Miami Gardens artist XRITUAL is building a career around versatility, independence, and turning real-life experiences into music. His sound moves through dark hip-hop, gothic rap, melodic rap, emo rap, psychedelic influences, rock-inspired energy, and other styles that resist easy classification.

For XRITUAL, however, the darkness is not an aesthetic for its own sake. It comes from lived experience, loss, survival, ambition, and what he describes as a process of turning pain into art. Beyond recording, XRITUAL is also helping develop South Florida’s independent music scene through The Reckoning Artist Showcase, which he co-founded with collaborator Thuqga Lucifer.

Ahead of his upcoming release “Disturbia,” scheduled for November 1, 2026, XRITUAL spoke with Raptology about his upbringing, artistic identity, personal losses, musical influences, and the larger vision behind his career.

Raptology: What is your legal name and age?

XRITUAL: So my mom named me David as my government name, right, but I go by my stage name XRITUAL, or X for short. And if you know me from a kid and up, or I really have some type of bond with you, then you know me as my first and middle initials, DJ, but spelled as DeeJayy.

I prefer to let my music, my story, and the legacy I’m building speak louder than my government name, though. At the end of the day, it’s not about who I was born as. It’s about who I’ve become and what I’m leaving behind.

Raptology: What is your stage name and how did you come up with it?

XRITUAL: My stage name is XRITUAL. To me, the name represents something deeper than music. It’s an identity built through pain, transformation, darkness, and survival that came with many sacrifices. Everything I create carries a piece of my experiences, almost like a ritual of releasing the things I’ve been carrying inside.

My music isn’t just entertainment. It’s a spiritual and emotional experience. Every song represents another chapter of my life, whether it’s something I’ve survived, something I’ve lost, or something I’m still fighting mentally.

XRITUAL is the darker side of my reality turned into something positive, and that positive is art.

Raptology: Where are you from?

XRITUAL: I’m from Miami Gardens, Florida, where the streets teach you lessons that no classroom ever could. That Florida water can either break you or make you.

Growing up around that environment exposed me to different sides of life. You see struggle, ambition, loyalty, betrayal, and people trying to make something out of nothing. That reality influenced my mentality and the way I approach music.

Miami Gardens is part of my foundation. No matter how far my career takes me, I’m always going to carry where I came from.

Raptology: Where are you now?

XRITUAL: I’m currently based in South Florida still. You can find me expanding across Dade County, Broward County, and West Palm Beach, growing my career beyond just recording music.

I’m building myself as an independent artist, entrepreneur, event organizer, and someone who wants to create opportunities for other upcoming talent.

Alongside my friend and business partner Thuqga Lucifer, we both are the co-founders, co-owners, and executive producers of The Reckoning Artist Showcase and party events. It’s an artist showcase and entertainment platform that gives independent artists opportunities to perform, connect, and build their audiences with a chance to gain more exposure in the music scene.

Through that work, I’ve also been presented with an opportunity to help manage and develop a new restaurant and lounge that also turns into a nightclub through the night.

I’m at a point where I’m not only trying to get booked for shows. I’m expanding on setting the stage, building bigger events, and developing the business behind the entertainment to bring more motion and more relationships to everybody in Florida so they all can come together.

Just like how California is more known for the acting scene and New York is known more for the music scene because of all the major label headquarters, I want Florida to be built on more of the music and entertainment scene as well because Florida has always been seen as a playground for everyone up north.

Georgia people are so united and supportive of each other, and I’m trying to make Florida become similar to that as well.

Raptology: How would you describe the music that you typically create?

XRITUAL: My music is a combination of dark hip-hop, gothic rap, melodic rap, emo rap, psychedelic sounds, and broken-rockstar energy, with the versatility of everything else involving alternative, country, and gangster R&B.

I’ve always been different because my mind is very explosive, and I mean very explosive. I be having constant ideas.

I don’t believe in putting myself inside one musical category. I’m extremely versatile because my emotions don’t stay in one place. One day I might create something aggressive and street-oriented, and the next day I’m making something melodic, emotional, or completely experimental because of all the things I go through.

Everything I rap about is real life and real situations.

My appearance reflects that same energy. From my dark blood-red dreadlocks to my gothic streetwear, I carry a style that mixes underground hip-hop with the image of a broken rockstar.

But there’s a deeper reason behind the darkness.

Losing my oldest sister, Sierre Drane, changed my entire life. She was one of my biggest sources of strength and motivation. When she passed away, a part of me changed permanently.

That pain pushed me into some dark places mentally and through my experiences in the streets. But I’ve always understood that intelligence, discipline, strategic mindset, and knowing how to move are just as important as surviving.

Music became my therapy.

Every time I step into the studio and record another song, it feels like I’m releasing another sin, another demon, another memory, or another dark moment I’ve been carrying.

I don’t make music just to sound different. I make music because some things are easier to express through a microphone than through a conversation.

I’m not trying to make darkness look beautiful. I’m showing people what it sounds like when somebody survives it because I know there are people out there that can relate, and they would find comfort in my music because of it.

I give my audience hope. I give my supporters hope, and some of them may find it as something to just turn up to.

I am literally one of the most unpredictable people that anyone could meet. I’ve always been considered a wildcard.

Raptology: Who influenced you most throughout your career?

