Danny Diablo

Daniel Singer (born December 20, 1971), known professionally as Danny Diablo a.k.a. Lord Ezec, is an American hardcore punk and hip hop recording artist, record producer, graffiti painter, actor and model. He is a current member of underground hip hop acts The ShotBlockers, D.M.S. and FTW, and a founding member of hardcore bands Crown Of Thornz, Skarhead and Icepick, which gain him a huge success on NYHC scene.^[1][2]

Early life

Born in Manhattan, New York, Daniel 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.^[3]

Dan started writing graffiti at an early age under his Lord Ezec moniker.

He was stabbed with an 8-inch screwdriver and almost died in 1993. He was almost charged by the court because of the beating the stabber took. He spent almost two months at St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan.

Diablo was arrested for attempted murder in 1998 and swore to change his life with music when he was released.

Music career

Bands

Lord Ezec formed NYHC band Crown Of Thornz in 1994 with former Breakdown guitarist Mike Dijan, Dimi on drums, Steve O'Brien and Franklin Rhi on bass. In 1995, the band released their debut EP "Train Yard Blues" on Equal Vision Records, a dedication to Danny’s younger brother David who committed suicide the year prior. The following year the group released "Mentally Vexed". After their hiatus from 1998 to 2013, Crown Of Thornz reunited at Ieper Fest in Belgium and This Is Hardcore in Philadelphia, and went on North America tour with Rancid and The Transplants.

After a victorious run as the frontman of Crown Of Thornz, Ezec 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 Skarhead. The band consisted of Madball's guitarists Brian "Mitts" Daniels and Hoya Roc, former White Trash 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 and shortly after that they signed to Victory Records for the release of the world-famous and classic NYHC record “Kings At Crime”, which hit stores in 1999. The band also has success with their sophomore LP "Drugs, Music & Sex", released in 2009. In 2011, European label I Scream Records release “Dreams Don’t Die”, a brand new Skarhead record as tribute to some of Lord Ezec's favorite bands from the era between 1986 and 1989.

In 1996, Singer collaborates with Jamey Jasta to form a metalcore band Icepick, which served as 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.^[4]

Danny's current band is The Wilding Incident, which also features Jimmy Williams of Nausea/Maximum Penalty^[5].

Solo

The 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 for the 2005 release of his "Hardcore 4 Life" EP.^[6] Diablo included some of its tracks on Thugcore 4 Life^[7] record released in 2007, featuring the Tim Armstrong produced track "Living By The Gun". The friendship with Armstrong remained and he moved to Epitaph Records and signed with Tim's Hellcat Records^[8] to release his sophomore solo album International Hardcore Superstar in 2009, with guest appeances by La Coka Nostra members, Vinnie Paz, Sick Jacken and Tim himself among others.

In early 2012, Diablo founded his own independent record label ILL-ROC Records^[9] and released his third album, The Blood Of Eden, which featured Madchild, Bizarre, Adil Omar, and the ILL-ROC roaster among others. He went to Paris, France and released his fourth album Dollerz Make Sense in 2016 via Knives Out Records.^[10]

Other ventures

Modeling

Singer has done modeling for clothing companies like Tribal gear, Joker Brand, Famous Stars and Straps, and Ssur, and has been in numerous magazines on covers and in ads. He has a clothing company called "Lord Ezec Street Wear", which is a part of the clothing line "Hatewear".

Acting

In 2008 criminal drama action movie The Crack Down directed, written and produced by Charles Nordeen, Singer played a character named Israel Rodriguez which was based on his real-life personality.^[3][11] He was also a featured artist in Frank Pavich's New York Hardcore documentary. Singer directed and starred in several music videos.

Production

He has made vocal appearances along with Natasha Nicholson, Ceekay Jones, Jay R, Grizz, Prince Metropolitan.^[12]

Discography

Studio albums

• 2007 - Thugcore 4 Life
• 2009 - International Hardcore Superstar^[13]
• 2012 - The Blood Of Eden
• 2016 - Dollerz Make Sense^[14]

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

Vs series

• 2008 - When Worlds Collide (w/ The Vendetta)

Collaborative albums

• 2016 - The World Is Fucked (w/ Skriptkeeper & Tony Slippaz as FTW)^[15]

Guest appearances

References

External links

• "Danny Diablo | Biography, Albums, Streaming Links | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-01-29. 
• "Danny Diablo". Danny Diablo. Retrieved 2017-01-29. 
• "Danny Diablo". Discogs. Retrieved 2017-01-29. 
• "LORD EZEC (@DannyDiablo) | Twitter". twitter.com. Retrieved 2017-01-29.