DESTIN CONRAD Is R&B's Digital Dream Boy
For our June Issue, DESTIN CONRAD is ready to bring fun vibes and queer energy to R&B.
DESTIN CONRAD knows how to make a moment feel intimate, even when his music is playing through the loudest of speakers. Originally from Tampa, FL, Destin recently made his fans very happy by dropping his debut album LOVE ON DIGITAL – a hypnotic, synth-soaked exploration of love, lust, and self-preservation in the age of disconnection. It’s fun. It’s soulful. And above all, it’s unapologetically queer.
As the latest cover star for YAMS Magazine, DESTIN CONRAD isn’t just showcasing his artistry – he’s claiming space. LOVE ON DIGITAL feels like a diary entry sent via AirDrop. A text sent with invisible ink. It’s tender, raw, and unmistakably modern. “It’s my ode to the digital era of R&B. It’s also kind of a timestamp on a long-distance situationship I had where we spent a lot of time talking digitally. So there’s a lot of talk about that on the album.”
With its 15 tracks recorded across Tulum, London, New York, and Los Angeles, Destin floats between yearning and detachment, wrapping vulnerability in silky smooth melodies and glitchy production that feels like scrolling through emotions at 2 AM on a summer night.
My music origin story is church. I sang in church all the time. And R&B. My sister is an R&B head, so I grew up around so much music.
When you listen to Destin’s music, you can hear a steady influence of early 2000s R&B greats like Brandy, Usher, Musiq Soulchild, and Beyoncé. It’s been evident in all of his music, even stemming back to his debut EP, 2021’s COLORWAY.
Destin is especially a fan of Brandy. “She’s just a vocal god; an R&B music god. I feel like if you ask any R&B musician about Brandy, they know what it is.” A lot of today’s current crop of R&B musicians, whether consciously or subconsciously, are influenced by musical stylings made popular by Brandy and long-time collaborators like Darkchild. The pacing. The harmonies. The vocal stacks. The fearless blending of genres and sounds. Destin studied the greats and applies his findings well.
With LOVE ON DIGITAL, Destin doesn’t just sing about heartbreak and healing – he lifts the vibration in every room he enters. Nowhere is that more clear than on “BAD BITCHES,” a playful, liberated anthem featuring longtime collaborator and friend Kehlani. It’s flirtation turned affirmation. The track feels like a victory lap for two friends who’ve grown into themselves, with each lap they take being a little more fearless than the last.
When I asked if this album was intentionally more uptempo than previous offerings, he immediately said yes. “Every session I went into for this album, my thought was ‘it needs to be up’. Even when I would make a sad song, I’d be very adamant on starting a new beat and making something fun for the summer.”
The weather’s about to be nice. It’s summertime. Let’s be outside. I’m over the sad stuff right now.
On “KISSING IN PUBLIC,” Destin taps into his flirty, full-volume side, channeling the uptempo stylings of early 2000s Justin Timberlake and Pharrell Williams. With its punchy drums, infectious groove, and glossy vocal stacks, the track is a love letter to PDA and to pop nostalgia. It’s proof that sensuality doesn’t have to whisper to be felt. It’s DESTIN CONRAD in full motion, dancing like no one’s watching.
Teezo Touchdown features on “THE LAST TIME,” which finds the album at one of its rawest and most introspective moments. On it, Destin and Teezo paint a picture of a relationship unraveling in slow motion. “It was honestly the easiest song to make on the project,” Destin tells me at our photoshoot. “Teezo is one of my favorite people to write with. We just got high and made heat. It was so fun.”
Other standout moments include “PARTY WIT U,” a light-hearted after-hours anthem that captures the high of being seen and desired in a room full of distractions. It’s Destin at his most carefree, letting the rhythm flirt for him. He also says it’s his current fave on the LOVE ON DIGITAL.
Then there’s “P.B.S.,” a bold, bass-heavy link-up with Lil Nas X that feels like a manifesto for queer intimacy in the digital age: provocative, playful, and unapologetic. It feels like tequila has been shot down, blunts have been smoked, and dangerous fun is around the corner.
If you look through the credits for LOVE ON DIGITAL, you see a lot of familiar names. From Mack Keane and Sasha Keable to Ambré and kwn, Destin thought it important for everybody who worked on this album with him to be an actual IRL friend. And that intention paid dividends because the result is one of the best projects of 2025.
Since his Vine-era beginnings, Destin has carved out a space that’s distinctly his as a queer voice in R&B music. “There are so many queer artists that are killing it right now. I’m just happy to be in the conversation at all. I love showing up authentically and having such amazing fans that affirm me in that. I’m super excited to keep pushing the agenda,” he says as he fist pumps the air in the name of the gay agenda.
DESTIN CONRAD’s delivery throughout the album isn’t just about melody and lyrical content – it’s about memory. These songs don’t perform emotions; they preserve them.
In a genre that hasn’t always embraced queerness with open arms, Destin doesn’t water his art down. His lyrics aren’t coded. His point of view isn’t blurred. His music videos and love interests are intentional. And that’s what makes him feel so essential to R&B music right now. He doesn’t ask for permission. He narrates love the way he lives it: with clarity, desire, and a little bit of chaos. He’s helping to open doors for a whole generation of queer artists to come after him and be accepted by the masses who may have kept their doors shut previously.
“When people listen to this album, I want them to feel joy,” he says. “I didn’t want people to think too hard, I just wanted to have fun making it. And I wanted people to be happy listening to it.”
And with LOVE ON DIGITAL, we feel him and are excited for his future as his star continues to burn brighter and brighter in the R&B universe. DESTIN CONRAD is making us proud, indeed.
Credits:
Photographer: @erichartjr
Stylist: @internet.x
Grooming: @gabriel.barse
Video Director: @directedbydale
Photographer Assistant: @thelowkeylens
Stylist Assistant: @zariannaax
Creative Director: @allthingsdante
Executive Producer: @allthingsdante
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Thanks for taking the time to interview Destin. I have been listening for awhile, and am especially struck by his arrangements and vocal weighting. I can definitely see the Brandy influence. For me, personally, "Delusional" is the standout from the project. Keep the coverage coming!