“I definitely go hard on myself because I feel like a lot of people depend on me. I know if I was depending on somebody, I would want them to be giving it their fucking all – so that’s what I gotta do.”
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When Destroy Lonely first landed in London in 2023, he played to a crowd just north of 2,000 – a swarm of leather, latex, and locked-in energy packed into O2 Forum Kentish Town. When we first spoke back then, he was already thinking a few levels ahead. Fast forward to now, and the 23-year-old Atlanta native is gearing up to walk onto the stage of London’s OVO Wembley Arena, where 12,500 fans are waiting for him to tear it all down. You’d think the scale of it might rattle him – but Lone, as he’s known to the Opium faithful, couldn’t look more composed. Draped in a heavily distressed vintage tee, charcoal eyeshadow bleeding softly into his under-eyes, he lounges into a low-slung leather chair like he’s in the green room of a bar, not a behemoth arena.
As a core member of Playboi Carti’s Opium imprint – a label less like a roster and more like a neo-gothic cult of cool – Lone exists in rare air. Alongside Ken Carson and Homixide Gang, he’s part of one of the most mythologised collectives of the 2020s. But even within that world, Lone’s crafted his own gravitational pull: moody, meticulous, and magnetically aloof. Where others blur the lines between rap, raver and rockstar, he erases them altogether – stitching together a look and sound that feels like the lovechild of Rick Owens and early Tumblr, funneled through the nihilism of the digital age.
Since that last UK run, he’s dropped two projects – 2023’s ‘If Looks Could Kill’ and 2024’s ‘LOVE LASTS FOREVER’. The latter – a syrupy cocktail of synth-drenched rage, earwormy auto-tune and bass that ricochets through your sternum – feels purpose-built for the stage. And that’s exactly where Lone’s world comes alive. At Wembley, a sea of blacked-out silhouettes (save for a few fans in rogue superhero cosplay) move like a single, thrashing organism – arms flailing, phones up, faces melting. Lone commands from a strobe-lit podium, less frontman than phantom, orchestrating chaos with the calm of someone who knows exactly what he’s built.
With only a few dates left before the curtains fall on his sprawling European tour, Lone is already looking beyond the strobe lights. His mind is on what’s next – and, if his cryptic online teases are anything to go by, it’s about to be a seismic shift. Before we sat down, Lone dropped a subtle bomb on Twitter: he’s reviving the beloved ‘</3³’ mixtape series for its third chapter – a raw, heart-scarred collection that helped define his early ascent and cemented his cult status.
But that’s not the only thing stirring in the shadows. The long-fabled Ken Carson x Destroy Lonely collab tape – more rumour than reality for the past year – finally feels within reach. Add whispers of a long-awaited Playboi Carti feature into the mix, and 2025 is shaping up to be one hell of a year for both Lone and his loyalists.
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You’re about halfway through the tour now, how are you feeling? How’s it going so far?
I feel like shit [laughs]. I’m sick right now. But I feel good at the same time. I ain’t been on tour in two years, and I don’t feel like I exist unless I’m on the road, so this shit makes me feel alive.
So you’re definitely one of those artists who fully embraces being on the road?
All I do is record. And if I’m not recording, like if I have days where I’m just at the house playing a game, I’m like, “fuck, am I a bum?” So I gotta do this to keep going.
What’s been your favourite city or country to visit so far?
So far, Zurich, here [London], and Berlin. I went to Berghain – that shit was crazy. It’s a lot of different things going on in there. That shit’s sick though.
So I know you’ve been to the UK a few times now for your own shows and festivals. What’s something you love and hate about the UK?
I don’t like that y’all drive on the opposite side of the road. I don’t like the traffic. But I really love how you guys have y’all own culture. I don’t know how to explain it. Maybe that’s me speaking from the outsider perspective, but I don’t know. It’s different here. And I like how the roads and buildings look.
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What do you think about the food? I know that’s something a lot of American artists aren’t too fond of.
Everybody keeps asking that. I’ve only eaten McDonald’s, but y’all got like the craziest McDonald’s meal I ever seen.
What’s your order?
Chicken Selects and french fries [laughs].
Yeah, that’s standard. I know you’re only here for a short period of time, but have you had a chance to link up with any UK artists?
I really fuck with Skepta. And I was just telling some people, listening-wise, I like the YT dude – he’s cool. But no, I haven’t had the chance to link up with anyone.
The first show you did here was a capacity of a couple thousand, now you’re here doing arenas. What’s that feeling like knowing this many people from across the world are coming out just to see you?
I’m still trying to like, feel it. It’s crazy. But I’m one of those people where it’s gonna take until I’m back at home, just playing a game, and I’ll be like, damn, I just did a fucking arena in London. It’s fucking crazy. And man, being able to reach people around the world – that’s like a fucking dream, bro. That shit just still doesn’t feel real.
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Performing is obviously a huge thing for you. There’s always so much energy and you always put in 110%. How has it been transferring that energy to bigger stages – what’s that learning process been like?
