I don’t immediately recognize Dawn Richard when I first spot her guiding a van through a gate to load-in for her performance at Pitchfork Music Festival. Dazed by the creamy white and disco diamante of her stage costume, I didn’t immediately realize who I was looking at, but it was impossible not to know that I had just seen someone famous.
Later, when most artists would be getting their hair and makeup done in an air conditioned trailer, she’s overseeing the assembly of the LED triangles that glow behind her as she performs, making sure the tubular bulbs meet neatly in the apex of the structure. Devoted fans linger in the front row, watching her make the last minute adjustments and sporting her T-shirts, sun-faded dad caps, and even custom-molded USB drive necklaces holding virtual reality visuals for her latest album Redemption.
"They&apos;re so amazing, because they don’t have to like me. They&apos;re not being force fed. I&apos;m not mainstream. You gotta find me,” the artist—now known primarily as D∆WN—says as we chat in a Chicago rehearsal studio. During the course of our conversation, she cites influences as diverse as the music video director Chris Cunningham, the ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, and even, Cher.
Although many were new fans, 20-somethings weren&apos;t the only ones wearing her merchandise at the show. "My dad embarrasses me," D∆WN laughs. “It was cool to have [my parents] there, and for them [to] see that crowd and that reception. I think my dad&apos;s always the proudest, because this is his field,” she explains, referring to both her father’s master&apos;s degree in classical music and voice as well as his stint in Chocolate Milk, a band that toured with The Ohio Players that continues to live on in a breakbeat sampled by many, including Eric B. & Rakim.
On stage, D∆WN sports a custom open-back diamond pantsuit from the ‘genderless brand’ TLZ L&apos;Femme. She asked Tlazsa, the young woman who created the garment, "Can you just do something different, that you&apos;ve not designed yet with anyone else?"
Once known for her role in Diddy’s reality show Making the Band (and the resulting groups Danity Kane and Diddy-Dirty Money), D∆WN has defined herself from birth by blurring the lines between music, dance, and fashion while steadfastly refusing to pick a lane.
Her recently completed trinity of full-length LPs are each defined by a different producer and a strong visual aesthetic, often with a color scheme referenced in the name of the album. Goldenheart, produced entirely by Teyana Taylor collaborator Druski, follows a warrior through epic battles ripped from mythology and scripture that mirror D∆WN’s own struggles with the music industry. Blackheart traces the dissolution of identity through Noisecastle III’s compositions and the confession of dark dance floor desires. Redemption, produced largely by Machinedrum, is the most political of the trio.
“My movement has a large community of trans and gay culture, and [a lot of times] they don&apos;t get to have a voice,” D∆WN says, explaining that she was inspired to write “Love Under Lights” after hearing about too many people connected to her circle killed due to a confluence of factors: being black, being transgender, living in poor communities.
D∆WN’s family inheritance is a rich artistic lineage tied deeply to the city’s culture. She was raised watching relatives paint coconuts and sew costumes for the city’s vibrant Zulu Parade in a home filled with the sounds of Debussy on the stereo.
Slowly but surely, dance wasn’t just a job for D∆WN, but a way of life. "I realized how much dance would be a part of my entire aesthetic," she continues. "I can&apos;t tell you what that feels like when you have girls or boys rocking next to you on a stage, that energy, you just feed off of each other." Her love of connecting with other dancers carried through to her early years as an NBA cheerleader. "And to be funny, to be real, we wore Reeboks. The NBA always had us wear Reeboks, and we had some similar to the ones I have on now, and that was our vibe, you know."
She uses every influence as a tool at her disposal to innovate, something that makes her art unclassifiable and accessible on multiple dimensions.
Her technological accomplishments include performing the first ever 360 degree concert broadcast on YouTube&apos;s VR live streaming platform and creating explorable VR visuals for her songs. The fact she’s venturing into virtual reality at all is impressive, considering that some of the only artists to have used it are Björk, Run the Jewels, Childish Gambino, and Jazz Cartier: all artists signed to major labels.
Dawn Richard wears Reebok's Classic Leather White.
D∆WN’s ability to cloak herself in choreography and couture, paired with the techno-futuristic dazzle of digital renderings, is just as intrinsic to maintaining the fidelity of her vision as her music. Never one to kowtow to limitations, she’ll do anything she can to bring her concepts to realization.
Hours after D∆WN&apos;s performance, a golf cart carrying her entourage parts the Pitchfork crowd. A pale girl totters in front, delaying the driver’s egress as she struggles to frame a gram-worthy selfie with the vehicle in the background.
Despite the delay, D∆WN, her mother, and her dancers remain in high spirits, waving and smiling at the crowd like the royal court in a Mardi Gras parade. After a day of backbreaking work and sweat in Chicago’s summer sun, the heavily crowned heroine was finally ready to take a victory lap.