Mikaela Rabizadeh social media editor
SoundCloud rappers are not too hard to come by.  It seems like everyone is a SoundCloud rapper these days and all of them conveniently want to be the next Lil Uzi Vert. As an audio distribution platform designed to easily discover new artists, Soundcloud has birthed the millennial rap wave, making it easier than ever for a 16-year-old to make a beat in his basement and fortuitously go viral.
However, in his budding rap career, junior Armon Dadvand aims to seperate himself from the stereotypical SoundCloud rapper.  By making his own beats different from the overused trap sound, Dadvand sets himself apart from his competition.
“Other SoundCloud rappers, man, they all sound the exact same. I’m not going to lie,” he said. “Every other SoundCloud rapper has their super trappy beat with the one snare pattern they all use. They all have the same flow. Their lyrics are nothing to note about. Even if you want to say, ‘Oh their music is more lit’ or ‘Theirs is more fun to listen to,’ in every aspect, my music is different from theirs, different from anyone else on SoundCloud of my age and skill level.”
Under the alias “A the Kid,” Dadvand launches his tracks on SoundCloud and YouTube. His production process is a self-taught one-man job.
“I couldn’t find any existing producers that captured the sound I wanted to capture, so I decided the best way to do it was just to do it myself,” he said. “I make my own beats and I put them on SoundCloud. First, I’ll sum up what I want the song to be about and then I look for samples, look for certain sounds, look for drums, and I’ll make the beat. Then I’ll write to the beat, record, edit, mix and all that.”
Dadvand’s music and writing process is inspired by various artists’ techniques that lend to his personal sound.  
“Tupac, Kendrick Lamar, J Cole, Eminem. Those are probably the four most influential. I notice some of the little things they do,” he said. “I notice a lot of things with the sound of their music, especially on the production end for artists like J. Cole. And lyrically, I based a lot of what I write off Eminem and how he would just cram rhymes.  And then Tupac just influences everything I do really,” he said.
Among the artists Dadvand looks up to, he holds a personal connection to rapper Tupac Shakur.  Dadvand considers Shakur his role model not just in music, but in his general life as well.
“I have this book of all the poems he wrote when he was around my age and I always read at least on a day,” he said. “It’s super dope because just by reading them, I feel a lot of the emotions he feels I can relate to a lot. And that’s one big thing for rappers, just being able to be super relatable.”
Junior Alex Suljic, who worked with Dadvand on his latest music video, believes Armon has come a long way since she first heard his music freshman year.

“He deters from generic melodies and beats to have a different style instead of trying to sound mainstream, even though it’s an easy way to become popular on SoundCloud,” Suljic said.

On Dadvand’s bid to gain prominence in the music industry, he is backed by a solid support system.  With his family and friends by his side, he hopes to continue creating relatable, inspiring content.
“A lot can happen in five years, so I’m just trying to keep doors open,” Dadvand said. “My sound has already developed within nine, 10 months. I just can’t even imagine how it will develop in the future.”