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Dear-God: Lovin' It

The aggressive cut fuses hip-hop and hardcore, to adrenalizing effect.

Dear-God: Lovin' It

By Kerry Doole

Dear-God - Lovin' It (Dine Alone Records): Dear-God is the project of Robert Ortiz, from Brampton, Ontario. At just 19, he's already creating a stir with a fiery sound that fuses experimental hip-hop and hardcore elements.


“Lovin It’ is his new single. In a press release, he explains that "it's a fun song about winning after years of rejection. Growing up, I never felt like I could succeed or be happy in an academic setting. I ground it out after high school busting my ass doing physically exhausting dirty jobs because I wanted to support my music career. I was greeted with a lot of rejection for a long time, but I kept going. This song should serve as an inspiration to any kid who feels stupid and worthless because of their academic/career failures. Know your worth and do something sick.”

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The track features Ortiz spitting out the lyrics atop abrasive production and aggressive guitar, but there's a melodic quality to his brand of noise that'll draw you in. Previous singles Buck and The Burbs have a similar quality, and reference points include Beastie Boys and King Krule.

Buck premiered on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 show on Apple Music back in July, and in 2019 Dear-God opened for Wu-Tang Clan at Toronto’s MattyFest and joined The Dirty Nil on tour. An act to keep an eye on.

Links

Website

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

PR: Jessica Santa, Listen Harder

Management: Aaron Miller & Nathan Stein

Booking: Adam Countryman & Nick Storch

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This past weekend, MusicNL celebrated the province’s artists and industry leaders at the 2025 MusicNL Awards Gala, held at the St. John’s Convention Centre. Leading the winners list with two awards apiece were Kelly McMichael, Nick Earle and the Reckless Hearts, Deantha Edmunds, XIA-3, and Quote the Raven.

MusicNL also celebrated many first-time award recipients, including Zaynab Wilson (R&B Artist of the Year), Smoke Signals (Loud Artist of the Year), Andrew Gosse (Electronic Artist of the Year), and Evan Watts Smith (Rising Star of the Year).

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