I had to teach myself how to perform like I do now. Because like you said, I’m so used to more intimate shows and smaller venues, and it took me a long time to even get good at that. Like now, I’ve done so many festivals and I’m back doing my own tour. When it’s your own shit, you get to play around and get comfortable. I’ve just been practicing as I go, but I definitely try to give a better show every time and just interact with the people more. Because there’s so many people, and they’re here for the music, but they really are here to see you too. So I like to talk to the crowd and joke and play around and shit.
Is there anything you do before a show that gets you in that mode?
I smoke like a hundred cigarettes and sleep [laughs].
And what’s on your rider?
Apple juice, rolling papers, lighters, soap, and cigarettes.
What more could you need! In terms of music, you tweeted the other day that you’ll be dropping ‘</3³’. What made you want to return to that series?
Alright, that’s a really good question. Because for a minute I didn’t know what I wanted to do next. So I just sat back and studied myself. I’m probably like the biggest Destroy Lonely fan – I dunno if that’s weird. So I see what everybody says about me, I see how everybody feels, I see what they want. I’m not the type of artist that’s gonna sit here and be like, “Yeah bro, I’m about to go back and be who I was before.” But I definitely want to still show people like, hold on now, I could make whatever the fuck I want to. Right now I’m choosing to make whatever I want artistically, but this is a project that I really just want to be for my fans. Like, it’s just my old producers on there, and old shit that I would do. Just me being completely myself, nothing else.
And is that something you’ve already started working on? What’s the timeline on that?
Practically done. But it’s all new music – straight 2025. I’ve been recording it on the road, in the dressing room, in basements, in houses – just the old shit I used to be on, just recording anywhere and having fun with it.
So going back to that raw energy in a way?
Exactly!
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And you also tweeted that the joint project with you and Ken Carson might be coming before that. Is that something that’s pretty much completed as well?
Not yet, but that’s something that’s definitely the focus now. He dropped his projects, he got his new one [‘More Chaos’] about to come out. I got my shit, my mixtape, and then 2025 we just focused on the Ken Carson and Destroy Lonely project.
I wanted to speak about Playboi Carti’s album [MUSIC] for a second, because I know DJ Akademiks said you were supposed to be on there before it dropped.
Honestly, I don’t know where he got that from.
So that’s not factual information then?
It’s not unfactual either, because Carti might have played him some music – I know how that goes. But for sure me and Carti got hella songs, hella new songs. So he probably fucked around and heard some shit.
Gotcha. I’ve read in interviews before, you’ve said you don’t consider yourself successful. Is that still the case?
I know I’m successful now, but I don’t think I’m big, though.
Okay, and at what point did you think, “Okay, now I feel successful”? Is it money? Personal growth?
Yeah, it’s that [personal growth]. It’s exactly that and that’s why I don’t feel big in terms of success because yeah, if you ask me, I’m like just some small American artist who is a part of this big label who I really appreciate. But success to me came when I realised that I was able to help my friends and my mama – that’s when it really hit. Like the year before, I got homies who I was able to make sure they got their own life now, giving them a job, and I got my mum a car and a house and shit. Even though it sounds like material things and shit, it’s more just me being able to be like, this is beyond me now. I remember when we first spoke, it was just me, and I probably was only able to help myself. But now it’s to a point where I could really put people on and help my family.
Do you feel any type of pressure to be that provider for people now?
Definitely. It’s a crazy cycle of just learning. But yeah, I definitely go hard on myself because I feel like a lot of people depend on me. I know if I was depending on somebody, I would want them to be giving it their fucking all – so that’s what I gotta do.
As difficult as it can be, I suppose being able to be that provider for people is still really fulfilling.
I wouldn’t want to have it any other way because I love helping people. I’m the type of n**** to give a homeless n**** like a fucking million dollars if I could. I like helping everybody in the best way I can.
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Moving onto fashion, which has always been a big part of your life. You always say that whatever you’re wearing gives off exactly how you’re feeling for the day. So what does today’s outfit say about how you’re feeling?
Leather and a shitty big old shirt with fucking holes in it. I’ve been feeling mad brutal recently and like I’ve been fighting. I want to look like I’ve been in a fucking fight and I also want to look like a fucking rockstar.
What’s your favourite piece in your wardrobe right now?
I just bought a real leather jacket that has nothing to do with designer or nothing. It’s just like a cool, old man vintage leather jacket. It’s my favourite thing right now – I got it in some vintage store out here two weeks ago.
What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about Destroy Lonely?
The biggest misconception about me? I got a list of things off the top of my head, but honestly right now I feel like everybody’s fucking wrong – that’s just all I gotta say about that [laughs]. Man, everybody’s fucking wrong.
If you could rule the world for one day, what would go down?
I would make everybody come outside, right? And then I would try to find the biggest sound system and then I would throw the biggest party. Then I would just leave my stance as the leader of the world and give it to somebody else.
One final thing. Obviously you have ‘</3³’ coming, alongside the collab album with Ken, but what’s the plan outside of that? Will you take some time off after tour or is it straight back to making music?
Straight back to music… and I wanna buy a Ferrari.
What type?
SF90 – purple. That’s it. I do them two things, I’m straight. Make music, get the Ferrari, keep going.
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Words: Chris Saunders
Photography: Haruki
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Built For The Pressure: Destroy Lonely Interviewed – clashmusic.com
