06 October 2022 - 0 Comments

Dbldbl is the musical project of Liam Dargaville (Te Rarawa, Ngā Puhi, they/them), a musician and songwriter based in Tāmaki Makaurau. Dargaville specialises in pairing crisp, minimal production with raps that use extended metaphors about film, board games, and fine dining to broach topics such as chronic pain, identity politics and depression.

Today they share Lemon Drop feat. Imugi 이무기, a new stand alone single from two of Tāmaki Makaurau's biggest alternative pop / hip hop talents.

Leaning hard into the food metaphors and a fair helping of double entendre, Lemon Drop feat. Imugi 이무기 is a flavoursome pairing.

Asked how the collaboration came to be, Dargaville explains "it started as a shared love for each other's music way back when, turned into flatmates and ultimately cute as f**k friends. It’s more surprising we don’t already have tracks together. So let’s just say this collaboration was well overdue."

"Liam sent through a bangin track and we put all our taste buds into it," says Imugi 이무기's Yery Cho. "We've been big fans n friends of Dbldbl for some time and have always been lucky to collab on different tracks throughout our admiration/friendship."

Dargaville continues "I tend to overlace and laden my verses with either pop culture or food based references as an attempt to make the underlying messages a little more digestible - or at the very least something you can still dance to, even if a little solemnly. Lemon Drop is still caked in edible innuendos, but they’re not hinting too much else other than just feeling yaself. Everyone needs a track that makes them feel like a goddamn bad ass bitch. This is mine / ours."

Cho agrees "The residue tingles my brain in a good way. We're beyond blessed to drop this lemon with Dbldbl and I'm glad that we got a very rare verse out of Carl too!"

Lemon Drop feat. Imugi 이무기 is accompanied by a music video directed by Karin Karin Yamasaki, produced by K(SQUARED) Productions, and made with assistance from NZ On Air Music.

Dbldbl - Lemon Drop feat. Imugi 이무기
Released digitally on October 6

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Dargaville has had a long lasting influence on Aotearoa's alternative hip hop landscape. Their music has paved the way for those artists who forgo the usual genre traps, instead focusing on gender identity, mental health, and community.  

In 2013 Dargaville formed one half of Cool Tan (formerly known as Heavy), along with Reem Nabhani (Meer), a hip hop duo who opened for international acts Earl Sweatshirt, The Internet, Jurassic 5, Ratatat, and Miss Blanks. The pair toured throughout Aotearoa and performed at Auckland City Limits and St Jerome's Laneway Festival.

Liam's first foray as Dbldbl was in 2016, when they released their debut album Power Chuck. A firm favourite with Student Radio, Dbldbl continued their solo success with 2017's Christmas Day at the Breakfast Buffet, and 2019's Chip Buddies, a collaboration with the enigmatic producer Trapjaw Kelpie. Dbldbl returned in 2021 with the playful yet powerful Big Mike featuring L V J and PollyHill, and in 2022 was profiled by Te Ao with Moana . Dbldbl has toured throughout the Aotearoa, and supported international artists such as New York rapper Le1f.

Photo Credit: Mason Fairey

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