MOD SUN Interview- love for Bella Thorne, paying to disappear, blackbear, writing his book, G-Eazy

“They did this competition in Rolling Stones magazine, chose 15 artists that were unsigned and it would be first time in history to give the cover of Rolling Stones to an unsigned artist. I was put into the competition that was sponsored by Garnier.
This was literally two years into being Mod Sun.”

Standing for “Movement on Dreams Stand Under None,” Mod Sun is the hip-hop moniker of Bloomington, Minnesota rapper Derek Smith. He entered the music business as a drummer in the post-hardcore group Four Letter Lie, and took the moniker Mod Sun in 2004. He left Four Letter Lie in 2009 to join Scary Kids Scaring Kids as their drummer, but SKSK’s live shows were also an opportunity to debut Mod Sun as the opening act. Rapping became a full-time job when the group disbanded in 2010 and Mod Sun released his debut, The Hippy Hop EP. The In Mod We Trust EP landed in 2011 and Happy as Fuck followed in 2012. In 2014, he signed with Rostrum Records and released his debut album, Look Up, in 2015. Travis Barker, MGK, and G-Eazy were among the album’s guests. The following year saw Mod Sun issue a handful of new singles, including the Honorable C.N.O.T.E.-produced “Gucci Nail,” “We Do This Shit” (featuring DeJ Loaf), and the Don Cannon-produced “Smokin’ What I’m Smokin’ On” (featuring D.R.A.M. and Rich). In March 2017, Mod Sun delivered his sophomore LP, Movie, featuring the single “Two.” He quickly followed up that same year with another album, BB, and spent 2018 issuing singles like “Runaway” and “Burning Up.” Several singles arrived in January of 2019 including the catchy “Tell Me All Your Secrets.”