Dan Singer (born December 20, 1971), known professionally as Danny Diablo a.k.a. Lord Ezec, is an American hardcore punk and hip hop vocalist. He is a current member of underground hip hop acts The ShotBlockers, KAOS 13 and FTW, and a founding member of hardcore bands Crown of Thornz, Skarhead and Icepick, which gained him success on the New York hardcore scene.

Early life

Born in Harlem, New York, Dan Singer is the son of a Brooklyn-born Polish-Jewish police sergeant father and a Puerto Rican homemaker mother from the East River Houses of Spanish Harlem.

Music career

Bands

Singer formed New York hardcore band Crown of Thornz in 1994 with former

Breakdown Breakdown may refer to: Breaking down *Breakdown (vehicle), failure of a motor vehicle in such a way that it cannot be operated *Chemical decomposition, also called chemical breakdown, the breakdown of a substance into simpler components *Decompo ...

guitarist Mike Dijan, Dimi on drums, Steve O'Brien and

Franklin Rhi Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral div ...

on bass. In 1995, the band released their debut EP ''Train Yard Blues'' on Equal Vision Records, a dedication to Singer's younger brother David, who had committed suicide the previous year. The following year the group released ''Mentally Vexed''. After their hiatus from 1998 to 2013, Crown of Thornz reunited at

Ieperfest Ieperfest is a Belgian hardcore music festival held in Ypres ( nl, Ieper). The summer edition of the festival was first held in September 1992, then annually each August from 1994 to 2018 (no summer event was held in 1993). Since 2019, the summ ...

in Belgium and This Is Hardcore in Philadelphia, and went on a North American tour with Rancid and The Transplants. After Crown of Thornz, Singer decided to set a new trend with his street blend of hardcore, metal, hip hop and punk, founding a new music genre he calls thugcore, with the band Skarhead. The band consisted of Madball's guitarists Brian "Mitts" Daniels and Hoya Roc, former

White Trash White trash is a derogatory racial and class-related slur used in American English to refer to poor white people, especially in the rural southern United States. The label signifies a social class inside the white population and especially a d ...

bassist Aaron "White Owl" Collins, Murphy's Law's and Misfits' drummer Eric "Goat" Arce, and Puerto Rican Mike from District 9. Skarhead's debut ''Drugs, Money & Sex'' EP was released in 1997. The band soon signed to Victory Records for the release of the New York hardcore record ''Kings at Crime'', which hit stores in 1999. The band also had success with their sophomore LP ''Drugs, Music & Sex'', released in 2009. In 2011, European label I Scream Records released the album ''Dreams Don't Die'', Skarhead's tribute to some of Singer's favorite bands from the era between 1986 and 1989. In 1996, Singer collaborated with Jamey Jasta to form the

metalcore Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...

band Icepick, which served as a side project of Hatebreed. Along with their bandmates Derek Kerswill, Wayne Lozinak and Frank Novinec, the group remained virtually stagnant until the song "Born to Crush You" appeared on ''UFC: Ultimate Beat Downs, Vol. 1'' in August 2004. Former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski frequently uses their song "Onward to Victory" as his entrance music for fights. Icepick's debut album, ''Violent Epiphany'', was released on April 18, 2006 under Jasta's record label

Stillborn Records Stillborn Records is an American-based independent record label, founded by Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed, and primarily operated by Jay Reason of the Distance. Stillborn Records has released a variety of bands, mainly focused in the genres of heavy ...

. Singer's current band is The Wilding Incident, which also features Jimmy Williams of Nausea/Maximum Penalty.

Solo

Singer's first solo recording began with "D.R.E.A.M." by The Transplants, which mentioned him to sign with Travis Barker of Blink-182's

LaSalle Records LaSalle Records was an American record label and a former division of Atlantic Records. History The record label was founded in 2004 and was owned by musician Travis Barker. The label is located in Corona, California. Most of the bands curren ...

for the 2005 release of his ''Hardcore 4 Life'' EP. Diablo included some of its tracks on ''

Thugcore 4 Life ''Thugcore 4 Life'' is the fourth studio album by American hip hop and hardcore punk artist, Danny Diablo. It was released August 14, 2007 via Suburban Noize Records. The album was praised by both hardcore punk fans as well as hip hop fans. This r ...

'' record released in 2007, featuring the Tim Armstrong-produced track "Living By The Gun". His friendship with Armstrong remained, and he moved to

Epitaph Records Epitaph Records is an American independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, most acts signed to the label were punk and pop punk acts, while there are many post-hardcore and emo bands ...

and signed with Tim's Hellcat Records to release his sophomore solo album ''

International Hardcore Superstar ''International Hardcore Superstar'' is the sixth studio album by Danny Diablo. It was released on October 6, 2009, via Tim Armstrong's Hellcat Records. The record is the follow-up to his 2007 album Thugcore 4 Life. Track listing Samples *"Sex ...

'' in 2009, with guest appearances by La Coka Nostra members, Vinnie Paz, Sick Jacken and Tim himself. In early 2012, Singer founded his own independent record label, ILL-ROC Records and released his third album, ''The Blood Of Eden'', which featured Madchild,

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, Adil Omar, and the ILL-ROC roster. He went to Paris and released his fourth album, ''Dollerz Make Sense'', in 2016 via Knives Out Records.

Production

Singer has made vocal appearances with Ceekay Jones, Jay R, Grizz, and Prince Metropolitan.

Discography

Studio albums

* 2007 - ''

'' * 2009 - ''

'' * 2012 - ''The Blood of Eden'' * 2016 - ''Doller Make Sense'' * 2017 - ''The Crackson Heights Project'' *2019 - ''Diablo's Way Mixtape''

Extended plays

* 2005 - ''Hardcore 4 Life''

Compilation albums

* 2003 - ''The Street CD Volume 1'' * 2005 - ''Street C.D. Volume # 2'' * 2008 - '' Hardcore 4 The Coldhearted'' * 2016 - Force 5 Records Mixtape Vol. 1

Vs series

* 2008 - ''When Worlds Collide'' (w/ The Vendetta)

Collaborative albums

*2016 - ''The World Is Fucked'' (w/ Skriptkeeper & Tony Slippaz as FTW) *2020 - Devils & Demons (w/ Mars) *2021 - Spictacular (w/ S.P.I.C)

Guest appearances

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Diablo, Danny Living people American people of Polish-Jewish descent American people of Puerto Rican descent People from East Harlem American male singers Rap rock musicians Suburban Noize Records artists Underground rappers Equal Vision Records artists Rappers from Manhattan Hellcat Records artists 1971 births 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians