Mod Sun
| Mod Sun | |
|---|---|
| Born | Bloomington |
| Nationality | United States of America |
| Genres | alternative rock |
Mod Sun | |
|---|---|
 Mod Sun in 2015 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Derek Ryan Smith |
| Also known as | Dylan Smith |
| Born | March 10, 1987 Bloomington, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
|
| Instruments |
|
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Labels | |
| Member of | |
| Partner(s) | Avril Lavigne |
| Education | Jefferson High School |
| Website | modsunmusic |
Derek Ryan Smith (born March 10, 1987), known professionally as Mod Sun</ref> (stylized as MOD SUN or MODSUN) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and rapper from Bloomington, Minnesota. He has released four solo studio albums, three EPs, six mixtapes and 31 singles.
Beginning his musical career by playing drums in pop punk band the Semester and post-hardcore groups Four Letter Lie and Scary Kids Scaring Kids, Smith began a solo rap career in 2009 under the name Mod Sun. The release of his fourth solo studio album Internet Killed the Rockstar saw a stylistic shift back to pop punk.
Early life[edit | edit source]
Derek Ryan Smith was born on March 10, 1987, in Bloomington, Minnesota. Later his father left for California and his parents divorced, after which Smith spent some time living with his father in Long Beach, California. From age five to 10, he moved frequently due to his mother having to relocate for various jobs. He spent much of his time growing up on a farm in Corcoran, Minnesota. Smith's father lived next door to Bud Gaugh, drummer of Sublime, who influenced him to become involved in music. In eighth grade, he designed merchandise for bands. He then began playing drums for local pop punk band the Semester in his sophomore year of high school. He spent the following four years in the band, before being kicked out three months after his graduation. In 2009, he was kicked out of the band and spent a period of time selling drugs as well as being a drum tech for Scary Kids Scaring Kids. He was eventually asked to be the drummer for Scary Kids Scaring Kids, which he accepted under the condition that he could open for the band on tour as a solo artist.
2011–2019: Solo career and Look Up, Movie and BB[edit | edit source]
Mod Sun has released five mixtapes and three EPs throughout his solo career. His style of music has been described as "hippy hop". Mod Sun's debut album, Look Up, was released on March 10, 2015, through Rostrum Records. On March 10, 2017, his second studio album, Movie, was released, also through Rostrum Records. It peaked at #16 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart. His third studio album BB was released on November 10, 2017, and spawned the single "#noshirton".
2020–present: Internet Killed the Rockstar[edit | edit source]
In early 2020, Mod Sun announced he had started working on his forthcoming fourth studio album. Its lead single "Karma" was released on October 30, 2020. The accompanying music video was released three weeks later on November 16, 2020, and was directed by Machine Gun Kelly. The song "Bones" was released as the album's second single on November 27, 2020. The music video for "Bones" was released on December 21, 2020, via Mod Sun's official YouTube channel and was directed by Charlie Zwick. The album's third single, "Flames", was a collaboration with Avril Lavigne. On January 18, 2021, Downfalls High, a film Smith co-directed with Machine Gun Kelly was released. On 25 January, 2021 Mod Sun officially announced the album title, Internet Killed the Rockstar, and its release date, February 12, 2021.
On March 12, 2021, he released the single "Heavy" featuring blackbear. The same month he signed a long-term deal with Big Noise.
On August 26, 2021, it was announced that he would star in and co–direct the film Good Mourning With A U, alongside Machine Gun Kelly, Dove Cameron, Megan Fox and Becky G.
On February 18, 2022, Mod released a documentary about his life entitled "Remember Me Just Like This." At the very end of the documentary, the title for the forthcoming album of the next "era" was announced: Rich Kids Ruin Everything, due for a March 2022 release.
Personal life[edit | edit source]
Beginning in October 2018, Smith was in a polyamorous relationship with internet personality Tana Mongeau and actress Bella Thorne. After the throuple's breakup, he began a monogamous relationship with Thorne. Smith and Thorne became engaged, got married and then subsequently divorced, all within 15 months. In early 2020, he began a monogamous relationship with Mongeau, but they broke up by the end of the year. Since 2021, he has been in a relationship with Canadian musician Avril Lavigne.
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;" | US
Alt.
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;" | US
R&B/
HH
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;" | US
Heat
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;" | US
Ind.
