Diamante Blackmon spent four years crafting his new musical identity, GORDO. In July, the artist unveiled the results of that journey with DIAMANTE, his debut album that merges his first name with his fresh music moniker.

Blackmon was ready for a change long before he first transitioned from the aggressive rap and electronic music he performed as Carnage to the more relaxed house and techno sounds of GORDO in 2021.

"[Carnage] wasn't working out for me. I wasn't happy. I didn't like where dance music was headed. I was over it. I was making rap music. My shows weren't doing well. Just wasn't working for me, so I had to figure something else out," Blackmon says.

Throughout the album’s 16 cuts, Blackmon explores his wide-ranging musical interests and his Latin American roots through the lens of different forms of house music.

As Carnage, Blackmon made numerous rap hits, including "I Like Tuh" with ILOVEMAKONNEN and "Bricks" with Migos. One of his best friends is Drake. Blackmon produced six songs on Drake’s hip-hop/house hybrid album, Honestly, Nevermind (2022). Now, Drake has returned the favor, providing his smooth vocals over two melodic Afro house tracks on DIAMANTE: "Sideways" and "Healing." Blackmon also continued the legacy of the stalwart Memphis rapper Young Dolph by splicing his vocals from "Talking To My Scale" and placing them on heavy house grooves in "Kill For This Sh-t."

To honor his Nicaraguan heritage, Blackmon collaborated with several Latin American artists on DIAMANTE. The renowned Colombian singer Feid lends his voice to the minimal tech house song, "Hombres y Mujeres," while Mexican-American band Fuerza Regida leads the subtle breakbeat offering, "Nene."

Beyond his affection for rap and his historic relationship with Latin American music, the more chilled house music Blackmon makes as GORDO has been a part of his life for many years. The Carnage discography includes similarly lighter music like the downtempo melodic house track "Letting People Go," and "Together," which features the airy yet electric vocals of the dance singer/songwriter, Elderbrook. 

The first official GORDO track, "KTM," came out in 2021, but the space for him to make music that aligns with who he is opened up when he co-produced Drake's Honestly, Nevermind.

"That was the best start ever if you're trying to start a new name or alias. You literally go to the best, and that was the start for me. You couldn’t ask for anything better," Blackmon says. "I'm really, really excited about this album. I've tried to drop this album two times already in the last two years, and where I'm at now is where I'm happiest. So, everything happens for a reason," Blackmon says. 

Blackmon spoke to GRAMMY.com about his thoughts on the Latin American dance scene, his relationship with Drake, and the growth of his branded Taraka parties into a worldwide community.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Carnage was a multigenre project and GORDO is as well. Why did you want house music to serve as the beating heart of this new multi-genre project?

If people are open, then they do whatever they want. You have guys like John Summit, who is a house DJ, but he's releasing songs that are drum and bass and techno. He's playing dubstep and riddim. If you find your audience and they support you, then it's all good. You'll be happy.

Because of that I'm able to be so multigenre, but this album is me going to what's actually me. I listen to very chill house, very chill melodic techno. Alternative. Like WhoMadeWho. Verboten Berlin. Geist. That's what I listen to. Afro House. I listen to that stuff, and obviously, if you go back to Honestly, Nevermind with Drake, that whole album was Afro House, which is two years before Afro House is where it's at now. It's the biggest subgenre in dance music this year. Especially this summer. This is the summer of Afro House. 

So when I drop this album, which is a lot of very chill music, and they've never heard this music come from me, especially at the level that I'm at now, I can obviously see why a lot of people are gonna be like, "Well, this isn't you." But if you go back, I was making this chill music at the end of Carnage, and then also with Honestly, Nevermind, which damn near half of that album I produced.  

The title of the album is your first name, 'DIAMANTE.' How does this music connect to your truest self?

This album is what is me. Papi Gordo, the first album [as Carnage] was my coming of age. That was a mixture of all my biggest songs back in the day. Battered Bruised & Bloody, my next album [as Carnage] was my revolting. My "I hate EDM, I'm gonna make a bunch of rap music, and you're gonna have to like it."

I was already dealing with a lot of hate. I had a song called "Plur Genocide." If you think about it, too, I'm such an outsider in that world. There aren't that many Black DJs out there, especially as loud and as obnoxious as I was. That was my thing. I wanted to just be loud and obnoxious because, at the end of the day, I was still selling tickets. I still had these massive festivals.

Then when I didn't have that stuff, it started f***ing with my head. But I'm a producer first before DJing. So as long as you make good music, that’s the only thing you need. 

I've never had music that represented me so well before. This album represents me so well. I know a lot of artists say that, but if you listen to the album and look at the track listing and look at all the artists featured on the record, only a person like me could connect these dots.

What was it like working with Drake on your album? 

He's one of my best friends. I don't know what you think about him, but he is Drake. He is statistically the greatest to ever do it. He's beat Michael Jackson. He's beat the Beatles. He's conquered pop culture for 15 years, which is insane. I don't think anyone's ever had a run as long as he did.

I send him everything I do. He sends me everything he makes. So I think unconsciously, he had a big part of my album. The influence of his music and his opinion I hold highest. He was the first legit GORDO supporter since the start. He helped launch GORDO. He solidified me into being taken seriously.

Here comes this EDM trap guy who was making aggressive music and wearing jewelry, and I was super flagrant. Then I changed my name and produced six songs for Drake on his first album where he does something differently.

What is your intention behind your Taraka events? I know that's the name of one of your tracks from the past. But what does that word itself mean?

Taraka means evolution. Taraka means AI. Taraka means the future. Taraka means love. To be honest, I don't know what Taraka means. I just came up with it. But it's a sick name, and it's become this community which is really dope. It's a community of people who are open to all different types of music. They get me. It’s a representation of me. I think that's all we really can do now. Make communities that get each other rather than making communities that want to go against each other. 

Nobody else was booking me, so I said, "Okay I'm gonna do my own thing." Now my thing has become really big. 

Through Taraka you toured 25 Latin American cities in 15 countries. How would you describe the dance music scene in Latin America as compared to the U.S. or the U.K.?

It's the best. You could ask any DJ; the best dance music parties and events are in South America right now. It's all new. It's a good crowd. 10 years ago, when EDM was huge, everyone was pro-EDM. It was about going to Ultra. All these festivals sold the most tickets they ever did. It was this big thing. It was a cultural nationwide moment.

South America. That's where it's at right now. The best crowds, the biggest shows. Everyone's talking about it. All the dudes with all the money are going. People are buying big tables. It's the thing. Even if you don't like going to those things, you understand when it's the thing.

In South America, you either listen to Latin music or you listen to electronic music. You have rock, and you have other ones, but they're not as popular as dance or Latin music. So when it's that prominent good comes from it and bad comes from it. But right now it's good. The parties are incredible man. They appreciate it so much. They appreciate DJs. They appreciate the culture.