Today we’d like to introduce you to Zero DarkSands.
Hi Zero, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
“Growing up, a lot of my family members made music as a way to bond over struggles, so being around in these environments helped influence my passion and interest for music early on. Since I was a little kid I ain’t lost that passion for music. I remember as a kid, my mom used to throw these house parties and I’d be chilling in my room upstairs listening to the music. I used to run down there and interrupt the whole party and put on a little mini concert when my favourite songs came on. I used to do little performances at school and when I would be at St. Joes and I sang in school choir. I would write raps a little bit then too, but back then I looked at writing like more of a pastime and a way for me to articulate my feelings growing up as a kid who struggled to accept emotions.
Fast forward nearly ten years later, I finally decided to start writing songs when I was 17 after I rapped a 16 I wrote for my homeboy, Shad once. The way he reacted, I immediately knew I had some kind of talent and Shad didn’t hesitate to push me to showcase it. He would holler at me and he’d always ask if I had some new raps for him to hear, and having a friend who was that supportive really gave me the confidence to actually keep making music. It took me a month of brainstorming to come up with the unique name of Zero DarkSands because I wanted a stage name that I can’t grow out of, and I wanted it to have similarities to my birth name, Razziya Sandlin. It suits me well. As a teenager people would call me Zero because I didn’t speak around people I ain’t know and coincidentally, Holes is my favorite book so it made sense to roll with it. DarkSands was an idea I got from my granddads artisan name, LeBlaqe Sand.
I recorded my first song late 2019 after my best friend Playboy, who at this point had been rapping for a while with his folks encouraged me to go to a studio after a smoke session that turned into a group freestyle. It was a remix of Juice WRLDs song Black & White. My version was called Caucasian. I sent the song to my best friend and we wouldn’t let me not put the song out. Like I mean, he was blowing my phone up like ‘yo bro drop that right now’ so eventually I did. I nervously went to school the very next day, to be greeted by people singing my damn song and telling me how they heard it! I couldn’t believe it and I didn’t know if they were ragging on me or not at first I honestly never thought about people liking my music at that point, I thought I was gonna get roasted so bad but the opposite happened. So obviously from there I kept going. I downloaded FL Studio mobile on my phone, taught myself how to record and make songs on my iPhone, and eventually I started producing beats as well as recording and mixing for my friends so I could get better, because I felt like I was getting scammed paying for studio sessions and life was tough enough already. I used my phone to make music until I was able to build my own functional recording studio in my home in 2023, following the bit of success my song I Love You, Zero has had over the time. I think I got to the point in my career where I am now by just being preserverant and willing to learn and try things that are different from what everyone else is doing in the city to set myself apart while still making music that tells stories of my own life with character. I think the music is better that way, when people have an emotion or an experience that relates with the song writer and the writer is able to tap into that emotion.
In 2020 during Covid, me and my family decided to start making hot sauce. I eat hot sauce with everything and me and my dad love spicy foods. My mom had a garden in the back yard, and we had some peppers and fruits in there and would make different kinds of hot sauces ourselves. Eventually we decided to start selling hot sauce after we got a lot of good feedback from people who tried our stuff. My dad came to me for the name and on the spot I said ‘Watch Ya Mouf’. ‘Cause the sauce is so hot you can’t talk, you gotta watch your mouth. My dad designed the logo based on me, we set up a website, and we started buying what we needed to grow a bunch of peppers, bottles, labels, vats, everything you need for making hot sauce and we’ve been making hot sauce for our customers ever since via markets, personal and online sales. Our sauce has been very successful locally, we’ve gratefully been given the opportunity to have our sauce on tables across Minnesota in homes and restaurants. We make everything from something to just kick your food up to another level with a little spice and flavor to the type of sauce that will make you cry.”
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
“We’ve had some bumps in the road for sure. Hell, some potholes too! I be in my own little world honestly I’m really closed off, so really tapping into the Minnesota music scene socially and getting my name out there is something that’s been difficult for me to do. Nowadays though I haven’t really been too worried about that, I’ve been focusing more on just making the music and perfecting my game as a producer and engineer.”
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
“I am a musician. I’m a rapper, composer, vocalist, songwriter, producer, and engineer. I think there’s a lot of pride in those titles when you have a lot of passion for the music, regardless of who hears it. I’m proud of my ability to learn different things and having the confidence to try them. You can’t be afraid of failure or being different as an upcoming artist. I think that’s sets me apart as well, just that urge to differentiate from whats popular to create an identity of my own.”
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
“Honestly, to go back to what I said earlier about failure I think that’s an important lesson. You really can’t be scared to fail or fall short of expectations at whatever it is you’re doing, because it’s apart of the process. You gotta be willing to get up and persevere through that, and believe in what you’re doing regardless of who else does or doesn’t.”
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/zerodarksands
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zerodarksands
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/ZeroDarkSands
- Twitter: https://x.com/zerodarksands
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCP76Qq69lr4-j9yisf6alVA
- Soundcloud: https://m.soundcloud.com/zerodarksands
- Other: https://watchyamoufhotsauce.com/
