Sometimes memetic, other times grotesque, and yet other times introspective and vulnerable, Trace the Prophet is hard to pin down. The Atlanta-raised 26-year-old artist takes full ownership of every aspect of his music: writing, producing and mixing/mastering his work by himself late into the night. His diverse skill-set has left Trace in a position to purely express himself on record while maintaining the DIY ethos there from the beginning.

His work is an amalgamation of his reverence for mind-altering experiences (both chemical and spiritual), the sound of Atlanta’s legendary hip-hop scene, and the childlike wonder he has managed to protect into adulthood. Trace’s first experience of playing music was on the saxophone. During high school, he fell in love with jazz and found himself practicing daily. In his first year at Georgia State, he discovered Ableton and began crafting his own music inspired by Tame Impala and Animal Collective. Soon, his growing love of Hip-Hop music and the sounds of Atlanta circa 2013 pulled him in as his production style shifted from live instrumentation to 808s and sampling.

These days, Trace is focused on creating quality music that reflects his inner world. His autonomy allows him to churn out music at a blistering pace, often beginning and finishing tracks (or sometimes entire projects) in the span of a few days. The result is a single-minded body of work that exists in its own colorful, surreal, and boundary-pushing world.