DUCKWRTH’s growing popularity is a testament to today’s more progressive soundscape. His pure, unboxed, versatile, and energetic style has most recently landed him a European tour for his upcoming project, Falling Man, set for release this fall. Keeping in tune with non-intentional “anti-industry” practices, he completed the tour before the actual project. And while not planned, it prepped both new and die-hard fans for a new sound he’s experimenting with.
“It wasn’t purposely done, but sometimes you gotta just roll with the punches,” he said. “It was tight though – opening people up to this different sound in this moment and time. It let people know that I was gonna be doing a harder sound. It prepared people for what’s to come.”
DUCKWRTH, née Jared Lee, grew up in a family of musicians rooted in the church. He often infuses this experience in his music and visuals, such as in the official video for his single, “Soprano,” which opens up with Jared leading a church choir before erupting into scenes of unadulterated rage by the end of the video.
Perhaps one of the most intriguing things about DUCKWRTH is his ability to successfully blend a seemingly unusual post-modern mix of muses to create his current sound. He credits everyone from punk influences like Bad Brains and The Casualties, to rock and pop icons, Jimi Hendrix, Michael Jackson, Prince, Freddie Mercury, and David Bowie, to more contemporary influences like N.E.R.D. and hip hop legends Andre 3000 and MF Doom. Not only is he influenced by these names musically, but you can find traces of these artists in his personal style as well.
In many of DUCKWRTH’s looks and visuals, he plays around with the concept of androgyny quite a bit. In 2017, he released the official video for “BOY,” a track on his mixtape, XTRA UUGLY, which showcased an unprecedented gender role swap, which was truly a breath of fresh air.
“I played the damsel in distress. This is where things are headed now. I share the same vision Pharrell has – if you really want the world to change, put a woman in charge. It’s too much solid. Too much force. And the world’s missing nurturing right now. Either put them in power or balance the playing field.”
Gender fluidity has become much more widely accepted and celebrated in youth culture in recent years, however, there is still an illogical stigma associated with the concept amongst society at large.
“Energy fluidness, masculine and feminine energy, and being able to stand in between the two is one of the most powerful things because it gives you a crazy amount of confidence. I literally did our shoot today in platforms. Straight up platforms bruh, and I felt no different about it. They were really uncomfortable to wear and I almost broke my ankle like twice, it was terrible, but I had fun with it. And I didn’t think, ‘oh, this is linked to my sexuality’ or anything like that.”
Musically, this fluidity is as versatile as his influences, which is revealed in the spectrum of his dynamic, funky sound. Although punk is a major influence for Lee, he admits he doesn’t really feel the genre accurately captures who he is as an artist today. “It’s more of, that’s how I feel like expressing myself in that moment. It just felt like, at that moment, I needed to scream or distort the guitar, or distort the 808 or the set bass; so I’ma have to get dirty and I have to yell. It doesn’t particularly make me a punk or rock artist.”
“My newest project, Falling Man, could be categorized as [punk] in certain moments but is balanced by a really beautiful progression with really great harmonies. This project would be classical if you were to generalize it, with hip hop, rapping, electronic, punk, and grunge literally smashed together.” DUCKWRTH also plans to release a separate punk album under a different moniker before the end of this year in addition to Falling Man – a project he’s had in the back of his mind since 2013.
When asked how he feels about the industry sometimes pigeon-holding artists to a specific genre, he said, “I don’t really have an issue with genres until they start kicking you off of playlists because you’re a little different with the way you express your genre. That’s when it pisses me off. But other than that, I get it. It makes sense. But there are genre-bending artists who deserve that slot just as much as everybody else. We’re the iPod generation. We place so many artists on one device and just hit ‘shuffle.’ You don’t have to be just one thing anymore. You can be whoever the hell you wanna be. It doesn’t have to be so black and white.”
DUCKWRTH is securing his place as a pioneer of gender-bending, genre-bending music, especially within the pop, punk, and hip hop spaces respectively. In fact, this method led him to one of his first projects, Nowhere, a collaborative album released in 2015 alongside the Cleveland, Ohio based band, The Kickdrums.
“You don’t have to be just one thing anymore. You can be whoever the hell you wanna be. It doesn’t have to be so black and white”
Lee met The Kickdrums through his manager, who he also managed at that time, shortly after moving to Brooklyn. “We got in the studio, knocked out the first two songs and just kept going until we made the full tape. The entire project took about 4-6 months to record.”
DUCKWRTH’s ability to collab with so many different types of artists is perhaps one of his most interesting qualities. While many of these collaborative projects have been put together by his manager, Lee has managed to make each collab distinct, almost as if he immerses himself with the energy of the artist he’s working with, producing a sound that is truly harmonic.
