Rapper Iann Dior Reveals His Personal Dream Board and More on The Spout Podcast

Rapper Iann Dior Reveals His Personal Dream Board and More on The Spout Podcast

Iann Dior is On To Better Things as he carves out his spot with his genre-bending tunes and prepares to hit the road with Machine Gun Kelly. The 23-year-old singer/songwriter sits down with host Nick Major on The Spout Podcast and opens up about everything from hobbies, to therapy, plus his personal dream board and his future plans that include much more than just music.

Listen to the full interview HERE.

“There are so many genres in the album,” says Host Nick Major on Dior’s latest album On To Better Things. “What was your approach? Because it seemed to be so diverse.”

“Musically, like, this was the third album that I made before I put it out. There were two albums before that--one of them was fully hip-hop and the other one was fully pop. And then I was like, ‘No.’ I couldn’t make my mind up so I started again,” explains Dior. “I truly just wanted people to understand what was going on in my life. So, that's why I named it ‘On To Better Things’ and, like, from top to bottom, it's cohesive. I wanted it all to tell the story, you know, and to me, it didn't matter if it went from a hip-hop song to a rock song. Like, I think that the storyline is still there. So, you know, for me it's all the same.”

Writing for the young rapper is a therapeutic expression. He notes, "I always say that you know, my music is my form of therapy. I make a song and it feels really good to know that whenever I put it out, there are people out there that resonate and relate to the song itself. And it just makes me feel like I'm not alone. That’s the best part of what I do—it’s my favorite part.”

Speaking of relatable lyrics, Major brings up one of his personal favorites on the album, “Let You,” not only loving the lyrics but the circus-themed music video.

“That song is about letting somebody go that I met in a circus, which is L.A. to me,” says Dior. “Everybody's wearing costumes out here. You don't really know who people are, and they're all trying to put on a show, you know? So, for me, I was letting that person go in this world that I'm living in, and that's like what I wanted to do for the video.”

The conversation then pivoted to Dior’s legal name and why he came up with the name Iann Dior.

“So Iann Dior came as soon as I left my hometown and I moved to L.A,” says Dior. “Iann is my middle name and I wanted a fresh start. I hated who I was in my hometown. I didn't want to have that small-town mentality anymore. So, while I was on the plane, I took my middle name and I took a brand that I could never afford, which was Dior, obviously. And yeah, at first, you know, like, it was weird, you know, I had to get used to being called Iann and I didn't think that it was like going to work, but it ended up working out.”

But still, Dior uses his legal name on all of his writing credits because “he’s the one telling the story, and Iann’s just the one vocally spreading it to the world.”

With a major nationwide tour up ahead and more new music on the way, Dior has plans outside of music that he adds to his personal dream board to keep him on track with his goals. Dreams like having his own clothing line, and directing and acting, which the latter is already on target as the young rapper admits to recently auditioning. But his true passion is directing and on the top of his list of inspiring directors is none other than the imaginative Tim Burton.

“Watching his films growing up, obviously, ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’, like the whole Claymation movie is so good,” explains Dior. “But like my all-time favorite was ‘Edward Scissorhands,’ you know? That's like where the crazy hair came from and I just like, I wanted to be him.”

Even though the Puerto Rico-born, Texas-raised, military brat appears to have no fear of chasing his dreams, we know one thing he’s scared of...Sushi!