Cariondied Is Turning Isolation Into Identity on B4D$K

Carion, professionally known as Cariondied, is an emerging artist, engineer, and producer from Plano, Illinois. Through honest storytelling and self-produced music, he explores identity, personal growth, cultural isolation, and the experience of growing up Black in a predominantly suburban environment. His upcoming five-song EP, B4D$K, will serve as the introduction to his forthcoming album, D$K.

The name “Cariondied” originally came from one of his high school basketball teammates, but its meaning eventually became much more personal. To Carion, the “died” represents the idea that an older version of himself is always disappearing as he continues to grow.

“It’s more of a ‘Who will Carion become?’ type of thing,” he explains. That theme of identity and transformation is at the center of his upcoming five-song EP, B4D$K. The project will serve as an introduction to his forthcoming album, D$K, and gives listeners an early look into the experiences and emotions that shaped him. The title is inspired by the skateboard brand DGK, short for “Dirty Ghetto Kids.” Growing up Black in the predominantly suburban town of Plano, Carion often struggled to understand where he fit in. “I always felt like I was too white for the Black kids and too Black for the white kids,” he says.

B4D$K represents the young people who exist within that cultural middle ground. It speaks to those who deeply love their culture and community but have still been made to feel unwanted or disconnected from it. At the same time, they continue to experience outside judgment simply because they are Black. Rather than creating a character or relying on a gimmick, Carion approaches music as his purest form of self-expression. As an artist, producer, and engineer, he has the ability to shape every part of his sound and present his story exactly as he experiences it.

“I don’t need a gimmick. This is just my self-expression in the highest form,” he says. Through B4D$K and the upcoming D$K album, Cariondied hopes to encourage younger listeners to stop changing themselves in order to be accepted. His message is simple: keep being yourself, even when the world makes you feel like you do not belong.