Name: David Dargahi aka DARGZ
Nationality: American, London-based
Occupation: Producer, engineer, songwriter
Current release: DARGZ's new new album Friends & Family, featuring Oscar Jerome, Blue Lab Beats, Nadine El Roubi, Mysie, Milan Ring, and Moses Boyd, is out May 9th 2025 via Studio Dargz. Pre-save the album here.

[Read our Blue Lab Beats interview]
[Read our Oscar Jerome interview]

If you enjoyed this DARGZ interview and would like to know more about his music, visit his official homepage. He is also on Instagram, and tiktok.  



What were some of the musical experiences which planted a seed for your interest in hip hop?

The first hip hop track that I really fell for was “California Love” by 2pac. (I had an older sister tuning into MTV all the time growing up so I was pretty young when I saw the video and just thought it was the coolest thing ever.)



Jay-Z was the next big thing and I remember seeing him at the airport when I was about 10 and he saw my jaw drop in excitement and he laughed and said hey to me. I will never forget that.

A Tribe Called Quest are the group that made me see the genius of sampling.

What does the term hip hop mean and stand for today, would you say?

I think hip hop has taken the baton from Rock N’ Roll now and embodies the same spirit. I think people like Tyler The Creator and Danny Brown are bringing in this real punk attitude in the best kind of way.



Just like things were shook up for Rock N’ Roll I see hip hop evolving in this way. It’s definitely where exciting things are happening now.

How do you see the role of sampling in hip hop today?

I feel like the freedom in sampling now has been completely broken wide open.

Funk and Soul were obviously big foundations to the G Funk sound that dominated the 90s. But these days it seems like ANYTHING can be sampled.

It’s liberating and means there isn’t one dominant sound going on in hip hop which keeps things fresh.

Where do most of your inspirations to create come from – rather from internal  impulses or external ones? Which current social / political / ecological or other developments make you feel like you need to respond as an artist?  

My inspiration comes from those closely surrounding me in my everyday life. My LP is called Friends & Family because really those are where the creative sparks come from.

There is so much information, anxiety, and stress in the macro of things. From terrible political leaders to climate change I think it’s important to wake up everyday grateful for those who are truly around you and loving in everyday life. That is where creativity comes from for me.



What role do electronic tools and instruments, including AI, play for your creative process?

There are so so many tools to use now as a producer. You got to stay up on top of things every week to see the new instruments, and plug-ins that are coming out.

I think we will learn how to utilise AI as producers in exciting ways while some will use it to create really dull music but that's always been possible.

Artists that inspire me have always turned to cutting edge tools whether it's Sly Stone using drum machines, Radiohead using MAX/MSP to build effects, The Beatles getting a Moog on Abbey Road etc.

There has always been a close connection between hip hop and jazz. What role does improvisation play in your current creative process?

When I’m writing new material I often have jazz musicians come in and improvise over beats to see where to take things.

I grew up in New York with hip hop dominating the charts but now in London I’ve arrived in a city that has a really thriving interesting Jazz scene so its become a nice merging of genres.

De La Soul and Tribe sampled old jazz records but I feel like there are great jazz musicians playing today so I want to tap into that and have them on my record.



For many artists, life-changing musical experiences take place live. How do you see that yourself?

I think it's essential that we show up live when so much of our life is in the digital realm these days. When you see the blood sweat and tears of an artist you admire you really have a life changing moment.

D’angelo, Prince, Radiohead are bands that I was able to see live and its an experience uniquely mine while the albums are obviously shared by everyone.



How, would you say are your live performances and your recording projects connected at the moment? How do they mutually influence and feed off each other?  

They definitely feed off each other because I bring a full band into my live show so we’ve got real drums and bass happening.

When I write my songs I’m usually chopping things up, sampling drums so its really cool to recreate that live and see what happens.

I’ve seen some of my songs evolve and shapeshift in the live environment. The songs keep growing in a way.

Are there approaches, artists, festivals, labels, spaces or anyone/-thing else out there who you feel deserve a shout out for taking hip hop into the future?

Jay-Z’s 4:44 was a really important moment where he put out an important, flawless album by a rapper in his 50s.

Musical movements are always sparked by the youth but it’s cool to see the maturity with Jay-Z making a reflective psycho analytical album. That will allow a lot of rappers to have the freedom to express themselves throughout their lives.