I personally came to know DUCKWRTH via his single, “Indica La Roux” featuring Atlanta-based artist, Miloh Smith. The two connected while staying with DUCKWRTH’s manager in NY. “One day he was like, ‘you guys would make good music together,’ and so that’s how that came about. I think she’s a gem and I hope she comes out with some new music again soon. She has one song that’s insanity, and it whoops a lot of female rappers out here,” he mused.
Full Look Vivienne Westwood Archive 
Moving to New York helped Lee grow significantly as an artist in terms of connecting with like-minded people. “Finding people on the same level as me – people who have the same inspirations, ideas and drive as you really helps. Even if you’re a conceptual artist, find other artists, directors or models to work with. A lot of times it was just [me saying] I see you got drive too, let’s do this shit together. Moving in numbers allows you to work more efficiently and build a community with your friends.”
While his experience in NY was fruitful for his career, he ultimately found his tribe back in LA. “People may not enjoy Stevie Wonder and funk and certain soundscapes in NY like how they do in LA. I feel like the weather and environment reflects the type of music being created…and weed, haha.”
“Every artist has to evolve and go through different segments. Waves happen, and you just find your voice within the wave and keep it moving.
Nevertheless, one of the major elements of DUCKWRTH’s artistry that truly sets him apart from other popular artists today is the amount of time spent crafting his visuals to tell meaningful stories. DUCKWRTH doesn’t create visuals for the sake of branding tactics or making aesthetically appealing videos, but rather his visuals more accurately reflect the experience he’s attempting to bring to life in that current space and time. As he evolves musically, so do his visuals.
“My music always sounds visual. If there’s anything I’d like to be in the realm of hip hop, it’s a storyteller.”
Before he even thinks about creating a new song or visual, he says he always asks himself, “What’s the story?”
“Even with I’m UUgly, one of the definitions of that is when you listen to music and it hits you in a certain way, your face frowns up and you’re like, oooh, this is so good!”
His forthcoming project, Falling Man, was born from a similar process, as it literally represents various iterations of falling.
“The concept of a falling man just kept coming to me. I thought film first before album: like Stanley Kubrick and Alfred Hitchcock, and just kept building the concept from there until I got to a visual place.”
DUCKWRTH explains that Falling Man explores “the fear of falling in love, falling out of love, things falling out of place, the fallen angels, falling into the hands of the enemy. It just represents all these different versions of falling.”
As he evolves as an artist, so does his visuals. He admits that the key to the evolution of his story-driven visuals is simply better access to better resources, and having a dedicated team to help materialize those visions.
“You can still make great visuals without a lot of money, but I’ve always had grand ideas – I just didn’t have the money or resources, or the team. For my first video, “The Ending,” me and my homegirl shot that with a SLR [camera] and it was one of my best videos. But it would have been even more amazing had I had the money and resources I wanted.”
Full Look Vintage 
As Lee gains more access in his career, his grand ideas have become much more tangible, he says. “For instance, with “Fall Back,” I wanted to get pulled through a wall, and it was like, ok, let’s get a stunt coordinator and some breakaway walls. Now that conversation has become easier to have.”
Upon DUCKWRTH’s return from his European tour where he made stops in Vienna, Austria, Amsterdam, London, Paris and the UK, he says he came back “fully inspired” by what he saw and experienced. The tour fueled him even more to move forward in the new direction he feels himself being pulled towards creatively.
I feel like I understand what decadence looks like after going to Europe. Now I want my music to sound like audio decadence. Right now, I feel like Falling Man is audio distress, and the one after that will balance it out, so it’ll be like the yin and yang.”
In the coming future, DUCKWRTH states, very matter-of-factly, that he’s laser focused on “the next level.”
“You ever watch Dragon Ball Z? You know how Goku kept finding new levels of Super Saiyan? That’s what I’m on. I’m just trying to find that next level. I know I can do better than this. Even when I get to the next level, I’ll still be like, ‘I know I can do better than that.’
Yesterday I stepped into my apartment and I was like damn, I have a place to go to. I can walk in, I have a roof over my head, it smells like me, everything around it looks like me. I was like dude, this is tight. I definitely need to be able to appreciate the achievements and accolades, and a part of the drive is never being satisfied.”
Aside from his creative mix of visceral visuals and dope music, perhaps what sets him apart the most is the immense amount of energy he brings to the stage. His performances are filled with a surge of rage and unbridled emotion, constrained just enough for fans to walk away with not only an experience but most importantly, a feeling.
“If you come to my show, you can expect a lot of energy, ass shakin’, rage and emotions. You gon’ get a bit of everything, but you gon’ feel it.”
Photographed by Brandon Bowen
Styled by Chloe and Chenelle
