Interviews
Exclusive Interview: oniryuichi Steps Into a New Chapter Ahead of His Birthday
oniryuichi
Emerging from the Midwest with a deeply personal approach to songwriting, oniryuichi is an artist whose music blends emotional honesty with fearless experimentation. Born in Indi
ana, raised in Chicago, and now rooted in Columbus, Ohio, his journey has been shaped by movement, growth, and a lifelong connection to music. From performing a Bob Marley song as a child to exploring genres ranging from drill to indie rock, oniryuichi continues to evolve as an artist driven by expression, collaboration, and a desire to create something meaningful.
What is your Stage Name?
“oniryuichi (oh-knee-ry-oo-ee-chee)”
Where are you from? State / Country?
“I was born in South Bend Indiana, spent most of my childhood in Chicago, and moved around a lot until I ended up in Columbus Ohio. I’ve been in Ohio since then for the most part, finishing college in Cincinnati and eventually residing in Columbus.”
What made you want to pursue a career in music?
“Since I was born I have been musically inclined. I performed a Bob Marley song during my Pre K graduation, and when I turned 13 my parents got me my first DJ turntable. Sinc
e then I have been making music as a form of therapy for myself. I tend to vent my emotions or try to convey feelings that I may be feeling in my music and then I can enjoy it back even more since its super personal to me. Its like when you find a song and you’re like ‘that hits so close to home’, except my hits come straight from the home!”
Can you share some highlights of your music career if any?
“A major highlight of my career was meeting the Triple Jacket group. Without this group I would not have anywhere CLOSE to the sound that I have today.”
How would you describe your style and sound as an artist?
“I would say my style and sound for the most part is a melodic freestyle rapper who enjoys exploring many genres. I am a very experimental artist who tends to make music based on my own personal interests. Whatever artists I am currently listening to or really like I tend to adapt to their genre, resulting in me having a discography ranging from sexy drill to hyperpop to indie rock to emo rap!”
In what ways do you believe your music resonates with your audience?
“In a lot of my more emotional and love songs, I tend to include a lot of my personal experiences and personal struggles. I think being vulnerable and putting myself out there in a way that many of my listeners can essentially understand a lot about me just from listening to my music, and I think that allows many people to connect with me on a deeper level even without having to have that face to face interaction.”
How do you approach collaboration with
other musicians or producers?
“I love working with others! Any opportunity that I get to work with someone is an opportunity for me to learn and perfect my craft. I believe that EVERYONE has something they specialize in that they can teach someone, and everyone has something they could work on and learn, so collaborations are literally the foundation to becoming a better artist in my opinion. A lot of my sound has gotten better simply from just chatting with artists in discord or working on collab albums and I ended up learning a lot more than I realized just from being able to work with others.”
Can you share any experiences working with a team in the past? or are you truly independent?
“All of my individual music is mostly independent, however I love working with and collaborating with everyone from the Triple Jacket group. My FAVORITE collaboration of all time is my album with Tanger. I was in a pretty toxic relationship at the time so I couldn’t pop out to the club often or I wasn’t really in a good mental place to make music, but Tanger really just forced it out of me. There were a lot of points where the vocals were super rough and she just made it work, or where I was feeling super unmotivated and she just brought the artist out of me and just made me get to work and lock in. At a certain point I remember her simply making beats that she said were impossible to rap on and I was just like ‘ight bet’ and that became the trend for a vast majority of the songs on the album. I truly learned a lot about my vocal range, the different styles I’m comfortable with, as well as just the experience working with Tanger was such a pleasure! Shes such a talented musician and such a blast to be around.”
Have you had any significant achievements or accolades in your career that you’re particularly proud of?
“Speaking of Triple Jacket, we have a music video titled ‘Frenesi’ that we made, and it was the first time being a part of an experience like that and even though its a very small achievement, being able to be apart of something like that will forever hold a special place in my heart.”
What motivates you to continue pushing yourself as an artist?
“When my mother passed away, I was feeling a lot of emotions of not being enough at the time of her passing. This immense pressure of not being someone that she could be proud of, or not being someone that I felt proud standing before her as, is still something I really struggle with to this day. My mother loved music, my family talks about her favorite songs and I feel a true deep connection with her when I listen to a lot of her classics, so I made a promise to myself to continue to make music and to dedicate my talents to creating art that I can eventually say she would be extremely proud of. I also just aspire to be the best version of myself with anything I do, and music has been something Ive been passionate about for so long and have slowly worked on and progressed with that I am gonna see it through until the end. I don’t think I’ll ever stop making art for as long as I live.”
Have you faced any challenges in your career, and how did you overcome them?
“My biggest challenge is measuring my self confidence with actual talent. I struggled a lot with my old music and being a very open and showing person, but the music was actually terrible. I would send it to anyone and everyone I know and naturally they all hated it. When I started learning more and developing new skills, I stayed more reserved and made music more for myself than anything, which kinda sucks now because I have a lot of music thats really well done and put together that I just needed a little bit of help polishing but my self confidence prevented me from promoting or even showing my music off to essentially anyone. Now, I am trying to overcome all of that. I just started showing my music off again and I am trying to undo the years of self doubt by just putting myself out there. I know I have the talent and capabilities to make good music, and I need to start portraying myself as such instead of overthinking and letting the old times haunt me.”
How do you engage with your fan base on social media, and what role does it play in your overall strategy?
“I love to engage with each and any fan I get on socials! I’m not naturally someone who is on their phone much so when I am I try to at least reply to everyones comment or dm, although sometimes I miss a couple. Im not sure if its really a strategy, but I love to show support to those who support me even if its just showing my gratitude. Each and every person that enjoys my music and is willing to join me on my journey is extremely special to me, and it means the world to me that someone is willing to spend their time appreciating my art. I do everything I can to show that appreciation back simply because I would not be anything without them.”
What is the next single you want to release?
“I have a few projects that I have in the vault that I am currently working on promoting, trying to see what music catches traction while mostly promoting a lot of my old catalogue as well. I have a couple of tracks, one is a Westwood type song that I would like to drop, as well as a lowkey rnb trap kind of chill song that I have been looking for a feature for then possibly dropping soon as well depending on the promo.”
Music & Links