most origin stories, was anything but linear. “A lot of people don’t know this, but when I stopped YouTube, I was having a really hard time,” she says. “Real life was hitting me. I had just stepped into actual adulthood, living on my own for the first time… I really just wanted privacy. It was a really low time for me. I didn't wanna share my life anymore.”

The time that followed Eris’ retreat from internet stardom, which she calls her “gap years”, was marked by common coming-of-age woes: working odd jobs, overcoming insecurities, soul searching. “I was literally killing my old self,” Eris says of that era, a time that eventually became well-documented in her music. Today, the artist that’s emerged from that metamorphosis is not to be overlooked. Her flow is triumphant and unabashed, with lyrics that read like a guidebook on how to own your own flyness. A student of all genres, the up-and-comer has already gone viral for her thumping lo-fi anthems, including the slick SZA-cosigned hit single “Geezer”.

With several promising tracks already under her belt, next up for Eris comes her debut mixtape, IT BE THAT DAMN PHONE, released today. It’s aptly titled given her online roots; the project is something ERIS describes as “internet rap”, a cateorgisation that, for her, has manifested through lyrics that reference the online life and subgenres switches that feel as effortless as changing browser tabs. It’s also an extension of her wish to make music for “everybody”, but especially people who like to have a good time. “I always say I'm not trying to be the best rapper out here,” says Eris. “I’m not on that type of time. I'm doing what makes me feel good, having fun with it, and I feel that people that are on the same wavelength as me will understand it the most.” 

Ahead of the mixtape’s release, we caught up with the artist to discuss pivoting from YouTube to music, her current renaissance and why ‘phones really are the problem’.

What was it like growing up in the DMV and how do you think living there influenced your sound?

ERISTHEPLANET: I think the DMV is very special. There’s nothing like it. Our culture, it definitely sticks with you for the rest of your life. We’re the home of the sound of go-go music. Even with the newer sounds that we have, I feel like there truly is nothing like it. 

What artists did you fangirl over growing up? 

ERISTHEPLANET: Definitely Frank Ocean, always have. I probably still would fangirl a little bit. Definitely Rihanna, love Rihanna. And Tyler, the Creator. I was into him at like 9 or 10 years old. 

People who might not know you for your music yet may remember you from your YouTuber days. Can you tell me about that time? 

ERISTHEPLANET: It’s really cool that it’s come full circle and that a lot of people are rediscovering me through music. Growing up, I always loved watching YouTubers, so I decided to start making my own videos around 14-years old. A decade later, without YouTube, I definitely wouldn't be where I am. I wouldn’t be as comfortable getting into music, because I’m really an introvert at heart still… I feel like I dipped my toe in being in the public eye pretty early. 

What effect do you think growing up on the internet in that way had on you? 

ERISTHEPLANET: More good than bad for sure. It definitely boosted my confidence pretty young. I didn’t talk much growing up, but I would talk to a camera for some reason. It was a comfortable escape for me to be online and find community and people like me, because I felt like my surroundings didn’t really match who I was and it was hard for me to find people that I could relate to. So, it really did feel like I made friends with a bunch of strangers on the internet that enjoyed the things that I did as much as I did.

Was there a specific moment when you realised you wanted to go all in on music as a career?

ERISTHEPLANET: It wasn’t very long ago that I decided I wanted to actually push myself and put myself in a different position. I wasn’t really interested in taking music seriously when I first dropped ‘345’, the first song I dropped on all platforms. People just wanted more, and it made me feel really good. It made me feel good that people actually enjoyed what I put out, because I was just being funny, being silly. 

Your breakout hit “Geezer” went super viral, and even got the attention of Drake and SZA. I feel like it’s still everywhere. What’s the story behind that track?

ERISTHEPLANET: I wrote that in January of last year. I had been making a bunch of music before ‘Geezer’ came out. I was always sharing it on my story, little snippets here and there, and people were like, ‘Just drop, just drop.’ I had already dropped DNA before then, and that started to go viral as well, so my confidence was up. I felt like a new person, like I truly had a new purpose. I had discovered this new version of myself, and that’s pretty much what I talk about in the whole song. The entire beginning of ‘Geezer’ is literally me talking about that rebirth. And the second half is just more in the present, like the literal things I was experiencing at the time. 

There’s a line on “Geezer” that sticks out – “I just killed the old me, this renaissance”. Do you feel like you’re still in that renaissance period? 

ERISTHEPLANET: 100 per cent. This is still the beginning for me. I definitely don’t look at this as ‘Oh, I’ve achieved so much.’ No, this is still me just getting started, really. This is the beginning of the first chapter.

We’re watching it in real time. 

ERISTHEPLANET: Absolutely. 

How does your songwriting process usually start, and where do you draw inspiration from? 

ERISTHEPLANET: Real-life experience. I’ll literally take something that just happened the day before and put it in the raps. If something pisses me off, or if someone pisses me off, for some reason, that just brings it out of me. [On ‘Geezer’], I think I had just dealt with this girl, [so I wrote] ‘I can get a badder bitch’. Shit like that. Someone called it low-vibrational, but I’m like, fuck it. If it’s low-vibrational, then that’s what it is.  I’m just having fun at the end of the day. I’m making my real life situations into something I can laugh about and have fun with. It’s an outlet for real. 

I’m very left-brained. I feel like visuals are their own language.

You mentioned being super into visual arts – what role do aesthetics and visuals play in your creative process?

ERISTHEPLANET: Every part. I’m very left-brained, I feel like visuals are their own language. Being visually inspired is literally what inspires my music. Like seeing certain things can 100 per cent inspire an entire song. I can have one good night out and I'm just observing the entire room, and that could be the next song that I make, just based off of different things I experienced that night, or things I’ve seen. 

What’s next for ERIS THE PLANET?

ERISTHEPLANET: I’m putting out a project, and it’s called It Be That Damn Phone. 

I love that name. Can you tell us about it?

ERISTHEPLANET: First of all, everybody’s mum be saying that. My mum always said that to me growing up, and it actually really be that damn phone. I have made a bunch of songs that are referencing these phones, and I’m like, damn, the phones really are the problem. But overall, it is just a matter of me talking my shit.

There’s a lot of phone references, iPhone references. There’s a song that’s probably my favourite track on the EP – it’s called ‘Two iPhones Hummer’. There’s a bunch of music that I’ve made in the past two years, songs up to two years old in there. 

For people that grew up on the internet, that’s pretty much what it is, bringing things full circle. I feel like it’s really a theme of my life – things in my phone being the problem and just the age of everything being digital, from problems being through a text to beefing over FaceTime, all that type of shit. It’s like internet rap. 

It Be That Damn Phone is out now.