Somewhere in the midst of a late night drive, dedede on repeat, my passenger and dear friend turned to me and said, “this sounds like what friendship feels like.” An encapsulation so perfect there was almost a feeling of relief in my chest, hearing it spoken out loud.
dedede — as you’ll hear in the project with a literal how-to guide (pronounced “de”, as in “detail”), is the self-titled, debut collaboration between multidisciplinary artist/performer/extraordinaire Lottie World and the first musical release of visual artist, Ben King, under his alias DJ Cool Style.
In creating the work, Lottie focused on vocals, lyrics and instrumentals, while DJ Cool Style handled production; though in the years they worked on it these roles often blended together, something you can hear when listening. Rarely will you find a debut where such unbelievably clear chemistry is so evident from the get go and carries through all the way to close.
dedede is a stunning expression of pure, unadulterated creativity. It’s theatrical, slick, heartfelt, very pretty, and above all, a monster of an earworm. You’ll have hooks, melodies and vocals ringing through your head for days after listening. DJ Cool Style’s production is almost purpose-built for Lottie World’s expressiveness. Together they openly hold our hand through a ride that can feel almost like it should be private, as if we’re peering into their own budding connection. Lottie’s instrumentation, lyrics and vocal delivery are accentuated by sample flicks and flourishes that hit almost like splashes of colour; see: ‘head just hurts’ ’ “glug” and ‘poem’s’ sudden phone tones. Nothing ever gets stale, even within individual songs it feels limitless to what might happen next or what sounds might appear to flip the track on its head.
‘head just hurts’ and ‘radio’ are awesome expressions of Lottie World’s innate ability to build a hook that reels you in forever. Her cheeky delivery at the top of ‘demion’ is a grinning ear to ear experience, only made bigger by the insane and whimsical keys right after. And ‘dear diary’ into ‘demion’ is going to take some beating for the most fun musical moment of 2025. The use of a squeaking bed at the end of ‘dear diary’ slowly warped into what sounds like a demon laughing is reminiscent of The Avalanches scratching a record to emulate a parrot talking.
Penultimate track ‘kawale’ inspires with a sense of exploration and freedom echoing almost childlike innocence, before dedede wraps with ‘so far away’. An epic that builds and culminates with the perfect expression of all the vocal, production and instrumental chemistry DJ Cool Style and Lottie World have intertwined across the project.
dedede is a record 3 years in the making and instantaneous all at once. A genuine expression of organic friendship - something you might just feel yourself.
Words by Josh Di Matteo