Trying to put Brandon De’Sean into one creative box might be the quickest way to misunderstand him.
The Washington, D.C. artist has been developing a sound that moves between hip-hop, alternative influences, emotional storytelling, and now punk rock, using music to explore everything from ambition and relationships to pressure, love, disappointment, and personal growth.
Records including “No Smoke No Pressure,” “Meant To Be,” and “You Love Me” introduced different sides of Brandon’s evolving artistry, but his latest release, “Fake Love,” pushes that experimentation even further.
With a darker emotional edge and punk rock-inspired sound, “Fake Love” represents an artist increasingly willing to step outside of what listeners may expect from him.
And music is only one part of Brandon’s creative identity.
V-Henny: You’re an artist, but you’re also a manager, host, curator, and interviewer. You’re constantly helping other people be seen. Has there ever been a moment when you realized you were pouring so much into everybody else’s career that Brandon the artist wasn’t getting that same energy from you?
Brandon De’Sean: Brandon the artist will always be here regardless even in spirit. I’m like unlimited mimosas, I’ll keep pouring until the time is up and then its my turn to close lol
V-Henny: Your music touches on ambition, relationships, pressure, and personal growth. Which one of those subjects is the hardest for you to write about honestly—and what’s a truth you’ve put into a song that was difficult to admit outside of the studio?
Brandon De’Sean: It’s harder for me to write about pressure because people expect me to always be good and sometimes I’m not. Its a different type of vulnerability that I don’t like to share for real but I do what they beat tells me where to go. Every song I write is the truth I don’t lie in my music if i dont have it or don’t do something I wouldnt say it.
V-Henny: “No Smoke No Pressure,” “Meant To Be,” and “You Love Me” show different sides of your sound. If those three records represented three different versions of Brandon De’Sean, who is each version—and which one is closest to the man you are today?
Brandon De’Sean: Meant To Be and You Love Me is the lover boy while No Smoke No Pressure is me talking my shit and me telling people that its my time, I’m here.
No Smoke No Pressure is the staple it will always be me and forever be the closest but then again everything that I write comes from me and all of it is who I am today.
V-Henny: Then you make a record like “Fake Love” and step into punk rock influences. What was happening creatively or personally, that made your usual sound no longer enough to express what you wanted to say?
Brandon De’Sean: A “Ex” started doing weird shit outta no where after we been broken up for a while so I was confused and lost when things started happening. I was just like I don’t want it and F U too.
V-Henny: Let’s stay with “Fake Love.” Fake love can come from relationships, friendships, family, or even the music business. Without naming anybody you don’t want to name, what experiences taught you how to recognize when someone’s support isn’t as genuine as they make it seem?
Brandon De’Sean: I always know when somebody really don’t like me like how they say they do whether its friends, family, relationships, and more. I can feel it. I know when things change and i know that fake smile and can feel like coldness from a fake laugh because it has no soul in it
V-Henny: Crossing genres can be risky because once people understand an artist one way, they often want them to stay there. Have you ever worried that experimenting too much could confuse your audience, or is refusing to be predictable actually part of who Brandon De’Sean is?
Brandon De’Sean: I’m a music head and some people just not going to like everything but thats life. If the song good it will hit the way it should.
V-Henny: As a manager, you probably give artists advice about their careers, branding, consistency, and decisions. What’s one piece of advice you regularly give your artists that Brandon the artist is actually terrible at following himself?
Brandon De’Sean: I’m a hypocrite because I would tell you how you should do this or that because its the right thing but me I be like forget it or I don’t care. I just want people to win whereas me if I make a mistake its a learning lesson so my artist wouldn’t make that same mistake.
V-Henny: Being an interviewer means you’re normally the person asking the questions. So here’s one you might not normally get asked: What part of Brandon—the man, not the brand—do you think people around you benefit from the most, but rarely stop to ask if you’re okay giving?
Brandon De’Sean: My time I feel like even thought I may have it doesn’t mean I want to give it.
V-Henny: You’re actively trying to help push DMV music culture forward. From your perspective as both an artist and someone working behind the scenes, what does the DMV have creatively that the rest of the industry still hasn’t fully recognized—and what do you think is holding the region back from getting that recognition?
Brandon De’Sean: I always felt like pride and ego gets in the way and it’s mad annoying. We good but we can be so much further if every community in the music scene could come together, like actually come together so we can take it over like we should.
V-Henny: Imagine everything you’re building works: your music grows, the artists you manage succeed, your events expand, and your platforms become bigger. When you look back, which accomplishment would mean more to you—knowing Brandon De’Sean became successful or knowing other people became successful because Brandon De’Sean existed? Why?
Brandon De’Sean: To be honest I can’t answer that question correctly. How I feel at the moment and what happened during the process will determine that but I know I’m going to fucking love it when it does.
Hip-hop today. Alternative tomorrow. Punk rock when the emotion calls for it.
The sound may continue changing, but the intention remains.
For Brandon De’Sean, finding his voice and helping others find theirs don’t have to be two separate missions. They can be part of the same legacy.
Follow him on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darkskinordie