XRITUAL: My biggest influence wasn’t necessarily another rapper. It was my late beloved oldest sister, Sierre Drane, who used to always sing around the house every morning.

It was also her boyfriend at the time, Sharod Ruff, who was also into music and a part of a group called SOG. I was the youngest one in that group, but was never taken seriously when it came to music like that because I was new to it. But I was always around at one point.

Everything I know, from having my first studio session, my first performances, and video shoot, started with them before I eventually branched off and created my own group called STK, Shoot2Kill.

As for my sister, her life, her love, her laughter, and especially her passing had a major impact on the person and artist I became.

Losing her changed how I looked at the world. It introduced me to emotions I didn’t always know how to explain, and those emotions eventually became part of my sound deep within my soul.

At one point in time, I didn’t think anything could happen to me and my family, but as soon as death came close to home, reality hit me.

It made me realize that anyone in the world can be touched, no matter who you are. You can be the most innocent person everyone talks about, or you could be the most bad person everyone talks about, but everyone will still face a similar fate, and that fate is death.

The world is not centered just around me and my family, but it’s centered around everyone that will eventually meet their demise.

That’s the reason I no longer fear death. I have family on the other side, and that’s where we’re all going.

My other major influences come from the realities of life itself. The streets, heartbreak, betrayal, survival, relationships, and the people I’ve lost along the way. I carry the weight of them on my shoulders.

I respect artists who aren’t afraid to be different, especially those who mix hip-hop with rock, emotion, and experimental sounds.

But my biggest goal has always been to create something that sounds like XRITUAL rather than becoming another version of somebody else.

There’s literally only one me, and some people look up to my style, the way I perform, or how I move. I don’t mind it.

I realize I’ve become a very known figure as an artist and developer of artists as well, when it comes to shows like The Reckoning and creating opportunities for Floridians.

Raptology: What are your most notable achievements in the music industry?

XRITUAL: One of my biggest achievements has been building my own identity and developing a growing fan base without depending on a major record label.

I’ve released multiple projects, performed at numerous shows, and developed a sound that allows me to reach listeners from different musical backgrounds.

My music is so different because I’m literally the only one who can switch my flow multiple times in one beat. My unpredictability is what makes me different as a musical artist as well.

Versatility is who XRITUAL is. Unpredictability, even with how I flow in the music.

But one of the accomplishments I’m most proud of is becoming more than just an artist.

Alongside my business partner Thuqga Lucifer, I helped establish The Reckoning Artist Showcase, an entertainment platform built around giving independent artists a place to showcase their talent.

We’ve organized multiple showcases and parties, bringing together performers, DJs, promoters, videographers, and supporters throughout South Florida.

That experience taught me how to organize events, promote entertainment, coordinate artists, and understand the business side of the industry.

Those accomplishments have also helped open the door to an opportunity to take on a management role within a restaurant, nightclub, and lounge.

To me, that’s real growth.

I went from being an artist looking for opportunities to becoming somebody who’s helping create opportunities for other artists while still remaining an artist myself.

I don’t just want a seat at the table. I want to help build the table so other people can eat too.

I’ve never been the type to railroad people or gatekeep. I want everybody to win.

And I’m still independent. Everything I’m building is part of a much bigger vision, and I’m grinding toward a bigger journey so I can one day create generational wealth.

Raptology: Talk about your latest release.

XRITUAL: My latest released single is “Let Me Go,” a record that reflects the emotional and melodic side of my artistry.

It’s another example of how I use music to express feelings and experiences that can be difficult to put into ordinary words.

I also released a project titled “I Am Become Death,” which represents the darker and more personal side of my musical identity.

One of the standout songs from that project is “Blood Down My Sleeve,” a record that connects with the pain, emotion, and darkness behind my sound with a true event that I actually experienced.

Another important upcoming song to watch out for in my catalog soon is “Don’t Die Easy,” which showcases another side of my versatility.

Right now, one of the records I’m most excited about is “Disturbia,” my upcoming collaboration with Thuqga Lucifer.

We’ve already been performing the song at multiple shows, and it’s becoming one of the most exciting records in my career.

“Disturbia” brings together the darker energy, aggression, and chemistry that define our collaboration. It’s the kind of record that represents where I’m taking my sound next.

I’m building a catalog that people can connect with through different emotions, whether they’re dealing with pain, anger, heartbreak, or simply trying to survive their own reality.

My music is my therapy, my darkness is my testimony, and my career is proof that your pain doesn’t have to be the end of your story.

Listen to and Follow XRITUAL

Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/60zQAFSmn8HcFunF3XVPKE

Apple Music:
https://music.apple.com/ph/artist/xritual/1444468323

YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrLFPyY0PXuTlVHtdaH_kdg

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/xritual999/

TikTok:
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTy4mvLN8/

Upcoming Release:
XRITUAL x Thuqga Lucifer, “Disturbia”
November 1, 2026

Marty McFly

Jason Soto is a HipHop enthusiast with love for everything generated by the culture. He fell in love with music during the first decade of his life and spent most of his teenage years as a DJ. He began to dabble in writing and rapping after being introduced to battle rap and found the art form to be extremely exciting and innovative. As an adult, his own personal interest has lead him to become a freelance columnist, a HipHop ghostwriter, and a cover art designer.