Molly Matalon / The FADER
10 years ago this month, the Western Massachusetts musical collective known as Dark World appeared on the cover of The FADER. The niche non-urban assortment of rappers, singers, guitarists, and producers had achieved a sort of semi-notoriety among the seriously tapped in thanks to their disarming YouTube videos and ultra DIY ethos. It helped that their music, as bizarre as it could be, really slapped.
Dark World was founded in the early 2010s by Lucas Kendall, better known by his stage name DJ Lucas. At the time, Lucas, alongside brother Dana and friend Chris Wardlaw, was playing in a rock band called Worm. Dark World began as a loose, informal group of friends who liked to hang out and make music together, and that formlessness allowed a wide range of styles and approaches to blossom under the collective’s name.
At its height, Dark World had more than a dozen artists in its ranks, including names like LUCY (Cooper B. Handy) and Sen Morimoto. But many of the artists associated with its buzziest era have since departed from Dark World. Plenty of its former members are still putting out new releases. Others seem to have transitioned out of music, though what they might be up to now isn’t always apparent.
Those that seem to have vanished into the ether include Chris Wardlaw (who also recorded under the name Pale Horses), as well as the producer Josue and keyboardist Eamon Wick, who played alongside Lucas and Kendall in the teen prodigy rock band Who Shot Hollywood? Others are still in the music industry but working behind the scenes, like Lucas Graham, another Who Shot Hollywood? alum who now works as an A&R with Create Music Group.
Here’s what happened to everyone from Dark World.
LUCY (Cooper B. Handy)
The singer-songwriter born Cooper Handy makes songs that defy easy categorization. You might call him an underground pop star, or a bedroom folk singer, or a sorta decent rapper, depending on what song you hear first. His latest album CITIZEN’S ARREST was recently released on October 9.
According to a 2017 interview conducted over email, LUCY left Dark World in November 2016, saying he “no longer supports what they are doing.” He’s been quite prolific in the years since, releasing several solo albums, plus collaborative projects with God’s Wisdom, SURF GANG, producer i.v., and more. He’s also half of the punk band Taxidermists and half of the Club Casualties project alongside fellow former Dark World member Nick Atkinson (aka GHOST).
Once upon a time, Sen Morimoto was the first guy in Dark World brave enough to rap. Nowadays, the multi-instrumentalist is part indie rocker, part jazz musician, though I get the sense he’s not really worried about genre labels. Morimoto released his debut album Cannonball! after moving to Chicago in 2016, where he’s been based for the past decade. That year he helped cofound Sooper Records, a DIY label that recently celebrated its 10th anniversary.
While it’s hard to pinpoint when exactly he parted ways with his former collective, his “Dark World” tattoos appear to have been covered up by spring of 2018, when Cannonball! was released. Morimoto has put out three full-length LPs in the years since, plus some live records and compilation albums. He’s got a new album Time Is On Your Side due out next week.
In January, a sprawling profile of Gods Wisdom hit the internet courtesy of writer Samuel Hyland. In that profile, the eclectic musician (née Reuven Ender) comes across as a dynamic, passionate artist with unexpectedly tragic lore. Those dark details seem less important to understanding Gods Wisdom than witnessing his impassioned quest to make bizarre, untethered music, however he sees fit, from striking electric guitars with drumsticks to disappearing off the grid for days, even weeks on end. Like his friend LUCY, he’s been strikingly prolific over the past decade, though the exact timing of his departure from Dark World is hard to pin down.
Mal Devisa
Mal Devisa, aka Deja Carr, was one of the only women associated with Dark World. After her 2016 debut Kiid, Carr took a somewhat circuitous path to her sophomore album. In between, she worked on collaborative music with bestie Gods Wisdom and signed to Topshelf Records, which released the wide-ranging compilation Palimpsesa in 2025. Carr’s sophomore album spanned recordings from 2015 to the present, and she’s been writing poetry besides.
An original co-founding member of Dark World alongside older brother DJ Lucas, it makes sense that Weird Dane has remained affiliated with the group through the years. While he still makes music, including as part of boy band-esque quartet 22Daney alongside Dark World members Eric Yelle, Finesse Fresco, and Rydeordie, Weird Dane seems to spend more of his time these days working as a videographer and merch designer.
It’s been more than a decade since Eric Yelle was dubbed Eric the Ratt at the inaugural meeting of Dark World. Naturally, he outgrew that name pretty quickly, instead recording under the name eRATT before circling back to his birth name. He put out an album Face of a Mountain on Dark World Records in 2024, and has been teasing a new mixtape set to drop this winter.
DJ Lucas
Dark World’s founder and leader has maintained a prolific output over the decades, thanks in no small part to his father pushing Lucas and brother Dana to perform music from a very early age. While his recorded output has slowed slightly in the 2020s, it’s rare for 12 months to go by without a new DJ Lucas album, and during the 2010s, he’d frequently release multiple projects in a calendar year. His star obviously grew with Dark World, but his close affiliation with Wiki (formerly of Ratking) has helped to buoy his reputation as a solo quantity within the world of hip-hop more broadly.
Internet chatter occasionally alludes to unspecified sexual assault allegations against DJ Lucas. Though the alleged victims have opted not to come forward and publicize their stories, these rumors have continued to resurface over the years. LUCY, Gods Wisdom, and Sen Morimoto had a major falling out with Lucas prior to departing the group, and some longtime Dark World fans believe it was because of the allegations. Following the release of Cooper B. Handy’s Album Vol. IV, his first album after departing Dark World, LUCY opted to donate 75% of the proceeds to anti-sexual violence organization RAINN.
At the start of The FADER documentary on Dark World, a young rapper named Reed freestyles in a bubble bath (no comment). Reed might have figured as a minor figure in Dark World’s early days, but he’s maintained a consistent career, working especially closely with fellow rapper Hunnaloe: together, the pair have formed SRH Records to release their music alongside fellow Dark World producer Sly C.