|-
! scope="row"| Look Up
|
- Released: March 10, 2015
- Label: Rostrum
- Format: CD, Vinyl, digital download
| 120 || 6 || 13 || 1 || 7 |- ! scope="row"| Movie |
- Released: March 10, 2017
- Label: Rostrum
- Format: CD, Vinyl, digital download
|| — || — || — || 16 || 40 |- ! scope="row"| BB |
- Released: November 10, 2017
- Label: Rostrum
- Format: digital download
|| — || — || — || — || — |- ! scope="row"| Internet Killed the Rockstar |
- Released: February 12, 2021
- Label: New Hippys/Big Noise
- Format: CD, Vinyl, digital download
| — || — || — || 21 || —
|}
Extended plays[edit | edit source]
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| The Hippy Hop EP |
|
| In MOD We Trust |
|
| Happy as Fuck |
|
Mixtapes[edit | edit source]
- 2009: I'll Buy Myself
- 2009: Let Ya Teeth Show
- 2009: How to Make a MOD SUN
- 2011: Health, Wealth, Success, & Happiness
- 2011: Blazed by the Bell
- 2012: First Take
Singles[edit | edit source]
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Alt. |
US Rock |
CAN Dig. |
NZ Hot |
UK Down. | |||||||||||||||||
| "Need That" | 2010 | — | — | — | — | — | In MOD We Trust | ||||||||||||||
| "Paradisity" | 2011 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| "All Night, Every Night" (with The Ready Set) |
2012 | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | ||||||||||||||
| "Save" (with Ab-Soul, Rich Hil and Metasota |
— | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| "My Hippy" | 2013 | — | — | — | — | — | Look Up | ||||||||||||||
| "1970" | 2014 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| "Howlin' at the Moon" | 2015 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| "Pound on the Way" | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |||||||||||||||
| "We Do This Shit" (with DeJ Loaf) |
2016 | — | — | — | — | — | Movie | ||||||||||||||
| "Two" | 2017 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| "Beautiful Problem" (with gnash & Maty Noyes) |
— | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| happyBB" | — | — | — | — | — | BB | |||||||||||||||
| "#noshirton" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| "poundzzzzzz" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| "address on the internet" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| "Runaway" | 2018 | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | ||||||||||||||
| "Burning Up" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| "Psycho Smile" | 2019 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| "Tell Me All Your Secrets" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| "Blue Cheese" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| "Selfish" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| "Shoulder" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| "Amen" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| "Tipi/2005 Flex Up" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| "I Remember Way Too Much" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| "Uppers & Downers" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| "Stay Away" (featuring Machine Gun Kelly) |
2020 | — | — | — | 27 | — | |||||||||||||||
| "Karma" | — | — | — | — | — | Internet Killed the Rockstar | |||||||||||||||
| "Bones" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| "Flames" (with Avril Lavigne) |
2021 | 21 | 35 | 50 | 40 | 74 | |||||||||||||||
| "Heavy" (with blackbear) |
— | — | — | — | — | Internet Killed the Rockstar: Deluxe | |||||||||||||||
| "Down" (featuring Travis Barker) |
— | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |||||||||||||||
| "Rich Kids Ruin Everything" | 2022 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released. | |||||||||||||||||||||
Featured singles[edit | edit source]
- 2011: "Good Times" by swimming with dolphins
- 2012: "I Think It's Hot" by Def Gone Graphic
- 2012: "Catch Me Smilin" by Joe B.
- 2013: "Right Now" by Goody
- 2013: "Get Loco" by T.T.
- 2013: "The Tortoise and the Hare" by The Weekend Hustler
- 2013: "Let It Bang" by Jbre & Dougie Kent
- 2014: "All I Need Is Sunshine" by The Gooneez & Sidereal
- 2014: "Raw Cypher" by Dizzy Wright, Like, and Sir Michael Rocks
- 2015: "me you & the moon" by Call Me Karizma
- 2016: "Sublime" by Machine Gun Kelly
- 2018: ":)" by LIL PHAG and Dr. Woke
- 2021: "0X1=Lovesong (I Know I Love You)" by Tomorrow X Together
- 2021: "Ocean of Embers"
- 2021: "Broken in All the Right Places" by Lost Kings
- 2022: "Timebomb" by Two Friends
Books[edit | edit source]
Non-fiction books[edit | edit source]
- 2012: Did I Ever Wake Up?
Poetry books[edit | edit source]
- 2015: My Dear Pink
- 2018: So Long Los Angeles
Journals[edit | edit source]
- 2015: "Happy to Be Here"
- 2016: "Happy to Be Here Pt. 2"
- 2019: "Happy to Be Here Pt. 3"
Filmography[edit | edit source]
Film[edit | edit source]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Bashira | Club Owner | ||
| 2022 | Measure of Revenge | Lord MacBeth | ||
| Good Mourning | Dylan | Also director, writer, and producer |
Television[edit | edit source]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Cooking on High | Himself | 2 episodes | |
| 2021 | Ridiculousness | Episode: "Mod Sun" |
Internet[edit | edit source]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Album | Mod Sun | credited as writer | |
| 2019 | I Remember Way Too Much | Mod | ||
| 2021 | Downfalls High | Director, writer, cameo | ||
| 2022 | "Remember Me Just Like This" | Himself | Subject of documentary |
Music videos[edit | edit source]
| Year | Title | Artist | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | "Sail" | Machine Gun Kelly | |
| 2016 | "All Night Long" | ||
| "Shoot 'Em Down" (feat. Machine Gun Kelly & Blackbear) | Mod Sun | ||
| 2017 | "Sublime remiXX" | Machine Gun Kelly | |
| 2020 | "Concert for Aliens" | ||
| "Drunk Face" | |||
| 2021 | "Flames" (Feat. Avril Lavigne) | Mod Sun | |
| "Amnesia" | |||
| "Bite Me" (Acoustic Version) | Avril Lavigne | ||
| "Down" (Feat. Travis Barker) | Mod Sun | ||
| 2022 | “Rich Kids Ruin Everything" |
References[edit | edit source]
| General | |
|---|---|
| National libraries | |
| Other | |
- Artists
- Articles with short description
- Short description is different from Wikidata
- Use mdy dates from September 2015
- Articles with hCards
- Articles with VIAF identifiers
- Articles with WORLDCATID identifiers
- Articles with LCCN identifiers
- Articles with MusicBrainz identifiers
- 1987 births
- Living people
- People from Bloomington, Minnesota
- American male rappers
- Rappers from Minnesota
- Midwest hip hop musicians
- 21st-century American rappers
- Scary Kids Scaring Kids members
- 21st-century American male musicians
- Pop punk musicians
