WORDS & ART BY IAN HOFFMAN
It can be hard to take genres seriously when it’s just a word with “core” slapped on the end of it. Dariacore, also often referred to as hyperflip, is a growing hyperpop subgenre that really likes to joke with that idea. With its roots in the side project of leading hyperpop artist Jane Remover, the album Dariacore, a play on the adult animated TV show Daria, was the definitive start of the genre. Inspired by an absurd mashup of pop music, breakbeats and Jersey club music, many producers have started self-releasing music on SoundCloud that plays with the silly and danceable nature of the style. Producers have taken characters from their favorite media series and added ‘core’ to form their own microgenre that encompasses their personal production style. The genre has mostly proliferated through SoundCloud due to the platform’s low restrictions on copyrighted material, a problem that many producers face due to the heavy sampling in their music. Dariacore uses prominent vocal samples (known as flips) paired with aggressive basslines and fast electronic beats. Despite its youth, the genre already has traditions and trends within it. For example, many producers cover “homeswitcher” by Jane Remover or use various elements from the song, such as its prominent snare, in their productions. The genre also often uses the classic bed squeaking sound effect from Trillville’s “Some Cut”; this sound effect is extremely popular in Jersey club music, a foundational influence of dariacore.
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After the release of Dariacore in 2021, many producers like xaev, steej, carbine and more created their own album series using characters like Berdly from Deltarune or Darwin from The Amazing World of Gumball. The amusing nature of the style has led artists to be extremely open with experimenting sonically, especially with samples. Hailing from Seattle, Washington, nyxies is a 20 year old producer that started her own dariacore album series at the beginning of 2024. “I started watching Red vs. Blue in middle school and have been a diehard fan since then, and it seemed like no one in the scene had taken grifcore as a title yet,” said nyxies. She now releases a song in the grifcore series every Tuesday morning and has 3 ‘seasons’ of tracks released. “Ironically, I don’t think Grif is even my favorite character. That’s probably Donut.” “Dariacore being a mashup genre isn’t just about the samples, to me it’s also about how every person’s style and production technique is a mashup of all their favorite music and references. No two artists in the scene sound the same,” nyxies said. Her style is not an exception to this, mixing drum loops and heavy synths with satisfying samples like “Airplanes” by BoB on “the metaverse killed my dog” or “Kiss Me More” by Doja Cat on “ohh, so n0w im #upset ??!!” The unique use of samples in dariacore allows artists to express themselves by flipping a wide array of vocal clips from music they enjoy.