Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on the Ann Arbor District Library’s Pulp blog.

Diont’e Visible wants to purge some negativity from the world.

The Ypsilanti, Michigan, hip-hop artist unloads that emotional burden and finds relief on his latest single, “Just Throw It All in the Air.”

“When I wrote this song, I was inspired by the state of the world, or the lack thereof,” said Visible, aka Paris Diont’e Horgrow, about the hip-hop track.

“People need something to be happy about and to look forward to. It’s saying, ‘Let’s get rid of this whole system and just throw it all in the air.’”

Visible adopts that refreshing mindset and then expands “Just Throw It All in the Air” into a springtime anthem while rapping over jazzy beats.

“It definitely felt like a spring-cleaning type of song,” he said. “You’re just cleaning out your soul—your essence. We like spring cleaning and stuff like that, so I released it around that idea, too. It’s springtime, the flowers are blooming, and [we’re] restarting, refreshing, and renewing ourselves.”

He also produced the song’s beats, which sample a melodic piano riff and feature a soulful groove.

“I was inspired by the song, and it made me want to move,” Visible said. “To me, it just has that feel.”

That rhythmic flow frequently finds its way into Visible’s lyrics, and they follow a cadence that’s often found in poetry.

Initially a writer, Visible developed a love of poetry and creative writing while taking classes with teacher Jeff Kass at Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor.

“We would write stuff every week and then just share it,” he said. “Jeff Kass, he’s a poet himself in the Ann Arbor scene … and he would want us to write whatever came to our mind.”

Around that same time, Visible started writing in a spoken-word/rap style and became inspired by hip-hop acts like Illogic and Nujabes, and the anime TV series Samurai Champloo.

Samurai Champloo often referenced hip-hop culture and featured beats from Fat Jon, Nujabes, Tsutchie, and Force of Nature.

“That stuff inspired me to walk the journey that I started when I began making my own songs and then coming across the likes of MF Doom, Madlib, and Black Star,” Visible said.

“It was finding things that were different, and it inspired me to be different as well with my music, or at least try to be different somewhat in the sense of: ‘This is Diont’e Visible in this realm of wherever that is.’ That’s where I began, and that’s where I’ve come to.”

Visible soon adopted his current artist moniker, which includes his middle name, Diont’e, and is inspired by the word “visible.” By being “visible,” he can create a picture in the mind’s eye of listeners through his poetic lyrics and wordplay.

“There was a time in my life when I was writing so much that I just started putting the papers on my wall. I just taped them up there, and I would just look at them,” Visible said.

“I wrote in all kinds of different ink … and definitely a lot of stuff got scrapped. It was me just writing and practicing to a lot of different beats … and always working on how to be as impactful as possible.”

Visible then started uploading a series of tracks and mixtapes to SoundCloud. By 2017, he released the Digital.Man.Visual EP, which was recorded at Ypsilanti’s Alley Records and mixed and mastered by jazz guitarist Steve Somers.

“I would say Digital.Man.Visual was definitely the beginning of Diont’e Visible,” he said. “It was done with good intention, but just not executed properly, and I just leave it up as a reminder of where I come from.”

Part of his artistic identity included reflecting on world politics and becoming a “truth teller,” yet that initial creative focus has evolved.

“It’s not what people are really looking for most of the time when they’re looking for music,” Visible said. “You get your pockets here and there, but for the most part, they want something that makes them feel good or detached or something that helps them get away.”

It wasn’t long before Visible featured collaborations with other artists on his releases, including three EPs with Japanese producer and beatmaker Shin-Ski. From 2021 to 2024, they released Canvaz to Kanvas, Nostalgia in an Antique Shop Pt. 1, and Nostalgia in an Antique Shop Pt. 2.

Visible had created a video for one of his songs, posted it on social media, and tagged Shin-Ski as one of his influences. Shin-Ski saw the video and then followed Visible.

“I thought, ‘There’s no better time than now to reach out and see what he says,’” Visible said. “I reached out and said, ‘I’m a big fan of your work, and I’ve been a big fan for a long time,’ and then he said, ‘You’re a dope lyricist; I’d love to have you on some of my beats.’”

That collaboration earned Visible significant streams and fueled his ambition to release several singles after that. Earlier this year, he released two singles, “Delusion Is an Acorn Falling From the Sky” and “At the Start.”

Thematically, “Delusion Is an Acorn Falling From the Sky” examines facing reality and gaining clarity about life and the state of the world. Visible’s lyrics seamlessly flow over chill beats from Belleville producer JoshHype (Joshua Patton).

“It’s definitely a world-lens look at our world and coming to grips with what you’re really facing, what you’re up against,” said Visible, who recorded the track at home.

“And [it’s] sometimes realizing the futility in attempting to go against all that and still doing it in spite of that.”

Visible revisits that philosophical perspective on “At the Start,” which questions the evolution of life and how things have changed over time. Emotive and soulful beats from Theo (Theotis Essex) complement Visible’s thoughtful lyrics.

“I talk a lot about Plato’s shadows on the wall [theory] from the allegory of the cave,” he said. “That’s something that’s always inspired me because it always questions reality and the validity of it. At the beginning of us creating this reality that we’re in, did we come into it with the intent of doing the best that we can from the start, or is it just the residual slop of what we could’ve been?”

Besides collaborating with beatmakers, Visible also worked with Evan Haywood at Ann Arbor’s Black Ram Treehouse studio to record “At the Start” and “Just Throw It All in the Air.”

Haywood mixed and mastered Visible’s three most recent singles, while JoshHype initially mixed “Delusion Is an Acorn Falling From the Sky.”

“I took different songs in at different times because there are still other songs that are unreleased that I recorded,” Visible said.

Much of that recording has gone toward a new album for Visible, which has been in the works for a while. Visible plans to continue working on the record and doesn’t want to rush the creative process.

“I’m working on the album, getting everything together for it, and now I just kind of want to sit with it a little bit longer and make sure that it comes out correctly,” he said. “Now, I’m at a point where I want to release it and then not have any regrets.”